Organizational Climate
Is your organizational climate and structure geared for success? For example, do positions exist for the Planner/ Scheduler,
Front-line Supervisors, or the Maintenance Engineering role? Are the spans of control (number of people that each
position addresses) correct? For example, a Planner/ Scheduler can effectively plan and schedule work for roughly 15-30
people. What about if you have less people? Can an organization benefit from a Planner/ Scheduler with as few as 8 people
as an example? The answer is a resounding yes.
What about the Maintenance Engineering function? If you are a small organization, can you afford a dedicated Maintenance
Engineering position? Can you afford not to? The real answer is how you structure your organization climate to be an enabler
for Best Practices.
What about leadership support for a change initiative? If undergoing a change effort, have you established various teams to
help execute the work? Who is the facilitator to interface with the Leadership team and the various teams executing the work?
Who keeps everything on the Plan of Improvement (POI) moving along? Who makes sure the organizational climate stays conducive
for achieving success?
Attributes seen where the organizational climate is conducive to achieving Best Practices:
- An organizational chart is up-to-date and posted
- Each position has a detailed Position Descriptions clearly identifying responsibilities and accountabilities
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or Metrics information is understood by the entire organization
- An effective communication plan is in place for the dissemination of information
- Vision, Mission, and Shared Beliefs or Guiding Principles are embraced by each member of the organization and are
routinely utilized to drive desired behaviors
- Focus teams are utilized for initiative activities or problem solving
What tools are you using to communicate with your people? If you haven't figured it out by now, implementing Best Practices is
in effect, a culture change. Most likely in the implementation, you will determine better methods to perform work; so it's
not a repeat of things that you have already done.
Look at your organizational climate, what's missing, what's not working, what needs improvement? Successful improvement
initiatives require the right organizational climate to deliver the results you need.