Focus.com Research Brief on Change

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General Management
Change is Inevitable - Embrace it and Capitalize on
Your Strengths
ANALYSIS BY: Robert A. Marchello, Managing Member - CFO/VP/Dir of Finance
PUBLISHED: Nov 17 2010
AUDIENCE: SMB Decision Makers, Enterprise Decision Makers
TOPICS: Robert Marchello, accouting systems, corporate policy, small business strategies, change and
strategy facilitation, erp, crm software
Introduction
Change is a term that is universally met with resistance and hesitation. It is something that spans cities,
nations, continents and accompanied by similar responses in any culture or language. The second that the
reality that change is imminent sets in, leadership and employees immediately start to raise fences and
internalize alternatives to change. I will go out on a limb and say that this is the case three quarters of the
the time (or more). The purpose of this brief is to point out that change is not always painful and that
companies do successfully navigate change.
Analysis
My practical and educational experiences have provided me with a variety of good insights on the
possibilities that change presents. Currently I am engaged with a company that is in the middle of a
strategic organizational change. The company has adopted new systems, a new vision and mission, a new
corporate strategy and embraced a culture of strength based change. For a company of this size and
volume the change could have been a complete disaster; however, the leadership has managed to get
buy-in on key drivers of the change and is successfully implementing those drivers.
The company was experiencing a market place that was characterized by reduced revenues and increases
in business failures. The company itself experience a growth in revenue in 2009 while the industry was
contracting. However, leadership quickly realized that 2010 would not be as successful if it did not make
changes ahead of the market. There was a strong possibility that Revenue would be flat and cost to
execute projects would be on the rise. It realized that it needed to move from a culture of reactive problem
solving to proactive opportunity management.
As with any type of shift in organizational culture and/or strategy the Balanced Scorecard must be
consciously reviewed by leadership prior to embarking on change. The four areas of Finance, Customers,
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Internal Processes, and Employee Learning and Growth, must be incorporated into the change strategy in
order for it to truly span the organization and move the business forward. The company subconsciously
included all four areas in its change plan.
Currently the subject company is managing the change tremendously well, but this does not mean that it
was smooth sailing for the entire project. Throughout the early stages of the change the company
experienced bumps in the road and a few shifts in direction. This does not mean that it went backward at
any point, only that the momentum was shifted from time to time.
Some of the challenges the company faced included the rising cost of utilizing outside help, the resistance to
change from employees when the change agents did not have a vested stake in the business and the
substantial task of changing a culture that has be inherent in this company and the economy for decades.
The company drove through the challenges and the CEO/President successfully built a leadership team
around her that would allow for the company to navigate change internally and obtain buy-in from everyone.
The company is 100% committed to the change and has not strayed from the path despite challenges and
financial discipline that accompany change.
Now we will take a Balanced Scorecard peak into what the company did:
1) Financial - The company successfully launched a ERP, Accounting and CRM system that ties all areas
of the business together in one web-based application. Prior to the launch of this tool the company had 3
separate systems and no way to merge data without hundreds of hours of work. The system has allowed
the company to identify key cost drivers, measure the success of the sales team, measure the success of
projects and revamp its pricing.
2) Customers - Customers are quite possibly the most important aspect of any business because they are
the source of income. The company has a great history of pleasing its customers from a Sales/Marketing
point of view; however, it identified an opportunity to enhance the customer experience from an execution
and follow-up perspective. It first added depth to the Sales/Marketing and Strategic teams by adding two
key persons. It then dove completely into the understanding and utilization of the new tools the company had
acquired to manage projects.
3) Internal Process - The company implemented training and customization of the ERP system so that it
captures actionable data and engages employees in real time project management. The shift in process
from a paper based to a web based system has improved resource management and efficiency.
4) Employee Learning & Growth - This was an area that was sought out by the majority of employees
and leadership was absolutely going to include it in the change process. The company has a Talent
Management Program that is set to launch early next year that will address the employees need for
knowledge, acknowledgment and growth.
Conclusion
The subject company was able to successfully navigate the change process because it grounded the
process on several key points:
1) Complete buy-in and support of the leadership team
2) Buy-in of the employees and trust in their leaders
3) Flexibility from both the employees and leaders
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4) Consistency and 100% commitment to change
5) A Balance Approach to the four key areas: Financial, Customer, Internal Processes and Employee
Learning and Growth
6) A culture centered on Strength Based Change - proactively managing according to the positive rather
than reacting to the negative
7) Establishment of Key Performance Indicators that would allow the company to measure successes and
identify opportunities
8) Empowerment, gratitude and a sense of ownership must be the prevailing culture
The company not only embraced change, but is setting a new standard of success for Small/Medium Sized
Business. It is in the Top40 in its industry and with its determination, dedication and commitment to
proactive change, the sky is truly the limit.
1 Comment
Matthew 'Whiz' Buckley on Nov. 18, 2010
Great brief.
It is critical that the leadership be completely onboard. The employees will not
follow if the leaders are not committed to the new vision that brought about the
change. This is not an easy task and is where many companies fail.
Measuring the success with established and well known KPI's is also critical in my opinion.
If it's not measured, is didn't happen.
Whiz
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