The situation

Remploy, a strongly mission-driven service organisation was exiting government ownership to become part of the MAXIMUS family. The Chief Executive and her leadership team recognised the need to lead the organisation in a radically different way to sustain and advance their mission through the commercial opportunities now open to them.

The challenge

The organisation needed to rapidly adjust to being 30% employee-owned and 70% by a US service sector giant. At the beginning, the leadership team was unsure of how they needed to change and how they would continue to achieve their profoundly rewarding mission in vastly different circumstances. The leadership needed to engage with and adapt to the majority owner’s clear commercial processes and strong performance culture. Also, co-workers, as part owners, were now asking different questions and developing fresh expectations of their employer.

Having successfully come together to steer the organisation through the process of leaving public ownership, the leadership team needed to embrace the new opportunities opening up to them. They were compelled to engage constructively and positively with the inherent risks, rather than be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the change.

The solution

Over the course of a year, we developed and facilitated three highly experiential workshops, interspersed with personal, one-to-one and team reflection, learning and course correction sessions.

The transformational workshops focused on real work, using head, heart and body intelligence to create lasting change in relationships and breakthrough changes in perspectives on performance, new business opportunities and improved stakeholder relationships. People understoodeach other more deeply and more intimately and real actions were agreed.

The different reflection and learning interventions between the workshops maintained momentum around the agreements and commitments made during the events. One-to-one conversations enabled people to review the effect of the leadership changes they were making and identify next steps. Small and whole team coaching conversations made it easier for the team to reflect together on how they were adapting their ways of working.

The results

• The leadership team shifted from individually holding doubts and questions to being confident and united behind a strengthened sense of mission and purpose. This became the foundation for increased collaboration, as they prioritised the mission above their individual functions. This rippled out to create a positive, confident energy throughout the organisation, and strong partnering with their parent company

• The collaboration was grounded in the team knowing each other at a deeper, more intimate, level. Facing difficulties they ‘leaned in’ rather than being isolated. They genuinely celebrated colleagues’ achievements and robustly challenged each other, valuing their diverse views

• They adopted a fresh leadership style defined by stepping back, listening and allowing their team members and other co-workers space for more accountability and responsibility. This enabled them to prioritise new business and commercial opportunities.