Background

Global Regulatory and Risk Management Company (Software Co.) is a provider of a unified risk and regulatory platform providing their products to over 1000 banks worldwide, serving 45 of the global top 50.
Before becoming a vendor providing unified risk and regulatory software, they focused primarily on the regulatory software arm. This company acquired one the world’s most revered risk management software companies so as to expand their service offering to include risk.

The task at hand

The acquisition was challenging for several reasons:

• Software Co. had 600 members of staff, whereas the risk management company (Risk Co.) they were acquiring only had 100 members of staff (each being a specialist)
• A number of key personnel and support personnel had to be let go and made redundant
• Communication with key people didn’t happen until the last minute due to the secrecy of the acquisition (causing stress and strain amongst staff members)
• Key knowledge and people within the acquired company HAD to be retained or the acquisition would have been a disaster
• The two software platforms needed to be merged and this was an enormous task
• The cultures between the different companies was EXTREMELY different (Risk Co. was Swiss-based and culturally they were meticulous and took time to make decisions whereas Software Co. was globally based with offices in 20 countries worldwide and culturally they were boisterous, quick in decision making and loose on perfectionism!)

Adele from Luminous was brought on board to manage the change management and to smooth things over with all the people involved ensuring they were brought on board and looking forward to a bright and shiny future post merger. Adele called this project ‘Welcome to the family’ to ensure that Software Co. welcomed Risk Co. with open arms and adapted themselves to the differences in culture and ways of working.

Results

Within 6 months, the following was achieved:

• Adele worked with key people within Risk Co. to establish the chief concerns of their people. Workshops were run to get to know these key people and work out their pain points with the acquisition
• The team chose to call the acquisition a ‘merger’ globally to ensure that the perception of the change didn’t make Risk Co. feel like they were being taken over and subject to manipulation and change beyond their control. Also the positive connotations or a ‘merger’ superseded the very negative connotations of an acquisition. Within a week everyone was calling the acquisition a ‘merger’ and Risk Co. immediately felt more comfortable with the impending changes as well as their role within the new company
• A communication program was created within a week – including an intranet full of information about the merger, help line, support team, HR strategy for the change, explaining the timeline involved within the merger and what people can expect – this was updated on a weekly basis
• Adele worked with the global executive team to ensure that decisions involving redundancies were made rapidly so as to avoid any further stress or strain on employees, impacting morale or productivity
• Work was completed across all departments to coordinate the change in roles and responsibilities so that this could be communicated rapidly to Risk Co.
• All offices within Software Co. to make a video introducing members of their teams and welcoming Risk Co. to the ‘family’
• A team of staff went to visit the Risk Co. offices within Zurich, Geneva as well as Cluj in Romania and we conducted ‘welcome to the family’ sessions with all staff there. We played them the video and people reported afterwards they felt so excited about this merger and really felt like they were part of a global family now
• Work was done with Risk Co. to make a video introducing Software Co. to the Risk Co. culture and way of working – people loved the video and really enjoyed getting to know the different people involved
• A global training program was set up for Risk Co. to learn everything they can about regulatory products and services as well as for Software Co. to learn everything they can about risk products and services – this project ran over 3 months with 2 teleseminar sessions per week so people could attend worldwide across all different time zones
• The whole project was an enormous success, with the merger being extremely successful and peaceful
• Adele coordinated a great deal of the integration between the two companies to allow for a seamless transition transcending culture and differences

“Adele has shown an incredible passion and drive during the transition after the acquisition of Risk Co. by Software Co. Her energy rubbed off to the involved and impacted collaborators, moved critical matters forward and contributed to the success of the deal. She delivered quality results at an unbelievable short notice.”

Michael Kaestner , Global Project Manager

“It has been a true pleasure working with Adele. Not often one comes across a person with such incredible drive, passion and enthusiasm. Very high energy, very professional and great fun to work with. Her work with our merger was done very well.”

Jeroen Gruijters , SVP Research & Development

Background

Logistics co. is the leading supplier of high quality integrated logistical services on the Bulgarian market. Logistics co. is now well-known supplier of high quality port and marine services, freight management and integrated logistic services. Adele supported the implementation of best practice customer service management.

The task at hand

Adele was asked to tackle the design of the change management program across all divisions within Logistics co. This involved 15 people located in Sophia and Varna in Bulgaria, many of whom did not speak English.

Results

Within 8 months the following was achieved:

• Adele worked with 2 “super users” within Logistics co. and trained them up to support the rest of their team, post implementation
• Business processes were captured and reengineered
• All the training for the roll out was designed, making changes based on the modules customized for Logistics co.’s unique logistics configuration, including documentation
• 15 users were trained. A translator was used in many of the cases and we successfully achieved the targets we initially set. The feedback was all ‘exceptional’
• The software company who hired Adele to conduct this work reported zero support calls which for them was interesting given the enormous language challenge faced. The support overheads have remained extremely low
• Reduction in Accounts Receivable was 28% within 4 months of go-live. All customer issues resolved within 4 days (from 120+)
• Logistics co. has been extremely happy with the implementation and have become external references for two other companies in Bulgaria

Background

The Global Food Distribution Company is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. This privately held company employs 159,000 people in 68 countries.

The task at hand

Adele led the program with the Global Food Distribution Company on a number of projects including its global drive for working capital improvement across both the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. This involved 100 people and all prior PR campaigns to introduce the change to the staff as well work with key staff members to ensure they are brought on board prior to the implementation.

Results

Within 4 months, the following was achieved:

• Adele worked with 12 “super users” within the Global Food Distribution company and trained them up to support the rest of the company post implementation
• Work was done with the more resistant members of the teams to bring them on board and facilitate the change to be taking place
• Adele designed all the training for the roll out, including documentation, demo CD’s, look-up cards, support network and designed all the PR material, including posters, balloons, webcasts, the internal website and support collateral
• Work was also done with the PR department and project team in-house to promote the new product internally prior to rollout
• 100 users were trained. 98% of the feedback was either ‘exceptional’ or ‘extremely good’
• Two trainers were trained to take over and designed a whole program for the people who struggled a bit to do self study and analysis
• It was reported that for the first month after implementation, they had zero support calls. The support overheads on the project post implementation is still below all other projects combined
• Adele also worked with the teams to reengineer their business processes and implemented a change management program with their teams across 18 months following the initial project. The project achieved a 39% improvement in DSO

Background

Utility co. is one of the UK’s largest energy suppliers, serving residential consumers and business customers. Utility co. is the retail arm of one of the world’s biggest energy suppliers. Utility co. operates and manages flexible, low-cost coal, oil and gas-fired power stations and are developing innovative energy-related technologies. They sell approximately £6.2 million worth of electricity every day. A project was launched as part of a national drive towards working capital improvement. One of the main elements of this project has involved the analysis and restructuring of cash collection and customer services management procedures within its industrial and commercial arm.

The task at hand

Adele from Luminous was asked to tackle the design of and full training of their product across all divisions within Utility co. business and to co-lead the change management program alongside the training. This involved 563 people. Adele was also responsible for conducting all the critical change management across all divisions to ensure that everyone adopted the new product as well as training up their business training department so they were empowered to continue the training in her absence.

Results

Within 6 months, the following was achieved:

• Adele worked with 10 “super users” within Utility co. business and trained them up to support the rest of Utility co., post implementation
• All the training for the roll out, including documentation, demo CD’s, look-up cards, support network and designed all the PR material, including posters, balloons, webcasts, the internal website and support collateral was designed
• Adele worked with the PR department and project team in-house to promote the new product internally prior to rollout and did all the pre-launch change management workshops
• 500 users in the United Kingdom were trained. 95% of the feedback was either ‘exceptional’ or ‘extremely good’
• Adele trained up two trainers within Utility co. business to take over
• Software co. reported that for the first two weeks after implementation, they had zero support calls which for them was completely unheard of in an implementation of this magnitude. The support overheads on the Utility co. project post implementation of that version of the product is still below all other projects combined
• Within two months of implementation, the configuration administrator reported back: “users reported that this is the best product they have at Utility co. and they are demanding rollout to the other divisions within the company”
• Furthermore a change management program was implemented alongside this training program which achieved a massive turnaround for the company, unleashing over £1.2 million in cash for the business.

Background

This Global Steel Manufacturer is the world’s number one steel company, present in more than 60 countries. It has led the consolidation of the world steel industry and today ranks as the only truly global steelmaker. Its industrial presence in Europe, Asia, Africa and America gives the Group exposure to all the key steel markets, from emerging to mature. Key financials show revenues of $124.9 billion and crude steel production of 103.3 million tonnes, representing approximately 10% of world steel output.
As part of a larger project to implement best practices to overlay SAP, Adele from Luminous came on board to help facilitate the training and change management across this implementation.

The task at hand

The primary challenge was implementing this major change across 5 countries within Europe with people who were VERY resistant to this change due to being used to working with SAP and within that environment. The training involved 200 people.

Results

Within 11 months the following was achieved:

• Adele captured business processes, working with the teams to reengineer wherever inefficiencies were identified.
• Adele worked within their Luxembourg division and trained various people using French and German trainers to support the project which rolled out software using a multiple language interface across 5 countries in Europe.
• The full change management program was designed and we worked with the key stakeholders to promote the new product internally prior to rollout
• 200 users were trained. 92% of the feedback was either ‘exceptional’ or ‘extremely good’
• By the end of the project, the total cash-flow enhancement was €53m with cost reduction of over 20%, Adele was proud to have been part of that change

Background

The Global Technology Company we worked with is amongst the growing band of internationally active major corporates who commenced a project to reduce the overall levels of group debt. There was a major disconnect between the sales and financing operations and this was the core issue identified as being largely responsible for the blockages which had built up in the system. The sales force’s focus on collection and customer service issues was minimal as there was no incentive or targets linked to cash collection. The collection department, meanwhile, was suffering from a lack of morale and know-how following a restructuring and reduction in headcount. The company lacked a formalised process by which sales and finance could discuss and resolve credit issues.

The task at hand

It was identified that a new piece of software could address these challenges. Interest expense could be cut by 50% through a 46 day reduction in Days Sales Outstanding (DSO). Accounts Receivable could also be reduced by €21-€25 million. Transaction processing costs could be reduced by the introduction of effective processes and systems, while improved knowledge would support customer requirements. Write-off levels could be reduced along with the dispute cycle time and the volume of disputes over the long term. Finally customer retention could be increased.
All this was imminently achievable BUT getting the people on board and facilitating this change, would be a challenge AND all the work and training had to be done in Italian!
Adele was tasked together with a group of consultants to design the change management program, reengineer with business processes and train the people and take on the challenge of facilitating this change.

Results

Across 13 months the following was achieved:

• Adele met with all the key stakeholders and ensured all change management issues were on the table and were to be resolved during the project
• Adele designed all the training for the roll out, designed all the PR material, including all the electronic media/ internal website and support collateral
• Adele worked with the Italian division of the global technology company and trained all the teams involved using an Italian translator
• Of all the teams we trained in Rome and Milan, 97% of the feedback was either ‘exceptional’ or ‘extremely good’
• The support overheads on the project post implementation is below all other projects combined
• Within 2 months post implementation, a total reduction in Accounts Receivable of 35% was achieved, otherwise stated as a DSO reduction of 56 days. The benefits were sustained in the following year and further costs driven out.
• Within a year of implementation, the Receivables asset was further reduced by 13% (8M€) from the previous year. Furthermore disputed items were reduced by 40% (from 9M€ to 4M€) during the same period, with an average resolution cycle of 7 days, further improving customer service levels and customer retention.
• Adele is proud to have been a part of this success and supporting the global Technology company in achieving their goals and smoothing the pathway for change.