Understanding the hierarchy of needs in business, and the importance of a change management framework

A change management framework helps in streamlining business processes and makes employees more efficient. It requires transitioning people, processes, and resources to achieve better outcomes. The framework increases the chances of successful change and lowers resistance from employees. It requires careful planning, implementation of new strategies, and the hierarchy of needs in business. Before implementing the framework, it is important to realize why change is necessary, and once it is understood, a plan should be developed that should include a timeline, communication plan, and budget.    

A variety of change management frameworks have been designed by experts, including the one developed by Jim Gitney, CEO of Group50 consulting with over 45 years of experience working in corporate America. Known as the Business Hierarchy of Need®̥, the three-level change management framework can make all the difference between the organizations that have a culture of strategy execution, and those who don’t.   

  

Three levels of hierarchy of needs in business   

Level 1 of the hierarchy of needs in business identifies the information required to fully understand the current state and to lay the foundation for building clearly defined strategies that achieve a defined future state. Once strategies have been designed and put in place, identifying strategic gaps and operating gaps, and the development of KPIs, tactical objectives provide the basis for identifying what needs to be done to successfully execute strategy.  

  

Level 2 of the Business Hierarchy of Needs®̥ includes goal settings, and cascading objectives throughout the organization to deal with operating gaps and strategic gaps that define the required organization structure, skill maps, training requirements, and performance management objectives.  Short stepping this level will handicap the organization and jeopardize strategic execution.  This is where most organizations fail.  

  

Last or third level of the hierarchy of needs in business is the implementation part, whose techniques are dictated by the rate and magnitude of required change, how big the strategic gaps are, and the level of automation and technology that is required to support the company’s strategic plan.   

  

Continuously improving business processes is important  

 

Continuously improving business processes, products, and services to meet the needs of all of the company’s stakeholders including shareholders, the board of directors, customers, employees, contract workers, and suppliers is a critical component of every successful business, and it is a Group50® strong suit. Jim Gitney also has written a book titled “Strategy Realized – The Business Hierarchy of Needs®̥ - Turning Strategy into Results”, that describes all steps of the hierarchy of needs in business in detail.   

  

Taking a sequential approach to continuous improvement   

Continuous Improvement is often thought of as a cultural mindset of incremental process improvements throughout the business. Group50 works with clients on productivity projects and applies Continuous Improvement tools to small and large projects that make a difference in the business. The consulting firm delivers training in the use of those tools just in time. This approach draws attention to the value of continuous improvement and provides the value proposition for developing a continuous improvement program.  For this, Group50 takes a sequential approach, that includes identifying continuous improvement (CI) projects to support the company’s MIGs, assessing CI maturity to understand the appropriate approach to selected projects, and designing the management review projects.