Communicating Change

Mike Love

Some background reading that inspired these change teams ...

Leading Change (1996) John P. Kotter‘Why Firms Fail’

• Allowing too much complacency– The absence of a major and visible crisis– Too much happy talk from senior management– Capacity for denial – Kill the messenger of bad news– Lack of sufficient performance feedback from external sources– Internal measurement focus on wrong measures– Goals that focus on narrow functional or operational targets

• Failure to create a sufficiently powerful guiding coalition• Underestimating the power of vision• Under-communicating the vision• Permitting obstacles to block the new vision• Failing to create short-term wins• Declaring victory too soon• Neglecting to anchor changes firmly in the corporate culture

Good to Great (2001) Jim Collins

• On the bus: Get the right people on the bus and in the right places, and get the wrong people off. Understanding what ‘valuing the greatest’ asset means

• Confront the Brutal Facts: Employee, customer, NGO, government and expert consultation and engagement to reality check criticism and resolve to change

• Hedgehog Concept: Identify what we are passionate about, what drives our economic engine and what we can be the best in the world at

• Culture of Discipline: Think and act differently with ‘Freedom within a framework’ responsibility

• Flywheel (not Doom Loop): Communicate positively creating momentum, energising the business, building up and breaking through without a ‘miracle moment’

• Technology Accelerators: The question is not what is the role of technology but how do you think differently about technology

McDonald’s 2002-04

A major global corporate turnaround involving internal and externalstakeholder engagement, product re-engineering and new product development,

the launch of the corporation’s first-ever global brand theme and ... A total focus on getting customers to fall back in love with the Golden Arches

Falling out of love with the Golden Arches... Anti-Globalisation ... Anti-Americanism ... Anti-Fast Food Movement... Green Issues ...Union Strikes ... Animal Rights Campaigns ... Advertising to Children ... Obesity Epidemic ...... and a changing market place with New Competition

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2004200220001998

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6

Total Rev $bnNet Income $bn

Big Mac’s Big Dipper

The McPlan to Win ... Listening & Learning ... “OpenDoors” programmes New products ... New formulations ... Less Salt ... Free Range Eggs ... Fair Trade Coffee ... New restaurant designs ... Free Wi-Fi ... New Brand Theme

The Flywheel Effect

Move forwardwith new thinkingand new actions

Communicate and celebratevisible change and real results

Energise people

Build momentum

Earn trust

“McDonald’s pulled off a remarkable comeback”*

The ‘Good to Great’** McPlan To Win

• On the bus: New leadership teams, Change drivers , importing and championing of expertise

• Confront the Brutal Facts: Total honesty, no sacred cows and fact/research based market analysis – listen, learn and make real changes to product, supply-chain, buildings, technology, employment and marketing

• Hedgehog Concept: What are we the best at – not just good at – drives competency and strengths focus

• Culture of Discipline: Think and act differently with ‘Freedom within a framework’ responsibility

• Flywheel (not Doom Loop): Communicate positively creating momentum, energising the business, building up and breaking through without a ‘miracle moment’

• Technology Accelerators: New design concepts, new kitchen concepts (‘Made for You’), new supply chain processes, new communication channels, new R&D focus and commitment to future-thinking

* The Economist October 16 2004** Good to Great (2001) by Jim Collins – Consultant to the McPlan to Win Team

Microsoft 2005-06

Creation of a new One company narrative and development of storytelling to support rapid change, global growth, product and services re-positioning and brand

development in face of major external issues challenges and internal over-complexity and lack of strategic clarity

Complexity of growth

One Company Narrative• Seeing Microsoft how others see us• Being clear about how we want them to see

us – and WHY• Understanding that “every touch with the

brand counts”• Creating a unified communications story

bringing in relevant elements from business groups as a One Company story

• Understanding the structure and elements of a story (see graphic)

• Train our storytellers to be true evangelists• Every employee is a storyteller• Totally integrated internal-external approach

– breaking down audience silos

Living the brand• Country based seminars and workshops

• Regional road-show events

• Online training modules

• Integration of web based internal communication channels – including new webcasts, podcasts, ‘Postcard From J-P’ and ‘Neil Unplugged’

• Ongoing engagement through the change process (change never ends?)

BT 2009-2010Major turnaround of BT’s £8bn “growth engine” business division to return the

division and company to profitability led by a new CEO and executive team developing a new strategic Blueprint and Operating Model. A change communication challenge to

take over 20,000 Global services employees in 170 countries on the journey.

BT Growth Engine Stalls• In 2007, BT Global Services had become the global

leader in networked IT services in just five years since formation. Identified by City as the future growth engine

• This had been created by global expansion and rapid revenue growth but insufficient profitability

• By 2009, reported £1.9bn losses, CEO replaced with largely new executive team, new business planning and creation of a Turnaround Team

• BTGS’s 20,000+ employees in 170 countries demoralised, de-motivated and blamed!

Resetting the compass• Reality check and admission of failures

– Reviewed, restructured and replaced leadership and account management teams– Reassessed and restated new business objectives

• Acknowledged the need for change and chart the new direction– Refreshed business strategy articulated in the ‘The BTGS Blueprint’– Evolved new operating model built on a new customer-centric business, focused on three defined markets, and an

understanding that our offer is a value proposition focused on eight core capabilities and world-leading strengths

• Create the new story map and engage people with change– Global executive-led road-show starting ‘The Difference is You’ engage for change programme

BTGS delivers market leading networked IT products and services that are critical to our customers’ success.We work with our customers to create new value while helping them to operate more effectively and efficiently

OurGoals

What we do

How we do it

What weoffer

What wesell

Who weSell to

Create increased and sustainable profitability for our shareholders by helping to make BT a better business through providing predictable, consistent and right first time service and

delivery for our customers

Refocusing from country to customer, product to proposition, revenue to profit, complexity to simplicity and from a tribal to a collaborative business culture with increased product & service standardisation, service consistency & cost transparency

UK DomesticCorporate & Public Sectors

Global Multinational Company Customers BTGS Enterprises

Consolidating, converging and extending our business with existing customers

ImprovedOperational

Efficiencyof IP

WorkAnywhere

ImprovedOperational

Efficiencyof IT

UnifyComms

MakeContact centresefficient

Optimise Networkcentric security

Enhance Professional

Services

Global Banking & Financial Services

Network services | Data centre services | Voice services | Unified Comms & collaboration | Contact centres Network security | Remote working | Converged service management | Sustainability services & solutions

The BTGS Turnaround Story

Engage for change• Regular and totally open CEO all-employee web-casts and online Q&A sessions and

external stakeholder trust-building programme

• Staged ‘The Difference is You’ internal communication through print, online and events

• Two phases of local road-shows involving all customer-facing employees:– The first set out the past, present and future story explaining the new strategic focus and the difference people need

to make to win and the way we needed to engage customers with the changes to take place– Second phase meetings celebrated quick wins and identified heroes who had Made A Difference, and showcased

customer stories to create a sense of urgency reinforced by knowledge that momentum of success was building

• External analyst, media and City engagement to tell the story, set milestones, shape expectations and build trust

Lessons...• Leadership needs to exercise total honesty and transparency identifying strengths

and weaknesses and developing clarity of purpose and vision• Companies need to see themselves as others see them – to be able to see

themselves outside-in• Change communication is most effective when driven from the inside-out• Employees (and other stakeholders) need to see the vision, journey and

milestones – understanding what it means for them, what they need to do and how they can think and act differently

• Everybody needs to believe that there is a plan• It is vital to identify and celebrate successes on the way to demonstrate

momentum and to communicate a drum-beat of motivating and inspiring news• Companies that succeed through change, understand that creating change is

foremost about people• People need to be engage heart, soul and mind