| | MAY - 2023MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM8In MyOpinionORGANIZATIONAL DESIGNBy Diane Slater, Vice President Human Resources, SJCWhat is Organizational Design and what do many think it is? Over the course of a typical Human Resources career, many HR Professionals go from terrified at their first Organizational Design meeting ­ perhaps running out to do research on what that even means and finding templates, white papers and research on how to proceed ­only to realize over time that this is a skill missing for many executives and Human Resources teams. What is frequently titled Organizational Design on the calendar turns out to be a mash up of Talent Review, Succession Planning and some Org Chart moves that may or may not result in some change to the business.Good Organizational Design can make or break hitting EBITDA targets, growth in the organization and can prevent mass hiring that leads to mass layoffs, excluding unforeseen world events. Unfortunately, Organizational Design rarely starts with a blank page or an Organization chart with no names to ensure a discussion of what is truly needed versus who can do each job. How can HR get better at Organizational Design?Human Resources Professionals must truly understand the business in which they work to be successful. Knowledge of how to structure an organization is not possible without understanding what drives revenue, the biggest impacts on EBITDA, the market, the future direction of the company ­ growth (organic or acquisition), change of product line, shrinking due to market or losses or any other 1 to 3 year outlook issues ­ and anything predictable in the economy such as a looming recession. Diane Slater
< Page 7 | Page 9 >