Aligning your organisation’s structure, roles, and responsibilities with your goals
Organisational design
The world of work is being reshaped at an unprecedented pace. Demographic shifts, evolving social expectations, and rapid technological advancements – including automation and AI – are redefining how organisations operate and compete. While these forces present complex challenges for business leaders, they can also be viewed as powerful opportunities for us to rethink how work gets done.
To thrive in this new environment, organisations must ensure their structures, governance, and people are aligned with the demands of change. Without clear accountability, defined reporting lines, and coordinated ways of working, businesses risk inefficiencies that erode the benefits of scale and centralisation. Successfully delivering your strategy requires the right capabilities, behaviours, and frameworks – enabling you to move forward with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
Key components of organisational design
- Organisational design framework
- Fit for growth
- Critical few
Organisational design framework
This uses a five-phase approach – validation, diagnosis, macro design, detailed design, and implementation – to redesign organisational structure.
Fit for growth
This model focusses on improving performance by managing costs strategically, ensuring that the organisation can adapt and thrive.
Critical few
This approach emphasises the importance of organisational culture by identifying key elements that leaders can leverage to enhance performance.
The 10 principles of organisational design
1. Identify your purpose
Start with corporate self-reflection: how you make a difference for your stakeholders and how you differentiate yourself.
3. Fix the structure last, not first
Intervene to adapt processes and actions before changing your organisational chart to reflect the new structure.
5. Focus on what you can control
Ensure your plans are realistic by taking stock of real-world limitations and the impact they have on your organisation.
7. Benchmark sparingly, if at all
Be selective if you decide to benchmark your results and align such efforts to the capabilities you prioritised when restructuring your organisation.
9. Accentuate the informal
Focus on the intangible building blocks that are essential in getting things done in an organisation: normals, commitments, mindsets, and networks.
2. Incorporate your corporate DNA
Clarify how your organisation measures up based 8 organisational building blocks: decisions, norms, motivators, commitments, information, mindsets, structure, and networks.
4. Make the most of top talent
Design positions that make the most of the strengths of the people who will occupy them so they are best placed to foster the collaboration and empowerment needed from the people below them.
6. Promote accountability
Design your organisation to make it easy for people to be accountable for their part of the work without being micromanaged by clarifying decision rights and facilitating information flows.
8. Optimise your hierarchy
Adapt your hierarchy to reflect your organisational structure and support the critical capabilities that distinguish your company.
10. Build on your strengths
Highlight your strengths, whether they’re existing practices or part of your culture, and use them as a foundation for your organisational design.
How PwC can help
We guide your organisation through every stage of the journey, from initial planning to full implementation. Our extensive portfolio of projects includes:
Structure and team design
Target operating model
Organisational diagnosis
Building governance clarity and responsibility
Capability reviews and functional deep dives
Organisation cost effectiveness
Back-office function effectiveness
Post-merger/acquisition integration
Strategic workforce planning
Implementing organisational design changes
Our specialised team brings a wealth of experience in organisational design, offering tailored solutions that provide true value. Our capabilities empower your organisation to embrace change confidently and achieve sustainable growth so you can navigate tomorrow’s challenges seamlessly.
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