Reviving a jaded workforce to support a new business . . .

The situation

The dot.com crash left this Asia-Pacific telecommunications provider with a tough road to recovery - for the business and for the remaining workforce after five tranches of retrenchments. The rebuilding and refocusing effort was further complicated by the decision to merge the company (which had operated as a stand-alone business) with its parent company.

      The challenge

The business was accelerating the pace of change to adapt to a changed market. The client needed a comprehensive engagement strategy, to be implemented over a six-month timeframe, to:

• focus employees on business direction and priorities

• build effective communication between management and staff

• provide a coordinated communication program across a disparate workforce

• transition employees to a new employer, including a new enterprise agreement, structural, role and culture changes

• maintain business and customer retention targets throughout the change program

      Response

A comprehensive employee engagement strategy was developed and deployed, providing a stronger strategic approach to the management of content, timing and distribution of information across the business. Activities such as learning and development, health and safety, changed work practices were all considered as part of the plan.

• Initial engagement and involvement achieved by pre-testing messages and content of critical communication elements with staff prior to widespread release.

• A leadership communication program was developed to build leadership visibility and strengthen front-line communication capability.

• A phased series of focus groups was run with representative groups of employees to probe attitudes and issues.

• Senior management endorsed a series of recommendations arising from the research, which increased credibility of the groups throughout the workforce.

• Every employee was re-inducted into the business to strengthen alignment and understanding of the post-merger environment.

Results

• Subsequent focus groups revealed a significant improvement in staff attitudes and morale around a wide range of topics, tending against the normal morale slump associated with the early stages of mergers.

• Virtually every measure in the EOS recorded an increase in favourability. The organisation also increased its performance relative to other companies participating in the survey.

• Nearly 100% of employees accepted offers of employment with the new organisation (the employment conditions varied significantly between the client company and the parent organisation).

• The enterprise agreement used as a the vehicle to transfer staff to the new organisation recorded the highest participation rate and the highest "yes" vote ever recorded by the acquiring organisation.

• New forms of communication introduced are now managed by the client organisation.

 Maintaining value in a financial services merger . . .

The situation

Maintaining shareholder value was the aim and challenge in merging two disparate financial services organisations in Victoria. One, the state-based bank, had a loyally parochial customer base. The other, a national and trans-Tasman operation, offered a broad product suite with brisk service but had limited traction in the Victorian market. The newly merged operation would be branded in a refreshed version of the Victorian bank’s livery.

      The challenge

Customers, the market, community and staff were initially sceptical that the new organisation would be anything other than the national wolf in Victorian sheep’s clothing. The strategy to engage disparate stakeholders over a 10-month timeframe needed to:

•  Maintain the confidence of customers from both organisations that the new organisation would continue to meet their needs

•  Satisfy regulatory requirements, including strict ACCC merger conditions

•  Mitigate community concerns about dwindling bank presence and services

•  Develop the profile and credibility of the new management team

•  Reassure opinion leaders that the new organisation could retain and build market share

•  Continue the successful operation of the two disparate banks for 10 months pre-merger

•  Include a pilot program in three discrete geographic regions six weeks prior to the 'big bang' merger date

•  Maintain staff morale during change and equip them to be the united face of the new organisation, with transition to include:

  •   A new enterprise agreement

  •   Transition to a single platform, product range and customer service standards

  •   Branch mergers, closures and relocations, with associated retrenchments

  •   A 'spill and fill' of all roles

  •   A new culture, representative of the aspirations of the new organisation

      Response

A comprehensive engagement strategy was developed and implemented by a team incorporating input from public affairs, internal communication, HR and marketing. The focus was consistency of messaging and timing, stakeholder consultation, and regular and informal communication.
Preliminary work included:

•  Communication and cultural audits of both organisations

•  Qualitative research with representative community and staff groups

•  Identification of potential quick wins

•  Coaching for the leadership team in communication and media

•  Development of a pictorial map and script of the organisation's vision and the key steps of the journey

•  Development of an identity for internal merger communication

•  Establishment of a forum of representative staff 'champions' from both organisations

•  Establishment of separate operational and general employee/aspirational communication channels

Stakeholder strategies

The integrated strategy ensured each specialist area responsible for engagement with key stakeholder groups had consistent messaging and timing.
Face-to-face was the principal communication method used with each group:

•  Consultation and informal forums with customer representatives, co-ordinated by the marketing team

•  Informal briefings, manager visits and roadshows with employees, co-ordinated by the internal communication team

•  Consultation with unions, co-ordinated by HR and IR specialists

•  Consultative forums with community groups, co-ordinated by the public affairs team

•  Formal briefings with regulators, analysts and the media, co-ordinated by the public affairs team

•  Virtually every measure in the EOS recorded an increase in favourability. The organisation also increased its performance relative to other companies participating in the survey.

•  Nearly 100% of employees accepted offers of employment with the new organisation (the employment conditions varied significantly between the client company and the parent organisation).

•  New forms of communication introduced are now managed by the client organisation.
  

Results

•  Leadership team members, in particular the CEO, were committed to the integrated  engagement strategy, with the result that:

  •   Their own profile and credibility were raised by consistent, frequent and confident engagement with a range of stakeholders

  •   The co-ordinated approach, initially resisted by the marketing group, was strongly endorsed by the leadership team and ultimately proved successful for consistent messaging and delivery

•  Staff remained highly motivated throughout the merger period, with high levels of trust in the  leadership team and the new organisation's direction, despite a six-month period of  uncertainty about individual roles going forward

•  Customer levels for both organisations were maintained during the 10-month merger period.  Post-merger, the new organisation increased market share during its first year of operation.