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Organization design and implementation

Designing and implementing new organizational structures to drive business performance and employee satisfaction

A high-performing organisation focuses resources in the right areas, ensuring work is executed and managed at the right levels. It successfully empowers its people, builds the required skills and capability and enhances ways of working. 

Organization design consulting: delivering on business strategy and driving performance

Getting your organization design right, and implementing it effectively, is key to achieving better business performance. It’s integral to the overall business operating model.

A variety of scenarios can trigger an organization redesign, such as a new business strategy or a merger or acquisition. Sometimes, an organization will need to change from a regional business model to one based on product or customer. In other instances, an organization might have to align itself with other key aspects of an operating model such as sourcing strategy, process enhancements, new regulation or changes in technology.

In any of these situations, Berkeley’s experienced consultants will ensure that your organization design and its implementation drives value and meets business objectives.

All too often, organizational design and implementation are poorly conceived and designed, and then executed under pressure, resulting in damage to morale and cultural DNA when people don’t understand the case for change. Berkeley knows the pitfalls, and helps our clients get it right, supporting their business objectives and tapping into the benefits of purposeful reorganization done well.”

Tom Keohane, Partner

Effective organization design will drive better business outcomes

Organization design is often under-supported and poorly thought through. Benefits are lost, employees are unhappy, and cultural DNA is damaged. At worst, key talent is lost, leaving the organization unstable and unable to deliver business outputs. 

But when done well, organization design delivers the structural and cultural change needed to transform organizational performance.

An effectively designed organizational structure will align with strategy. It supports core processes and ways of working, while breaking down silos and helping to eliminate unnecessary duplication. Performance will improve, ultimately driving better business outcomes.

Implementation: reaping the benefits of good organisation design

Organization design is only the first stage of the process; embedding a new organization design is when the work truly begins. Continued focus and careful consideration is vital to successful implementation, allowing you to reap the full benefits of good organization design.

Implementing a new organization structure is much more than just the upfront people moves. It involves changing ways of working and behaviours, which can include leadership education and training, and new performance management approaches.  

Naturally, such changes can appear difficult for employees and therefore implementation must be done in conjunction with a robust change and communication plan. This will balance the need for transparency and sensitivity with an appropriately positive narrative.

The Berkeley Partnership really helped bring the project together and provide valuable steer and direction. They were able to challenge certain assumptions and really keep us 'honest' in terms of our approach.”

Senior Manager: Business Planning Lead, a financial services sector organization

Good organization design will help talent recruitment and retention

People are the most important asset in any organization, and the war for talent is intensifying. Today’s working environment is highly competitive, hybrid, and fast changing. People are looking for clear career pathways and the opportunities to thrive.

When done effectively, organizational design and implementation will drive positive change for employees.

To attract and retain talent, you need to ensure your organization is dynamic, collaborative and strategic. A good organization design will enable a positive culture, empowering employees and supporting their development. 

Organization design consulting: partnering with you

Berkeley understands organzational design and implementation – not just as a route to cost-savings, but as a key enabler of strategy and a critical element of building an effective overall operating model. Whether designing a new organization, or modifying an existing one, our consultants have the experience and strong relationship management skills that enables them to work closely with client leaders. We have a proven track record of finding the best way to achieve results within complex organizations, recognising that every organization is unique.

We work collaboratively with our clients to set clear objectives for organization design, from creating design principles to guide and check our thinking, to tailoring a practical approach that will deliver results. Throughout the process we partner with the client’s internal organization design and HR teams to plan and execute with necessary control and precision, accounting for local HR and legal requirements.

“Designing a new organization is hard and needs the right amount of thought and challenge. Many organizations want to move away from a traditional hierarchical model and towards ‘something’ else. But they don’t always know what that should be or how to get there. Berkeley’s consultants can help cut through the complexity, gain clarity on what you really want to achieve, and determine exactly what you need to make it happen.”

Tom Keohane, Partner 

Our clients often ask us...

Question 1

How should I organize, prioritize and phase my organization design and implementation, while ensuring operational effectiveness in the interim?

Question 2

How do we ensure our new organization structure aligns with our business strategy and the bigger picture?

Question 3

How do I make sure that everyone understands why we are doing this reorganization?

Question 4

How do I create a consistent approach to organization design and implementation, that still allows for local tailoring?

Question 5

Once I have implemented my new organization, how do I ensure that it remains effective, adapting to future challenges?

Question 6

What can we do to help break down siloes and optimize organization-wide networks to drive better value?

Question 7

How do I ensure I don’t lose top talent and critical roles during this process?

Question 8

How can we create a simpler and more dynamic structure that makes management more efficient?

Question 9

How do we place customers at the heart of our organization across all of our business processes, allowing us to respond faster to their needs?

Client stories

Altus

When Altus UK decided to buy its biggest competitor, they had to get the integration right first time. The team at Altus could see they would need expert support and reached out to Berkeley.

At the end of the engagement, Altus achieved the market share it wanted and grew its margins in excess of its pre-deal expectations. It cut costs through efficiencies – combining back-office functions, rationalizing systems and processes and more. Most importantly, it achieved its mission to create a new business that took the good parts of two legacy organizations, while retaining its brand and strengthening its pre-eminent position in the marketplace.

Govia Thameslink Railway

The Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise was created to support the completion of the Thameslink program: London’s ‘north-south Crossrail’. Berkeley were brought in to fulfil a full-time integration director role within the new executive team and build ownership that was critical to put this mega-franchise on track. 

Within an aggressive timeline, we needed to change the job descriptions and reporting lines for 1,200 people, including a 20% fall out and 10% arrival of fresh legs. We also had to align two totally different data systems and infrastructures, which required building consensus, delivering multiple IT projects and up-skilling operators. 

A retail organisation

As one of the leading vendors to the rural community, our client had ambitions to grow. However, their retail strategy was somewhat constrained and not maximizing their full potential. Berkeley were called in to bring a fresh perspective, to review, and where necessary, rewrite the strategy in order to set out a path and plan with greater potential. It was essentially about helping the client identify and craft a bigger ambition while at the same time creating confidence around that ambition. 

Cathay Pacific

Cathay launched the Passenger Support System (PSS) program to implement the industry standard ‘Amadeus’ system. This system is integrated, supports multi-channel interaction and provides a much enhanced user experience (UX) for passengers and internal business users. Importantly, the new PSS platform also offered the opportunity to drive up revenues (e.g. by supporting additional cabin classes) and reduce operating costs.

Some months into their journey, Cathay Pacific recognized that they had some weakness in some of these core building blocks and Berkeley was asked by the PSS program director to develop an overarching change management approach.

Client stories

When Altus UK decided to buy its biggest competitor, they had to get the integration right first time. The team at Altus could see they would need expert support and reached out to Berkeley.

At the end of the engagement, Altus achieved the market share it wanted and grew its margins in excess of its pre-deal expectations. It cut costs through efficiencies – combining back-office functions, rationalizing systems and processes and more. Most importantly, it achieved its mission to create a new business that took the good parts of two legacy organizations, while retaining its brand and strengthening its pre-eminent position in the marketplace.

The Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) franchise was created to support the completion of the Thameslink program: London’s ‘north-south Crossrail’. Berkeley were brought in to fulfil a full-time integration director role within the new executive team and build ownership that was critical to put this mega-franchise on track. 

Within an aggressive timeline, we needed to change the job descriptions and reporting lines for 1,200 people, including a 20% fall out and 10% arrival of fresh legs. We also had to align two totally different data systems and infrastructures, which required building consensus, delivering multiple IT projects and up-skilling operators. 

As one of the leading vendors to the rural community, our client had ambitions to grow. However, their retail strategy was somewhat constrained and not maximizing their full potential. Berkeley were called in to bring a fresh perspective, to review, and where necessary, rewrite the strategy in order to set out a path and plan with greater potential. It was essentially about helping the client identify and craft a bigger ambition while at the same time creating confidence around that ambition. 

Cathay launched the Passenger Support System (PSS) program to implement the industry standard ‘Amadeus’ system. This system is integrated, supports multi-channel interaction and provides a much enhanced user experience (UX) for passengers and internal business users. Importantly, the new PSS platform also offered the opportunity to drive up revenues (e.g. by supporting additional cabin classes) and reduce operating costs.

Some months into their journey, Cathay Pacific recognized that they had some weakness in some of these core building blocks and Berkeley was asked by the PSS program director to develop an overarching change management approach.