International marketing company
We helped embed a culture change in an international marketing company which positioned them as one of the world’s most effective marketing organisations from any sector in terms of return on investment.
The challenge
Comprising of around 75 people, the company operated in markets across Europe, the United States and Asia. New, unexpected competition and volatile market forces in its industry forced this organisation to rethink its vision, strategy, values and way of operating. Figuring out how to really up the ante on working together across the world – clichéd though it may sound – was to acknowledge the need to work as ‘One Global Team’, to share collective wisdom rather than operate in independent silos. Embedding a collaborative culture was vital for survival.
To embed this sort of change required people to adapt their mindsets and behaviours from independent to collaborative. A key challenge was to clearly articulate and gain acceptance from the CEO and leadership team that putting down these roots for collaboration would not be achieved in a one-off event. They needed to be in it for the long-term, and sustained interventions would be necessary for the culture to embed.
How we made a difference
A new way of thinking
The starting point was to engender a new way of thinking – flexibility, mental suppleness, emotional agility – which would help people manage this change and equip them to move more easily from one change to another. A number of methodologies and assessments were used to enable learning and continuous self-reflection for them to become better ‘observers of themselves’:
The effect of their mindsets and mental models on their ability to change
Personal values and the impact on their behaviour
Problem-solving style
Attitude and approach to conflict
Preferred defence strategies
Approach to learning and self-reflection.
A new way of listening and speaking
In order to embed a collaborative culture where sharing, openness, relationship building through trust, and respect for differences became a norm, we needed to enable people to communicate within their teams AND across markets to build lasting, collaborative relationships beyond the confines of their silos. The company learned and used a skilful conversations or dialogic approach to communication, which fostered trust and openness. Building ‘skilful conversations’ capabilities combining self-reflection, active listening and feedback created a new way of speaking, which employees could use to support each other through any change.
From an early age we are taught to prepare ourselves to speak and defend our point of view, but we are rarely taught to listen. The process of dialogue provided in-depth insights for individuals on the impact they themselves had on the issue. It increased their awareness of the real opinions, attitudes and behaviours of the other people involved and helped build an invaluable factor of high team performance – mutual accountability. This common language provided a means to get people collectively talking about the realities of any change in forums for inclusive conversations about their behaviours:
To voice the tough realities of change
To share differing views and feel able to challenge without fear of reprisal
If foreseeing pitfalls ahead, to not be considered naysayers
To have a voice and for that voice to be truly heard.
Many companies waste considerable resources by working to solve the wrong problems. Leaders and managers pressurised by today’s need for economic short-term value frequently apply ‘band-aid’ solutions which address the symptoms but not the cause. Using this dialogic approach enabled the teams to ‘get to the heart of the matter’, because only when the ‘root cause’ had been diagnosed could targeted and effective solutions be found and implemented.
A new way of doing
Introducing a new way of thinking and a new way of talking with each other had already kick-started behaviour change, but embedding these new habits required further initiatives. There is frequently a yawning gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. Narrowing this gap, mastering a new skill and changing a habit need practice. Practice requires support, the freedom to try and learn from practice, and the opportunity to experiment in small ways. We introduced processes to appraise progress on behaviour change regularly and consistently. Behavioural charters with guidelines and expectations were generated and evaluated in meetings. Meetings were monitored not only on the quality of the task outcomes but also on the quality of behaviours. Peer-to-peer support groups were established in teams to engender encouragement in behaviour change and mutual accountability. Desired behaviours were integrated into recruitment, induction and performance management systems.
A new way of leading
To build credibility for the change, we needed role models. We established a company-wide Leadership Programme coaching leaders to inspire the change, set examples of their own behaviour change, observe behaviour changes in others so they could reward and celebrate those making efforts, and encourage those who were struggling. Leaders ring-fenced budget for developmental training and coaching. They upheld the training as a priority. They shifted their own mindsets from developing people being a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’ for high performance. They shifted from blame to mutual accountability. They shifted to a preventative ‘car service’ mindset – the cost of regular attention and care which keeps the car running smoothly and efficiently is significantly cheaper than fixing the major repairs caused by ignorance and deliberate neglect. Collaboration became hardwired, part of their DNA and the ‘way we do things around here’. People lived the habits. New recruits noticed the culture and were frequently astonished by it.
The results
A research study by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) benchmarked this company’s performance and found that their average ROI was on the upper end of cross-industry benchmarks – reaching as high as 81 USD in additional revenue for 1 USD spending on marketing. These results position them as one of the world’s most effective marketing organisations from any sector in terms of ROI.
The CEO and leadership team acknowledge that this success was helped considerably by Perspectiv’s work to engender behaviour change and collaboration within the company – the level of trust and openness within teams and their ability to work together internationally.