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Change Management : Learnings from Real Indian Examples

The normal assumption that “Change is the only constant” is frankly an idiom that is wrong in more ways than I can count, at least insofaras Business is concerned. There is a difference between regular uncertainty, flux in Business realities, short term fluctuations, normal predictive events that lead to change – and turning the organization from one direction to another. The first is not change; managing it is not Change Management as per me. That first aspect is just the nature of business; you have to learn to navigate all of these.

Change Management - Image Credit Google Search


Real Change is when you have to shift the strategy employed at an organizational level, perhaps departmental / functional level – from one vector to another. How you manage this determines how good you are at Change Management. Note my words : how good, not how successful. Success can also be a function of unconnected events, random moves, competitive shifts,  – or just plain luck. Many companies have tried this; and most have failed the test of “Good”; in fact, most even fail the test of success as their marketshare collapses, or other mayhem ensues, requiring Crises handling.

Further, the assumption of Communication clarity etc in the change process, while important, is almost always overstated, massively so. This might sound strange, even blasphemous, to most HR personnel, top managers and trainer. Hold on, please : I propose to prove it in the real world. In this article series, I propose to lay before the reader a series of cases, all from the real world, to understand this, and other dynamic forces/ aspects of change management first-hand. All these cases are real, and I have first hand knowledge of them – as I either was a team member, or the key manager involved. All names, organizations have been hidden for anonymity.

Image Credit Google Search


CASE 1 : COMMUNICATION
Let us first tackle this with issue, before we get to the real aspects that need priority attention. {We will return to this case later on as well}. This is regarding an  initiative of a channel shift from Wholesale mode to Retail mode, as the company had nearly 68-73% wholesale contribution from total sale, and near-complete absence in key & big counters. This communication, regarding strategy shift, was made system-wide, repeatedly so. The strategy failed, big time. No effort was spared to communicate; individual or collective – you name it, all was done. And yet, the result was a failure. I was also part of another effort to an identical shift of strategy to retail; that succeeded. In that, No effort was made to communicate the required behaviour whatsoever. Why then did it succeed? Look up the next case  for the answer to this conundrum.  

As an example, My ASM understood everything - he was and remains one of the topmost talents I have managed. Refused pointblank, said we wont succeed, with proof. He was rated as the number 1 ASM pan India, cleared for promotion, with massive power. Sacking was not an option. He singlehandedly nearly derailed it, till I found a way around him. Similar experience entire team, all people at my level shared with me. Everyone understood, accepted - refusal was universally point-blank in the first company. Needless to state, it was a mega-flop eventually, as nothing that was done in the next case was even attempted in this case.

CASE 2 : THE REAL ISSUES
This is a case from a different industry – vital point. I will connect it up later. In this case, the situation was the precise same; wholesale contribution to sales was around 70%; retail sales were 30%. Our direct presence in retail was abysmal; and a turnaround was planned. The planning was in-depth; they first started with the team. I was one of those brought on board as I knew nothing of the industry, and could thus be moulded properly. No one was sacked.  I recall being given a zero-pressure free hand to change the market realities. All of my approvals, those that were in line with the desired direction and strategy went through smoothly without a hitch.

Conversely, the approvals that went against the spirit of the strategy were all rejected. Anyone not found implementing the basics was summarily and publicly sacked, regardless of percentage number target achievement. Higher than normal achievers were raked over the coals in tough public grillings, checking market irregularities and having to answer hard questions.  High achievers were bluntly told – I care little for your numbers; show me the process and the system. The channel was engaged with, not through meaningless talk, but a combination of action and hard decisions.

The end result was an incredible turnaround, which not only eventually delivered the numbers, but broke the back of at least one competitor as well. I remember being at 98%, and being publicly applauded by the VP and senior management – while those at 120% were hammered and hit with every imaginable question on their number achievements, fundamentals; with very hard questions that revealed their short-term tactics.

LEARNINGS AND SUMMARY
From the above two cases, it can be seen that there is a marked difference in the two. From personal experience of handling both the scenarios, I can state that the level of preparedness of the plan was much superior in the second case. {I can give other examples, but that will have to wait for later articles}. What is the difference in the two approaches? Let us go into the basics, right back to some hard basics to establish the learnings.

The key is the problem identification, and change solution suggested, not in world terms, but in the in depth detailing at and from all levels. Time consuming but worth it. It is in HOW you prepare the problem statement and solution recommendation. If either have even a small disconnect with reality.. Endgame. Simple communication etc doesn't help. Each employee has vested interests, and current methods are what feeds him. Even if he sees the benefit, he will not implement, period. Each market and each organization has a range of ground realities, which unless attended to, will almost certainly derail your project fully and finally.

Next, You have to ensure attention to each internal and external point of interface of the change strategy; departmental, employee, vendor, channel level all. Leave even one, and you better not start the change. Let things be. Since the organization is running and working in real time, peoples’ deliverance, KRAs, performance and pay is determined by the current method of operation. Inter and intra departmental rules need to be examined for fit with new strategy, and deviance potential addressed.  Established vested interests need to be identified.

You have to overcome vested interests - as current methods are in usage. Minor approvals need to be strategised and monitored - some you will need to ignore, some you will need to stop. Old system top performers need to be held back, or it could result in an internal collapse. Current profits are being delivered by the old methods; you cannot tamper with that without upsetting a whole lot of apple carts. External and internal interface points of the new strategy, and the detailed problems it can cause in each and every individual department and employee needs to be studied and tackled, strategized.

Only way... Doesn't exist. You HAVE to reinvent the wheel, create a new framework for each problem. Each micro problem, each department, office, function and reporting manager. Failure to attend to this is a recipe for disaster. Lastly, Informal Power Structures within the company need to be specifically identified and acknowledged for what they are. In order to push through the new strategy into the company, you will need support – and this is regardless of who are what you are. Let us now examine this in the concluding paragraph in the light of the failure in the first case.

CONCLUSIONS
Let us take each point one by one and see how they collectively lead to disaster. Remember, the task was a change from 70% wholesale to 15-20% wholesale sales maximum. The identified problem was seemingly accurate; in reality – it was not. The company did not have the product portfolio it once had; the market had made it obsolete, and an economy player. There was near-zero market pull from the target segment. Nothing was done to attend to this at the right time. They were late. And in business, if you are going to be late, I advise you not to even try, and save the money.
Next, vested interests and interfaces. Everything from the variable pay of the employees, incentives, promotions, market schemes, distributor profile, people skills were wholesale based. The internal information system was compromised – as massive wholesale benefits lead channel, including SO, ASOs, AMs, ASMs to collude with the channel to build up false data of sales to garner higher schemes for self and for the channel – as well as to actively connect retail to the wholesaler. As a result, the company had no idea of the reality. All interfaces were dependent on the old methods. Performance Measurement had primacy to the end number, giving much less than 30% weightage to the process.

Approvals were given basis the informal power matrix, and consistently undermined the stated strategy. This sequentially emboldened the staff to take ever more risks and use old ploys. Approvals along new strategy were in fact held up for examination as a check while the old systems went on. Delays piled up. Trust in initiative drivers was absent – and most vitally, old schoolers were never pulled up for screwing declared strategy. Performance, Incentive, Reward, Sales Strategies remained the same. Targets were not revised to motivate the new method – inculcate new benchmarks, unlike the first case.


The difference cannot be more stark; the first case was from an old industry with established processes and systems, while the second from a new industry. Putting the two together, it can be seen that you need to sort out the in-depth basics and operations that determine profit and turnover. If you do that – attend to Targets, PMS, Incentive Structures, Approvals, Products, Market Realities, Skill Sets etc – the rest will fall into place. This is communication – when the team learns that the old methods do not guarantee anything in the new system – well, that is true communication. You have to tackle power structures, organisatioal silos, vested interests, OD Processes  etc to properly manage change…

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