Skip to main content

Typical business questions

Kerri Kennedy
Updated

This article summarizes typical business questions for maintaining organization effectiveness and efficiency.

Insight requirements usually fall into one of the following three categories:

  • The size and cost of the workforce: Do we have the right number of people in the right places at the right cost?
  • The organization structure: Are line management reporting relationships efficient and effective?
  • The composition of the workforce: Do we face risk due to the profile of our workforce?


With Orgvue, you can always get beyond overall, company-wide data to visualise differences across the organization structure and get the detailed insights needed to identify where action is needed. 

 

Workforce size and Cost

Do we have the right number of people in the right places at the right cost?

  • What is the size and cost of the workforce based on current, in-situ employees?
  • What is the full potential size and cost of the workforce based on all open positions?
  • What will be future workforce size and cost based on positions opening and closing (e.g., at Q1, Q3, Q3 ….)?
  • Are grade/ reward frameworks being applied consistently?
  • Is the workforce cost base sustainable?
  • Are there costs tied-up with aged open positions which could be repurposed? (Are managers ‘sandbagging’ open positions?)
  • Do we have high levels of spend on contractors/ consultants?
  • Is actual compensation in line with the planned position costs?
  • Do we face risk through unfilled critical positions?
  • Is employee compensation on-target for the role being performed?

 

Organization Structure

Are line management reporting relationships efficient and effective?
Spans and Layers (see Introduction to Spans and Layers analysis)

  • Do we have the right split of managers and non-managers for effective people management?
  • Do we have a high number of managers with narrow spans of control adding to avoidable management overhead costs?
    • How many micro teams and 1-2-1 reporting relationships exist?
  • Are there managers with excessive management spans (with little opportunity to add value beyond providing oversight?)
  • How many layers does the structure extend to?  Do we have excessive layers slowing speed of execution?
  • How many managers have off-target spans of control? 
  • How many people are positioned beyond the target number of layers?

Reporting Grade Distance (See Introduction to Grade Reporting Distance analysis)

  • To what extent do we risk inefficient or ineffective line management through grade reporting distances which are …
    • Compressed, with the risk of micro-management, overlapping work, and limited opportunity for professional development
    • Stretched, with the risk that managers are too remote to provide effective day-to-day, operational direction
    • Reversed, with risk that operational effectiveness and the workforce cost base is being materially impacted


The composition of the workforce 

Do we face risk due to the profile of our workforce?
Gender diversity and pay differences

  • Do we face risk through insufficient gender diversity?
  • What is our workforce gender split?
  • Do we have sufficient gender diversity at senior levels/ higher organizational layers?
  • Do we have sufficient gender diversity across our population of people managers?
  • Do we face risk through gender compensation differences?

Age, tenure and retirement risks

  • Does the age and generational profile of our workforce reflect our target markets?
  • Do we have an appropriate mix of age and generations across teams?
  • Do we face risk through an aging workforce?
  • What proportion of our workforce is approaching retirement age?
  • What is the tenure profile of the workforce?
  • Do we have an appropriate blend of experience and fresh perspectives within our teams?


Related articles:

Comments

0 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.