A Sample Case Study
Outlined below is a simple case study highlighting some of the results a Changeworks program helped to achieve.

Client
A privately held business-to-business services company with Canadian sales in excess of $100m retained Changeworks services to improve top line sales and bottom-line efficiency in a mature competitor rich marketplace while increasing team synchronicity.

Solution
An overarching culture change that supported the company's new business goals. Some of the components of the intervention included the following:

• Gathered information on the company's (then) current state including communication practices and methods

• Determined the company's desired state

• Identified the appropriate new business objectives

• Applied gap analysis model to decide where to make the changes

• Determined the cultural barriers, identified the breakthrough actions and developed training models for the various audiences including follow up sessions

• Developed and implemented measurements and a reward strategy for success so that all employees had a vested interest in achieving the articulated vision and revenue targets

• An "internal marketing" framework was created to delineate the change initiative

• A skills training program and a personal coaching program was implemented with the senior management team delivered in tandem with team trainings. There were revisions to the management style and measurement systems and decisions were made to best support the new "desired state" of the company going forward.

• Several one-week training programs (with separate follow-up sessions) were launched for the sales and service staff to be motivated and engaged, develop new skills while ensuring consistency across the region.

The program was staged over several months to ensure that the training was not an event but a process so that the change could be reinforced at the culture level and the key skills and behaviors could be maintained and further developed over time. This also allowed the team to continually refine the transition strategy as needed.

Result

After the first quarter and subsequently the full fiscal year of the program there was a significant lift in revenue and all new business targets were exceeded

• The team was rewarded for accomplishing their goals with a predetermined event

• Cross function communication improved and enhanced client service and improved client retention. Internal team performance was enhanced and turnover decreased

• The regional offices started leveraging the experiences and knowledge from each other. This improved the mentorship throughout the region

• There was a significant shift in mindset, which supported the ongoing achievement of goals.

• The culture successfully shifted from a "status quo - we've always done it this way" mentality to a proactive and progressive mindset "what else can I do - to increase business - streamline processes - help my colleagues - etc "

Conclusion
Experience and research indicate that creating a flexible plan, embedding the change initiative at the cultural level of an organization with a focus on the supporting the people with resources to be able to make the change will ensure that the organization realizes their results. While there is no "right culture" when exploring various culture change models, there is an optimal culture for each organization based on the true mission that will propel their results. Implementing a modest change first, designed to deliver an immediate impact will often give the employees a sense of security, accomplishment and a platform of synchronization to build from.