Delivering benefits from investment in change
An essential part of everyday business
The need for effective benefits realisation has never been greater and this has been widely acknowledged across the business community in the UK, crossing all professional boundaries. Within this context, the key questions are firstly: why do organisations keep on investing in change if they do not have sufficient confidence that benefits will be realised? Secondly, how can organisations truly embed benefits realisation as part of everyday business activity?
In recent years, there has been significant publicity about the need for successful benefits realisation with few organisations arguing that it is not a necessity. Consequently, there has been a considerable amount of effort invested in benefits realisation activity with many organisations experiencing mixed results. The time is right now, for organisations to focus on truly embedding this capability across their entire management team. The prize is not optional, it is an absolute necessity for organisations, particularly in the current economic climate. This journey takes time and there will be many challenges to overcome, some behavioural.
Many organisations have repeatedly tried to implement benefits realisation practices and the feedback is that it didn’t work or it is too challenging. It is important to distinguish between what may not have been implemented effectively from what simply will never work. Too often, the former gets confused with the latter. This report outlines five essential strategies for success to embed a strong benefits management capability as an essential part of everyday business activity.
They are:
- Embed a strong focus on ownership and accountability through good governance, including proactive leadership at every level in the organisation;
- Stop repeating the same mistakes;
- Seize the window of opportunity to embed benefits realisation – it doesn’t last forever;
- Bring together the right people across the organisation; and
- Focus on bottom line business results.
The remainder of this report discusses the five interdependent strategies in more detail.