"This ongoing journey of renewal is helping keep the business on track for continued growth. "

When the CEO of a major UK media group wanted to move towards unifying the various brands within the business, he knew the key was to start integrating capabilities to release their combined digital potential. But he also needed to continue to project his two major brands to the market as unique offerings in order to enable sustainable growth across a wide client base. He looked to Telos to lead the project management of this tricky transition...

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A need for urgency
The media industry was going through a period of rapid consolidation, creating scale in the market, and this media group needed to be able to respond swiftly by seamlessly integrating its capabilities to offer more innovative and agile digital media solutions across each of its home markets. Any renewal and restructuring also needed to ensure clear connection within the wider group and the continued delivery of outstanding work for global clients. There was a very limited window of opportunity to meet the aspirations of the global group owners to have two powerful brands underpinned by an integrated operation with digital at its heart, supported by common business services that would enable the group to take advantage of the quickly changing media landscape.

Together, we are stronger
The scope of the challenge facing the CEO of the UK group was daunting. He knew that it was not only imperative that he retained his best talent throughout this transition, but that he also implemented the first phase with speed, smoothly re-locating his 400-strong staff into buildings specifically re-designed for the new structure, and successfully taking over 200 client and media partners with him on this journey. He asked Telos to work with the CEOs of the various businesses within the UK group and lead the project management of this bold transitional move – to help engage and inspire all employees to be part of the new organisation.

Creating a clear sense of purpose
We worked with the CEOs and business leaders to develop a rapid implementation plan and a clear and compelling story, which would allow for engagement at every level. The foundations for retaining talent and releasing organisational potential were also set in place right from the start. Visual project rooms were opened up to all employees, so they could comment and add feedback in real time, and we used common information to help the leaders make informed decisions at pace. Throughout the programme, all risks were identified and managed effectively. Meanwhile, a series of engagement workshops ensured that effective behaviours and processes were fully aligned.

Rapid renewal achieves results
Just four months later, the new organisation went live – with every employee buying into the new sense of purpose and embracing their evolved role and responsibilities. Despite the unrelentless pace of change, the UK group continued to operate smoothly throughout the transition. Indeed, it met all year-end targets and exceeded growth expectations.

Ongoing evolution and future options
We have continued to work with senior leaders as the organisation evolves, refining the long-term purpose of the group, developing the effectiveness of the executive team and starting to shape the options for the future. This ongoing journey of renewal is helping keep the business on track for continued growth.

Hard components

• Overall programme management and risk mitigation for business transition

• Structural organisation defined and in place, with fit-for-purpose facilities and IT provision

• Clients supportive of organisational changes

Soft components

• Senior team motivated to solve problems at pace and collaborate effectively while beginning to identify new ways of working to improve performance

• All employees fully engaged and key talent retained, seeing a positive future with the restructured business

• Values and behaviours expressed to support new organisation