Success in a transformation journey often relies on the CEO and how well they can transmit the vision and outcome to all stakeholders, from employees to customers and investor groups. That’s not necessarily straightforward in the current operating environment.
However, when the goal is to take a business to the next level in terms of efficiency and performance, having clarity of message from the top, with regards to the strategic benefits of a transformation, is critical.
Markus Mantwill, Partner and Managing Director at AlixPartners and the Global Co-Leader for Performance and Technology, said: “I think the most significant transformations that I've lived through and was able to lead really benefited from a clear narrative. A clear narrative about the ‘why and the what?’ And to a certain extent, also ‘the how?’ It’s asking: ‘Why are we doing this?’… You need to be open and honest with the organisation.”
Transformations are disruptive by their nature and can feel uncomfortable – and often risky – for a business and its leaders.
Tamsin Todd, NED at Auction Technology Group and former CEO of Findmypast, said: “It’s often quite a challenging conversation to get started, particularly in companies that have built their success on knowledge and expertise in the business that they operate.
“They have delighted customers, they have very knowledgeable people doing an excellent job, so that need for transformation feels very uncomfortable at both the level of the organisation itself and its openness to change, even up to the leadership and the Board.”
Ken Smith is currently Vice President Sustainability and Safety Europe for Bureau Veritas, but was previously CEO of the UK division at the large French multinational for nearly eight years. While in the role, he set the strategic direction for a series of five-year plans, entering new markets and implementing new operating models to drive efficiencies and growth.
“When I came into the CEO role in the UK, I needed to understand … what's the North Star for the five-year plan? What is the key element that we wanted to go after? I think within the organisation it was very clear that the client was the North Star,” he said. “So, what was it that the client needed? What services would they be needing from us in the future? And so that would drive the growth strategy.”
For
John Armstrong coming into the CEO position at British Pipeline Agency (BPA) in 2021, there was a need to reaffirm the purpose and vision at the joint venture business which “felt overwhelmed and slow” when he joined: “From the beginning I aimed to clarify the sense of purpose, letting the team know 'what we do matters'. We help people travel safely, keep vehicles on the road and keep the UK moving. This narrative led us to a clear mission, purpose and values, which we developed with the team and us throughout our communications.”
Even when the CEO has realigned a business, there is a danger that the ‘strategic’ changes being made impact the day-to-day running of the business and harm the short-term performance. “A transformation is like when you have a big container ship that is going from one safe harbour through the rough sea to the next safe harbour. In between these safe harbours, all kinds of things can happen,” said Markus, before giving a recent example of an executive team ‘time boxing’ a transformation within a strict 12-month period. “It sounded impossible, but it aligned the organisation, and it also gave [it] a perspective that the disruptive part will be over after a certain amount of time,” he added.
In some cases, there might be a need to make difficult decisions related to the composition of the workforce. There might even be discussion around whether the leadership team is right to lead the next phase of the business. On the flipside, there is the risk that an organisation may lose core reservoirs of knowledge, so there is a balance to be struck. At BPA, “some of the leadership team had worked for the business for over 30 years, possessing phenomenal depth of knowledge”, said John. “When considering the pace of change, you might think it’s not for them, however, with a sense of purpose the ability to utilise that knowledge proved essential to achieving something quite special."
Similarly, Tamsin views transformations as an opportunity to upskill existing talent. “Going into those moments of transformation, [it’s] not just thinking about the technology that's going to transform and change, but also the culture, the people and how to lead people through that change and help them develop and see this as a positive for the organisation and for their own careers.”
While a transformation should be driven by an aligned leadership team and transmitted across the business, so much rests on the shoulders of the chief executive, according to Criticaleye’s CEO
Matthew Blagg. “The role of the CEO is to breathe life into the organisation, particularly when it’s going through a change programme. Therefore, if the CEO’s energy is even slightly off, that can spell danger for the business and its readiness to execute the transformation.”
Jacob Ambrose Willson, Senior Editor, Criticaleye
 (002).png "Palo Alto Networks"){kind=logo}
