Wakewood Case Study free essay sample

Dear Graham, I am pleased to submit this proposal of work to support Wakewood Servicing International in develop a change strategy and a roadmap to success of the customer service dept. with also the integration of the marketing and quality departments plus increased product revenues in the next 2 to 3 years. Background and Context Wakewood Servicing has seen many challenges in the last 2-3 years, particularly in the past 12 months. The current recession has clearly pushed the need for â€Å"value for money† and customer retention, as such; your external customers feedback seem to be pressuring for increased quality of customer service, competitive products, pricing plus the speed of delivery. The clear and measurable feedback gathered from your customers prompts the need to increase the level of service provided, this is needed in order to match expectations whilst doing so in a cost effective manner. Delivering the same services in the same manner as has been done in the past is acknowledged as an unsuccessful path to success. Fundamental changes in the services offered, how the services are delivered and the relationship with your customers are now overdue and must happen as soon as possible. My internal analysis of the unit has also allowed me to identify the following few data points that I believe could be the potential causes of the units’ current poor performances: i) The units’ customer servicing technical platforms are based on 1st generation applications, not on the latest 3rd generation which is currently in force on the other divisions in Wakewood. i) The unit, although accounts for 20% of Wakewood activities has the lowest productivity volumes in the production lines vs. the other units. iii) No concrete data is yet available but staff costs seem too high, this could be an area of focus by introducing automation and consequently staff/cost reductions. iv) For 3 consecutive years, the unit has the lowest results in the Wakewood employee engagement questionnaire i. e. lowest employe e morale in the organization. ) The division also has the highest employee tenure within Wakewood. With recent ‘green shoots of recovery’ in the market place, I am seeing an increased attention to consumer-driven demands for cheaper, quicker and quality products, I believe this will be best time to introduce a marketing department and a quality control area in order to commence the change to the division within Wakewood. Proposed change approach Overview of approach In my working experience I have learnt that Operational Change needs to be dealt with carefully. This is due to human natures’ resistance to change, the technical and physical infrastructures which will also need to change, and at the same time remain invisible to the external customer. Plus sustain and improve the customer service and product delivery. Therefore the high level approach proposed for Wakewood’s division is: †¢ Put in a place a change management experienced programme/project team with the responsibility of delivering the organizational infrastructural change. †¢ Set the organization vision and consequently the change objectives for the division. Communicate the message to the unit’s management for buy-in to change. †¢ Empower the management team to support the change and set them objectives to meet this. †¢ Communicate every success as a result of the change. Approach Detail Four tracks of work are envisioned: 1. Prepare the employees for change, convincing them that significant organisational changes are needed. I suggest commencing the delivery of structured communications in the form of memos and conferences, in order to deliver the message and rationale on why there is a need for the operating and structural changes in the unit. This should also be delivered with a strong emphasis on the organizational benefits (i. e. increase revenues and market presence, brand etc. ) and the employee benefit too (i. e. better tools to do the job, opportunities to move into other departments and develop own skills) which will be aligned with the rest of the 6 divisions within Wakewood. Management should also be tasked on supporting change and promoting it to the operational employees. 2. Plan and monitor a programme of organisational change The programme/project team (strictly consisting of Wakewood management, HR, Finance and very experienced project managers) will be tasked in developing a detailed project plan on: a) How to integrate the marketing and quality departments within the division. b) The new proposed organizational structure with sign-off from HR, from a European employee regulations perspective if staff redundancies or role changes are identified. c) Implementing the new technical infrastructure/platforms based on the other units software versions in order to promote technical interoperability within the organization. ) Delivering Change Management training to the management team in the division and to the operational employees. e) Monitoring and reporting on the above programme/project to the CEO and GM on a regular basis. 3. Help the employees at all levels in the unit to cope with the problems of change As part of the planning and delivery of the project, HR will deliver change management training, QA sessions and also run focus groups for all the employees. This will eradicate any potential problems, concerns and confusion which could arise in the operational staff teams as part of radical organizational change. . Achieve improvement in the unit’s performance. In order to share best practices and build on closer working relationships between the Wakewood divisions, the CEO will work closely with the GM and managers of the impacted division to build the following: i) Performance metrics for the division (on productivity and financials) ii) Customer Satisfaction metrics iii) Employee engagement metrics The CEO will also issue yearly goals/targets for the unit which will be aligned with the overall organizational targets. I was asked to provide a plan which will help meet the following: a) prepare people for change, convincing them that significant organizational changes are needed; b) plan and monitor a programme of organizational change; c) help people at all levels in the unit cope with the problems of change; d) achieve improvement in the unit’s performance Based on my recommendation of 4 tracks of work, the project team will be able to develop a detailed project plan with the relevant delivery timeframes. From previous experience I envisage to see results of the change in terms of customer feedback, financial growth and employee satisfaction in 18 to 24 months. Should the business case be received successfully and my services required on the delivery of change to your organization, I will be excited to work in partnership with Wakewood International Services on this critical initiative.