Creating a shared future post-merger in tech
Life after merger – it’s a delicate moment for organisations, and this global language services organisation recognised the need to move forward with care and attention to shared culture. Partnering with Sheppard Moscow, the leadership community was on a mission to articulate their unique values and identify an approach to embedding them in this new culture.
Focus
The ‘Top 100’ Senior Leadership Team (SLT) were to be our culture multipliers, integrating the power of the values through behaviour change and action. The development focused on enabling these leaders to bring people together, to be passionate about this change and be visible culture role-models into the future.
Action
Foundational to our methodology was appreciative inquiry and large group engagement approaches. In workshops, the SLT envisioned compelling pictures of the future when the values are fully lived, identified.
This approach encouraged alignment across previously siloed teams. Being explicit around how values are experienced in everyday behaviours and actions enabled teams to focus on what’s important to customers and how best to collaborate to deliver for them.
Impact
Coherent leadership that was aligned, energetic and role-modelling desired behaviours made the difference in getting the culture right post-merger. After our leadership programme, teams were able to deliver effectively for the customer and had the cultural infrastructure to do their best work in a connected environment.
The impact is clear - the values are now the common creed for how people in the merged business think, behave and act.
