Specialist advisory
Target Operating Model
Translate strategy into a coherent blueprint for capabilities, work, organisation and governance.
A target operating model describes how an organisation intends to deliver value in the future.
We help define the integrated choices across capabilities, processes, structure, roles, governance, location, sourcing, technology and workforce.
How we can help
- Design principles
- Capability model
- Value streams and activities
- Organisation structure
- Governance and decision rights
- Role and workforce implications
- Location and sourcing
- Technology and data dependencies
- Transition states
- Implementation roadmap
Questions this work should answer
- What value must the model deliver?
- Which capabilities are differentiating?
- Where should work sit?
- How will teams and partners interact?
- What organisation and workforce changes follow?
- What sequence is achievable?
Visual process
From issue to implementation
01
Frame
Clarify the business question, stakeholders, scope, evidence and success criteria.
02
Diagnose
Review current arrangements, data, employee outcomes, market context, cost and risk.
03
Design
Develop practical options, model implications and test the preferred direction.
04
Embed
Translate decisions into governance, documentation, communication and sustainable operation.
Typical outcomes
- A coherent future-state blueprint
- Aligned organisation and governance choices
- Defined workforce implications
- Clear transition states
- A practical implementation roadmap
A balanced decision framework
Business
Alignment with strategy, operating priorities, capability and affordability.
People
Fairness, clarity, employee value, behaviour and the manager experience.
Delivery
Data, systems, governance, communication and practical implementation.
Related expertise
Turning a target operating model into practical choices
A target operating model describes how an organisation intends to deliver its strategy through capabilities, processes, people, technology and governance. An organisation chart is only one part of that description. The model should clarify how work reaches the customer, where decisions sit and how teams depend on one another.
Start with the service and capability requirements
Define the outcomes customers and stakeholders need, then identify the capabilities required to deliver them. Examine where the current model creates delay, duplication or unclear ownership. Use those findings to establish design principles and criteria for comparing future options.
Make the key trade-offs explicit
Decisions may involve central versus local ownership, specialist versus generalist capability, shared services or external provision. Assess the implications for control, responsiveness, cost and resilience. Specify important interfaces and decision rights rather than assuming that a new reporting line will resolve them.
How is this different from restructuring?
Restructuring changes elements of the organisation, often including roles and reporting lines. A target operating model provides the wider explanation of how the business should work, which may or may not require restructuring. It helps ensure that changes to people are supported by corresponding process and system decisions.
What makes the model implementable?
Translate the design into a sequenced roadmap with capability gaps, dependencies, accountable owners and measurable outcomes. Identify interim arrangements where the full model cannot be introduced at once. We connect organisation design, workforce planning and reorganisation support so that the target becomes a practical programme of change.
Discuss target operating model
Reward Associates can provide independent, senior-led support from initial diagnosis through design and implementation.