Transformation Management

If You Think You Can Or If You Think You Can't. Either Way You Are Right! It Is All In The Mind

People are an organisation's number one asset and yet they are often forgotten or taken for granted. One of the key success factors for the successful implementation of any improvement type activity is to get the people to subscribe to it right from the onset. Many organisations who have embarked on the journey towards attaining World Class Status have not only found the road much bumpier than at first anticipated but that the passengers have got a strange reluctance to reach the destination. We, at BIC, understand this and have acquired significant expertise in how to introduce and manage the change process.

"The HR Angle" Article published in Heineken's internal newsletter (Grip)

Implementing any Continuous Improvement programme, such as TPM, lean or WCM would be easy, were it not for the fact that people are involved! They can and do make or break it. Let me explain. TPM, lean or WCM is all about reviewing the current working practices and changing them for the better. This often means changing the mindset and attitude of the workforce. These people need to buy into what you are doing in order to ensure sustainability. Changing mindsets is always easier said than done, as one is fighting against tradition, history, personal egos and sometimes culture. Change management is the art of managing change effectively, smoothly and relatively quickly. It is about challenging the status quo, setting new expectations and implementing an effective reward & consequence management system. Some Hard, and sometimes painful, decisions have to be made. This is why a significant HR input is normally required right from the onset of programmes of this nature.

Here, in Ibadan Brewery, BIC – Business Improvement Consultants initiated this process. As part of the Diagnostic Study, they determined the likely level of resistance to change that we may run into by undertaking an attitude survey. The attitude survey determines two things. Firstly the level of resistance and the quarter from which this will come from and secondly the management style of the organisation as perceived by the workforce. The results of the attitude survey were not surprising but helped us to mobilise. More importantly, we fed the results of the survey back to the workforce. This, in itself, was quite powerful. The message was: we hear you and want to work with you addressing the issues. We recognised right from the outset that we could not and will not attempt to change everybody’s mindset.

The strategy we adopted was to put the workforce, in the pilot areas, into three groups. The first group were the people who wanted to be involved with change. They welcomed change and did not ask for anything upfront. They were in the minority! The second group were the people who were sceptical but open to persuasion. They wanted to see evidence of success and get some sort of personal benefit from the programme before committing themselves to it. These were in the majority. In order to get this group on board, a local reward system was designed and implemented to overcome the initial hurdle of the “What’s in it for me?” syndrome. A suggestion Scheme was also designed and successfully implemented in Ibadan Brewery. The combination of both was quite powerful. Especially, when we first started giving out the awards to the winners. People were starting to sit up and take notice! The third group, which were fortunately a handful, were the diehard fanatics. They were not interested in change and some were very vocal about it. It was decided that these people needed to be dealt with promptly and decisively! We also developed and implemented a people measure (called the Overall People Effectiveness). The grading structured was also reviewed and the current appraisal system is being reviewed with a view of improving it.

BIC’s role in all of this has been to share with us their experience of change management gained at the coalface. We have also found that it is sometimes useful to have an external consultant working alongside you. One could always blame them for everything! In conclusion, I believe that a strong and effective HR input right from the outset of any programme of this nature is one of the key success factors.

Jerome Bello

Group HR Director

Nigerian Breweries (Heineken)