When rapid growth led to overwhelm and conflict, a change in culture was needed
When the CEO called me, he was feeling overwhelmed, and described himself as a “victim of the organisation’s success.”
This small, successful organisation had grown quickly from 15 to 50 employees in two years, with offices in five countries.
Employees were committed but the CEO felt that he was constantly acting as a referee in the disagreements between the directors and team members.
Determining the Challenge
I conducted a diagnostic process, using the Jones Alignment Model to find out what was working well and what people were finding challenging in the way the organisation operated.
Deciding the Changes Needed
I shared my findings with employees from across the organisation. We then worked together to explore the issues and come up with a plan for making the changes that were needed.
The plan included:
Establishing an inclusive and empowering approach to strategy development
Empowering managers to have autonomy in terms of budgets and sign off on expenditure
Establishing a People and Culture function
Putting in place learning programmes for people management, leadership, diversity and inclusion, collaboration, conflict resolution and change management.
Establishing clear decision-making processes
Enabling employees who worked remotely to participate and contribute equally
Delivering the Action Plan
Each area was led by a small group of employees who took responsibility for delivering their part of the plan.
I worked alongside the senior managers and CEO, coaching them as they navigated the change programme.
When we evaluated the programme after 6 months, employees reported:
“Now I feel trusted and can get on with the work much more efficiently.”
“I used to work part-time, but now I love my job so much I’ve asked if I can work full time.”
“We’ve come so far, it’s hard to imagine that we used to have to ask every time we needed to spend even the smallest amount of money.”
“I have so much more head-space to think about the things I should be thinking about instead of being lost in the details.” (CEO)
“We still have challenges but now I feel like we are really flying.”
“We used to have a top-down culture, now we all take responsibility for making things work well.”
“I used to feel left out and excluded, now I have a voice and people really listen to me.”
“With Liz we have found innovative ways to support culture and behavioural change. Liz is innovative and pragmatic, a visionary rooted in reality. Her warmth makes her a person that I’m always delighted to work with”