Design Dilemma: Positioning Organization Design Capabilities within an Org for Effectiveness

In our third Design Dilemma – a new format we are experimenting with allowing a fellow practitioner to share an organization design challenge they have and getting perspectives from others, we explored . . . 

Where should Org Design reside?

Context: For over fifteen years we have invested in providing dedicated internal organization design capabilities to our business unit leaders. In all this time the organization design professionals (3 FTEs) have always been under the Corporate HR umbrella. Org design grew out of a practice started within the Workforce Development org and later moved to the Total Rewards org when HR was re-organized, and the Workforce Development group was restructured.

Desired Outcome: While HR management has been willing to provide a home for org design capabilities, the capabilities are not core to HR’s value proposition. HR management seeks to understand how best to position our organization design capabilities.

Three focus questions to entertain:

1. Where should org design capabilities reside within a corporate structure to reap the greatest benefit from this specialized knowledge and skillset?
2. How could the operating model be structured to effectively utilize these resources to deliver value? Considering the end-to-end flow from how org design projects enter the organization, are prioritized, and supported.
3. What should governance that determines project intake and prioritization look like? Is it a single functional manager or a steering committee (if so, which roles and what decision criteria are needed)?