Case study: Telecom IT Merger Integration Change Management
Situation: Two telecom companies undertake a merger, with a goal of achieving $13 billion in savings and structuring the new company for rapid growth.
In the new IT department (approximately 5,000 staff), the savings challenge was $400 million, to be accomplished within 36 months. While much of the savings would come from the rationalization and consolidation of large systems, other savings had to come from a new focus on process improvement and personal accountability. There was a certain amount of cynicism in the department that the savings would come at the expense of jobs; while there were staff reductions, this was not the primary goal of the merger synergy program.
Goal: The leadership wanted to achieve the targeted goal quickly and use the sense of urgency as a motivating factor and a desired behavior. The disparate organization needed to come together quickly as a new team to understand common goals, new ways of doing business and demonstrate progress. Yet while senior leadership was positioning the merger as a growth story, there was a countervailing theme of cost management.
Baseline: A survey with open-ended questions and focus groups identified the baseline. There was little understanding of the strategy, little knowledge of the merger and its goals, and trepidation about how new processes, systems and applications would be adopted.
The change management plan was developed with these approaches:
- CIO leadership to champion the initiative. The CIO held monthly “all-hands” meetings with synergy as a standing topic; he also conducted recognition programs, and delivered podcasts with his messages.
- Newsletters, produced every other week for consistent messaging, and linked to deeper content on the intranet, plus feedback mechanism. Each newsletter gave a news update on the campaign progress, profiled a member of the new IT department, gave examples of role-model behavior and explained large or complex projects.
- Thermometer charts and standard reports to document tangible savings, published weekly, along with the guidelines for how reports are compiled, promoting transparency. Reports were audited by a separate finance organization, and detailed records were maintained.
- Contests and games, promoting an environment of openness, demonstrating that good ideas can come from everywhere. One contest rewarded ideas for software application efficiency and process improvements, others led participants to explore elements of the strategy for prize drawings.
- Recognition and rewards, including peer rewards and recognition for role-model behaviors. Special certificates, hand-written thank you notes from the CIO, phone calls from VPs and monetary awards were celebrated.
- Speakers bureau and “meeting in a box” materials were used to equip managers with tools to deliver basic training and to conduct similar campaigns in their own departments. Materials could be customized to meet the needs of each area.
- Events, including professional skills demonstrations and celebrations of achievement at key milestones, were used to promote accomplishment and build teamwork. One event was an “IT Tradeshow” with departments staffing booths to show off their work; at the conclusion of the program, on-location parties featured the IT leadership serving pizza and ice cream to the staff.
- Regular measurement, using feedback, surveys and focus groups. Surveys produced detailed results by department, which led to the development of specific action plans based on the needs of each department.
Result: The organization achieved its targeted objective in 18 months – half the time allocated. At the end of the period, the surveys showed significant increases in awareness and understanding of the strategy, and higher engagement than the rest of the organization.
Want more detail? Send a query:
