At the heart of a successful organisation is a strong and well developed capability to deliver its mission. There are different views on what comprises the key elements of capability but in essence includes enablers such as leadership, knowledge and skills of its people, culture and values, systems and processes, governance, strategy and performance management, infrastructure and resources. Quite often presenting problems in the results achieved by an organisation have their roots in underlying capability in one or more of the above areas.
There are a number of well-established industry standard tools available for appraising organisational fitness which can provide a very helpful starting point for identifying problem areas and beginning to tackle them. Despite this though the issues can be elusive and difficult to pin-down or reach agreement on. Our experience is that the key to success is to go through a systematic and transparent process of evaluation that includes self- assessment and is informed to a significant degree by feedback from staff, customers and stakeholders about both strengths and areas for development. Only then is it possible to arrive at a realistic and evidence based assessment of the current position.
Organisations frequently seek external assistance with tackling capability issues simply because it helps to bring in someone from outside who has some distance from the issues, can offer a fresh perspective and if required ensure the confidentiality of feedback given by individuals. Moreover the perspective that experience of a number of organisations brings is very helpful to interpreting the significance of the feedback received, understanding what is particularly different and envisioning how things could improve.
We have undertaken a number of reviews of organisational capability both organisation-wide or of selected functions. The style and content of the reviews have varied according to the particular needs of each organisation. Some have adopted key themes or issues at the outset where there are thought to be development needs. Others have been more broadly based attempting to gauge strengths and development areas as part of an overall assessment of capability.