Embedding culture change with Ericsson
In Spring 2019, we were delighted to be commissioned by Ericsson to deliver a leadership development programme as part of their wider Ericsson on the Move culture transformation. Making cultural change in a telecommunications company with a 140-year history and a presence in 180 countries is no mean feat, and Ericsson was embarking on a significant journey by building culture through leadership development.
From the start, Ericsson on the Move set the foundations for a successful leadership development programme: strong senior leadership sponsorship, planned participation and support for the internal networks, and most importantly an enduring commitment to continue the work and embed the learnings into the future. The last 20% of the time investment in embedding usually ensures 80% of the impact in this kind of initiative. At the end of the programme there was a strategic withdrawal of consultants to enable the new process of experimentation to continue without their facilitation.
In programme design, we focused on what enabled speed-to-market, empathy, collaboration and fact-based courageous decisions. Appreciative Inquiry was our primary methodology. It is a strengths-based approach – basically, ‘identify and amplify the good stuff’. With participants, we looked at what was working and developed practical ways to leverage success, to adapt success ‘here’ to apply it ‘there’, and always learn and feed learning back into the organisation after doing.
The ability to rapidly create intimacy and trust was the ‘secret sauce’ that made the face-to-face workshops so meaningful.
Deborah Gray, Partner
Sheppard Moscow
Suddenly, it’s 2020 and the pandemic hits. Ericsson on the Move was well in motion, and the team had to pivot quickly to maintain momentum and interventions in this new unstable and unfamiliar environment. In the context of our leadership development programme, Partner Deborah Gray recalls “the ability to rapidly create intimacy and trust was the ‘secret sauce’ that made the face-to-face workshops so meaningful.” We worked rapidly to develop a virtual experience capable of supporting these authentic relationships.
Reflecting on the full Ericsson on the Move story and the impact of our contribution, it is brilliant to see such an ambitious and highly strategic culture transformation have such a positive effect on the working lives of over 180,000 people around the world.
Download the pdf to read the full story of Ericsson on the Move, authored by Ericsson.