culture change / organisational change

case study - organisational change

The Brief

As a strategic supplier to the medical, aerospace and communications industries, Wesgo Metals has enjoyed a distinguished position in the precious metals market for many decades.  Customer research showed that customers thought Wesgo had an excellent product, but that they needed to be faster on their feet and a little less stuck in their ways.  The organisational change programme was designed to address these issues by focusing on the themes of organisational development, leadership development and account management.

The Outcome

Outcomes from the culture change theme included:

  • measurement and description of the current culture
  • an understanding of the internal causes of customer feedback
  • identification of the most effective levers for culture change
  • development of mission, values and vision
  • strategy development for the organisation as a whole, followed by cascaded departmental strategies, objectives, targets and initiatives

 Through the leadership development theme:

  • the top team gained 360 feedback which described their individual impact on organisational culture and the ability of those around them to achieve their objectives
  • personal development plans were prepared and incorporated into the review process

 The account management theme included:

  • an introduction to the concept and theory of account management
  • development of two strategic account plans which showed clearly the expected financial outcome, customer value propositions and operational implications for making these a reality
  • the learning and growth necessary for the strategy to be successful

Methodology

The Organisational Culture Inventory® (OCI) was used to measure current culture and identify the ideal culture.  Levers for change were found using Organisational Effectiveness Inventory™ (OEI).  This data formed the basis for a workshop whose output was the development of a plan for culture change, which included cultural targets.

Strategy maps linked to the balanced scorecard, provided a pictorial and intuitive way of developing and communicating strategy at organisational and departmental level.  This process enabled objectives, targets, measures and initiatives to be derived.  A key feature of this was the ability to align departmental plans with the organisational plan.

In order to promote teamwork and communication the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® was used.  This provided the leadership team with valuable information which enabled them to play to their strengths and avoid blind spots – especially in the people area.  Leadership Impact® was used as the basis for 360 feedback.  At its heart is the same culture model as is used in the OCI and OEI; this was beneficial from the perspectives of integration and continuity.

The account management theme included:

  • audit your customer’s market and their competitors in detail, through research
  • understand your account and develop the customer value propositions which will enhance their business
  • be flexible and adapt what you sell and how you sell it so that you really meet your customer’s needs
  • align the account team with the rest of the organisation for support and meeting targets
  • build action plans and assign ownership of them within your organisation; develop a customer communications plan

 Client Feedback

  • Firstly, Nova were very approachable and treated us like they genuinely cared for the team members during this programme.  They were very free with comments and did not hold back or tell us what we wanted to hear. They told us the way it was and even if we did not like the results, they made us understand what we needed to do and why we were in the situation we were in.   There were naysayers during the process and Nova worked with the management team to develop methods and approaches to turn these people around.
  • Nova were very focused in their approach to identifying, evaluating, and suggesting an approach to solving our needs.  Wesgo had been conducting business in the same mode for over 75  years.  The company has always be profitable but the problem as I saw it was to break out of this mould and be even more successful.  Nova used the OCI to evaluate not only the management team's attitudes towards our business, but more importantly how the workers in the plant see our business, and the leadership team.
  • We then determined the ideal culture and using the OEI, identified four key levers for change.  These levers for change were then used to develop the Wesgo Inc, mission, vision and values statement.  The mission, vision and values were used to develop the departmental balanced scorecard and the overall Wesgo Inc. balanced scorecard and strategy maps.
  • The work done has allowed us to understand what our customers want and how we can implement change to meet these needs.  All employees in our business have an understanding of where we started, what our goals are and the steps we are taking to get there.  This is a powerful statement that not many companies can boast of.
  • Our levels of success will depend on how involved our employees are in the process. Management’s role is to define the mission, develop the culture and provide the tools to move the business forward. Our employees are our strongest asset and getting all of them working together on a set of common goals is the key to success.
  • Approaching business with key customers to develop strategic alliances and partnerships is a new concept to Wesgo.  We have always had key accounts but have not approached account management in the depth that we have been exposed to during this training.
  • This program is not a short term fix nor will results be achieved in 60, 90 or even 180 days.  It is a culture shift and this takes time.  We have to walk the talk and do what we say we are going to do to make the changes happen and then be able to sustain them for long term growth.
  • I would highly recommend Nova Connection and this program. We will be a better company for using his approach.

Bill Browne

General Manager, Wesgo Metals - a division of Morgan Advanced Ceramics