COACH ORGANIZATION TO PROJECT ORGANIZATION
Julien is the HR VP of the subsidiary of CAC 40 group; Since the joint venture with a German company, this subsidiary has had a competitive relationship with them. Sales are slowly increasing. Senior employees are resisting to change and junior employees who have been working for the company for 1 or 2 years, no longer rely on their senior colleagues. They do not feel acknowledge when making proposals so that the company is separated into two “clans”. The CEO wants to change the organization and build a client centric organization.
SYNARGIES designed the following solution: In order to engage people and speed up change, SYNARGIES was acting as a coach. Our goal was to coach the cultural and organizational change using a cooperative model and employee-centric approach. To start with, we designed a steering committee with co-designed specific rules. These rules were intitled to facilitate volunteering and natural selection. Participants were representative of the company (positions, seniority, gender, expertise). The steering committee was coached by Nathalie STEINBERG. They were in charge of coaching 3 volunteering project teams. The project teams were coached to co-design 2 client-centric organization models and work on the action plan connected to developing a client centric culture. SYNARGIES’s strategy consisted in building a symmetrical employees’ and clients’ experience.
In order to build the project organization, the executive team called for 80 employees. They could apply to take part in this co-building strategy thanks to specific rules. The second step consisted in having the steering comity co-design a one-day appreciative inquiry which purpose was to decide on the projects that would be supporting the new client-centric organization and co-design of the organization models. Within six months, two organizational proposals were made to the CEO. The social partners were satisfied with this operating mode. They kept an eye on the evolution of the process, while letting it happen.
The CFO was invited into the process to highlight the different organizational scenarios in terms of financial impact. It made it possible to rationalize the proposals. The establishment of rules governing all bargaining relationships at all levels of the organization during this work helped to break down certain baronies and to open a constructive dialogue with senior management.
This process allowed some young people to emerge. It led the CEO to gradually change his management style into a more cooperative model. It increased employees ‘commitment and aroused the curiosity of other BUs including one who decided to proceed in this way to clarify its offer and strengthen its customer relationship. The organization is now in place. The more senior employees let themselves be influenced in their position and communicate more with the project organization in place. The communication model governing the executive team opened up. The company and their CEO became aware of their transformation potential.
