Organizational Analysis: Hard Data on Soft Factors.

In this simplified example, a regular linear regression (dotted line) finds a positive relationship between Directive Leadership and Performance.
A multi-level model, however, reveals that within all three business units there is a negative relationship between the two variables.

Tired of guessing the impact of people issues when everything else in your organization follows numbers? Welcome to thorough organizational analysis. It offers tangible results from methodological design to a comprehensive report instead of touchy-feely best guesses.

Organizational analysis will help you understand your organization better. It can give an update on the status of an organization and should always precede every ⇒ Strategic Change. It consists of three phases: Design, Data Collection, and Analysis.

Design

The planning phase of the analysis is essential. Many efforts to examine an organization have not produced clear results because no-one discussed the goals and purpose of the diagnosis. The planning phase is also the time to select target groups and decide on a method—or a combination of methods—that can elicit the desired data.

Both qualitative and quantitative methods offer insight, and they are often used in different stages of the analysis. Qualitative methods, such as interviews, open ended questions in surveys or unstructured observation can help with the planning of a study or provide deep insight into complex issues.

The central element of all larger studies, however, are quantitative methods. Organizational surveys producing quantitative data can efficiently and accurately gauge soft factors and are highly scalable. In addition, observation methods like Critical Incident Technique offer a detailed understanding of human behavior. Data from management information systems often reveal surprising insight when connected to data on people factors.

Data Collection

The basis of successful data collection is the professional distribution of questionnaires on paper or via web-based services, as well as professionally conducted interviews and observations. More often than not it is wise to rely on service providers if an internal infrastructure is not available.

To ensure the most accurate responses from the participants, it is crucial to take the communication with all employees and managers very seriously. The most important aspects are providing information on all ongoing activities as well as promoting the study and monitoring employee engagement.

Analysis

While many companies and consultancies conduct surveys, very few go beyond reporting averages and distributions for their measures. In order to really understand an organization (and to do justice to the data), one has to look harder.

Statistical analyses like Hierarchical Linear Models and Structural Equation Modeling describe more complex relationships between different data. A skilled professional will select the right method of analysis, test if their requirements are met and provide measures to quantify the effect accurately.

From a comprehensive report you can expect not only results, but also important information on the context of the study and an easy-to-understand explanation of the methods used in the analysis. Most reports contain recommendations for further action.

What now?

Following the analysis, the real work begins. Managers and employees need to receive information on the results in a customized and timely way. Existing measurement and information systems need to be updated and adjusted.

And, of course, you need to act on the findings of the analysis in order to improve the organization.