Sample Engagement: Change Management & Organizational Effectiveness

Client Business Challenge

A diversified financial services company decided to enhance customer service, improve efficiencies, and increase sales by consolidating the operational functions of three critical lines of business. Once completed, this transformation would affect 50,000 geographically dispersed employees. The client turned to M² for a change management consultant who could provide project leadership, build a plan, and oversee its execution as the company undertook the first phase of this operational overhaul. 

M² Approach

The client required the M² consultant to have an in-depth knowledge of the Kotter eight-step framework for change management. The consultant would need to:

  • Leverage existing readiness assessments and focus-group data.
  • Perform additional cultural and business readiness assessments for each line of business.
  • Provide formalized reports, identify gaps, and implement remediation to ensure readiness within target groups.

M² worked with the client to develop additional requirements, including:

  • Large-scale change management experience
  • Proven expertise with change-management terminology, tools, and techniques 
  • Ability to craft and execute influencing strategies

Selecting from our proprietary consultant community, M² had the answer. Within days, the client selected a consultant with 25 years of experience in change management as well as 10 years at a Big Four consulting firm and more than 10 engagements in the financial services industry.

Deliverables

  • Complete formalized readiness and cultural assessments for each line of business in preparation for the change.
  • Provide change-management practitioner assistance to execute the approved, internally developed transition plan.
  • Implement a pilot program to test the change-management plan.
  • Deliver regular reports to senior management on the progress of the change initiative.

Results

The successful completion of the pilot phase of the operational transformation gave the company valuable insight into the pacing, process gaps, tools, and best practices that it would use to roll out the initiative to the rest of the organization. The M² consultant's broad change management expertise and outside perspective provided knowledge that could not have been gained using only internal resources.