Business processes in trouble? Don’t ignore your people!​

smart/consult & smart/bench case studies

In our experience, behaviours and business processes are interdependent. If behaviours change or become polarised, business processes will suffer – and vice versa. This was very much the case at one popular carrier. Senior leaders had begun to compete against one another, instead of working towards business objectives. In some divisions, managers needed written permission in order to speak to team members! Clearly a change was needed, and thankfully senior leadership was very supportive.​

Our task was to help this client re-write their rules of employee engagement, and help them understand how this ‘vicious circle’ could be transformed into a successful ‘virtuous circle’ instead.

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Our first step was to create a rich, blended 12-month programme of engaging in-person events, facilitated by ourselves and with the help of a business psychologist. Our aim was to remind our client of the journey they’d taken to-date, and to create a better sense of belonging and pride in the business. We helped our client to see how fractured their teams had become, and how certain behaviours that had filtered through the business were harming its reputation. We developed a series of events and activities to help the leadership team rewrite the company values, and re-think the behaviours and businesses processes that would bring these to life. To fully engage the whole business, and educate staff in the new processes, we developed a communications and engagement campaign featuring a documentary series with interactive media. All of this helped embed the new, enhanced ways of working right into the heart of the business.​

Our client reported a complete transformation in culture, with truly collaborative behaviours exhibited by the leadership team which filtered through to all employees. Our feedback survey highlighted an astonishing 95% improvement in team productivity, supported by the new processes we had embedded. The business culture been completely transformed, and as a result operational improvements and financial performance accelerated, too. Most important of all, this has been a transformation that has stood the test of time – even throughout the tough times we’ve recently experienced during the pandemic​