Great teams don’t just happen, they are thoughtfully planned. Organizational Effectiveness Consulting is a service offered by VCU Human Resources to strategically partner with employees and leaders. An engagement with this team can help tackle challenges and achieve effective, diverse and high-performing teams across the university by providing diagnosis and coaching.
With roots in inclusive employee practices, organizational design, organizational development, lean processes, and leveraging technology, the consulting process focuses on creating cultures of belonging, removing obstacles, identifying efficiencies and helping transform teams to realize their true potential.
Organizational Effectiveness Consulting offers customized plans comprising a variety of strategies and services designed to fit schools’ and units' unique needs. Our goal is to assist teams, individuals and leaders across the university in succeeding in different ways, including:
Organizational and culture assessment
Organizational design
Recruitment, recognition, reward and retention strategies
Process improvement
Performance measurement
Strategic planning
Culture and change management
Learning and development programs
Leadership assessments
Coaching
Team development
Personal development
Our interactive consulting process is built on a strong partnership between our team and client stakeholders. The process includes:
Initial intake, where we identify goals, objectives and measurements for success
Data collection and discovery, to inform and support engagement planning
Contracting, where we create a roadmap for engagement with activities, initiatives, timelines, and measurement
Engagement implementation, including the completion of engagement activities as per the engagement contract
Check-ins to follow up on activities and measure/track overall success of engagement
Starting with the initial request and continuing throughout the entire Organizational Effectiveness Consulting engagement, our mission is to provide a collaborative, engaging experience for our client partners and stakeholders. Open collaboration is critical to understanding a school/unit's specific needs and building a customized engagement plan for success. Throughout an engagement, our partners can expect:
Tailored, individualized engagement plans based on specific needs
Thorough, detailed (and sometimes tough!) questions
Realistic, transparent expectations including associated costs (if applicable), individual roles and responsibilities and anticipated timeframes
A culture of continuous, professional and multi-directional feedback
VCU has a collective charge to achieve, sustain and grow inclusive excellence into the core aspects of our institution — our academic priorities, leadership, decision-making, operations, community engagement and organizational cultures. Achieving an inclusive and appreciative culture at work begins with leadership and employees.
Organizational Effectiveness Consulting engages and energizes teams by identifying a better way for them to do their best work. Teams that learn how to foster an inclusive work environment take their success to a new level!
How much do you charge for your services?
Our internal organizational effectiveness services are provided at no cost to schools, units or departments. For engagements that include external consulting resources, those costs will be charged to the client unit.
What are the consultants' credentials?
Our team members come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Credentials and skill sets are wide ranging including learning development and design, organizational development & structures, coaching, team skill assessments, business analytics, and much more.
What types of things are included in a contract?
The contracting conversation, and subsequent contract, includes items such as roles and responsibilities of all parties, engagement goals and objectives, outcomes and measures of success, specific engagement activities, timelines and any costs associated (if applicable).
Will my request remain confidential? What will be shared with my teammates, department, etc.?
These engagements are not confidential. Our process includes collaborative and transparent interaction between all parties. As each engagement is different, applicable and appropriate information for the specific engagement will be shared among appropriate team members.
What situations are suitable or unsuitable for an engagement?
Anything may be part of our engagements. Part of our role is to consult with you and help navigate the best path.
For questions or additional information about organizational effectiveness, contact Bobbi Gouffon, Director of Organizational Effectiveness, at gouffonb@vcu.edu.