Implementing decentralized planning and goal setting at H2o Solutions

Organizational Planning and Goal Setting

Why the older, original planning and goal setting process will no longer work for H2o Solutions

Today, an organization can adopt any of the three types of organizational structures; the centralized, top-down planning, and the decentralized models. Initially, H2o Solutions followed the centralized and top-down planning model. However, the model became ineffective as the company grew. H2o Solutions now needs to integrate the very employees it has hired into the planning and goal-setting process. This cannot be achieved by the original top-down approach because it puts all the decision-making powers exclusively in the hands of the senior management. The company needs a new model, which will enable the senior managers to disseminate decision-making powers to low-level and middle managers. With the old model, H2o Solutions suffers from adverse impacts of multiple management layers which stretch from the senior leadership down to frontline employees. The senior leaders responsible for making each and every decision at H2o Solutions may need more time to achieve these tasks. This may result in sluggish business operations. In contrast, decentralized companies are likely to struggle with multiple individuals holding varied opinions on a particular business decision. Therefore, such a business can face challenges trying to get everyone on the same page during the decision-making process (Dyck, & Neubert, 2008).

Based on the current management efforts to make companies more responsive and flexible, there is a marked trend towards decentralizing planning and goal setting. In big companies, lower-level managers are closer to the action thus they have detailed knowledge about problems, unlike senior leaders. Therefore, H2o Solutions is among the organizations, which require a decentralized structure because a company of such a scale can have several departments.

Recommended Planning and Goal Setting Approach to the Executive Management

I would recommend a decentralized approach to planning and goal setting. Decentralization has occurred out of necessity due to the company's expansion and the increase in the number of employees. Most importantly, the very employees H2o Solutions have hired now need to be integrated into the planning and goal-setting process. This implies they must also be included in the decision-making process. This is the cornerstone of the decentralized model. A decentralized model is one whereby the senior leaders shift the power of some decision-making over to the other organizational members at the lower levels. This model allows managers at various departments and levels to come on board and determine the strategic goals. Later, discussions concerning the company goals and objectives are decided upon by incorporating the supervisors and lower-level managers (Cassidy, Kreitner, & Vanhuss, 2014). What follows is that individuals are allowed to contribute to the process through defining their operational objectives and goals. I recommend this approach because it can promote more rapid-fire and informed decision-making at H2o Solutions.

Appropriateness of the Approach to H2o Solutions and Their Priorities

H2o Solutions has grown and the centralized and top-down planning model originally used the by leadership team is now ineffective. The very employees H2o Solutions has hired now need to be integrated into the planning and goal-setting process. Because their business operations have grown, it is difficult for the senior leadership to manage the company effectively. They may experience challenges finding the time to focus on underperforming areas. By decentralizing, the senior leadership can delegate some of the mundane day-to-day decisions and responsibilities to some capable employees. From the case study, we can see that H2o Solutions hired people who demonstrated a high level of emotional intelligence from its inception. Therefore, the company has the most skilled associates since they are smart, innovative, highly collaborative, relational, and team-based (Daft & Marcic, 2010). These people can offer insightful opinions and bring on the table some of the best decisions that can lead to business success. In the end, the senior leadership will have more time to commit to pressing matters such as developing ways to expand the business or increasing revenue (Dyck, & Neubert, 2008).

Benchmarks to Show That the New Approach is Working

Key performance indicators (KPIs) refer to methods employed to assess the performances of the decentralized structure periodically. In this section, I present two of the most important KPIs of the decentralized structure. The first KPI is Employee Turnover Rate (ETR). When measuring the success of the new structure, the company will take the number of workers who have quit and divide it by the average number of workers remaining in the company. If the outcome is a higher ETR, then H2o Solutions must revise its work environment and employee packages. Another KPI that can be used to measure the success of the proposed decentralized structure is employee satisfaction. Many employees will feel threatened by the new structure. Therefore, they may feel unhappy and dissatisfied. H2o Solutions should measure their feelings and satisfaction through surveys; this is vital for the new structure, as well as the overall organizational health.

Points of Resistance When Implementing the New Planning and Goal-Setting Strategy

The organizational structure change is inevitable because of the constant change in customer and markets, as well as political and social pressures (Sinofsky & Iansiti, 2009). The executive management team of H2o Solutions must understand that resistance to change is a behavioral and emotional response by the affected individuals to imagined threats to an established work routine. Therefore, they must expect resistance at the following points:

Breaking Routines. Human beings tend to create habits and find it challenging to break behavioral routines which the company considers no longer appropriate. They favor comfort zones by continuing their role patterns in the top-down organizational structure. Hence, people may resist the implementation of a decentralized structure because it may force them out of their comfort zones and demand investing more energy and time learning new role patterns (Cassidy, Kreitner, & Vanhuss, 2014).

Fear of Failure. People may feel that the change from a top-down, centralized structure to a decentralized structure is intimidating. As such, they may start doubting their capabilities. Such self-doubts can wear out their self-esteem and confidence and undermine their personal growth and development (Daft & Marcic, 2010). Therefore, employees may oppose the suggested change without considering the possible benefits of the new structure. Consequently, H2o Solutions may experience low output before the workers finally adapt and learn to live with the new structure.

Loss of Status. Shifting from a centralized, top-down to a decentralized approach is a major structural change, which can threaten to eliminate jobs or alter powerful positions. This can trigger the strongest resistance. In fact, the change may threaten to eliminate managerial positions. The executive management team of H2o Solutions should expect middle managers to resist the change, as they would feel it might reduce their status and authority, which they already enjoy in the company (Sinofsky & Iansiti, 2009).