Background
A leading digital services provider took a decision to change strategy: they would give up their original, highly competitive, low-added-value activity, in order to increase the speed of improvements to their technical capabilities which were more oriented toward the future and innovation.
In order to prepare for this strategic move, the group reached a three-year active management of employment agreement. Within this framework, a plan for redeployment of the workforce was approved by the region’s Direccte (a regional regulatory and advisory body) which affected more than 250 positions (with eligibility criteria determined by the type of work done).
Wavestone was asked to formulate, and then facilitate, a plan to encourage mobility, coach the HR teams, and steer project progress.
Challenges
Working alongside the client, Wavestone faced two separate challenges:
- To encourage the mobility of employees, identify opportunities suited to their interests, skills, and the strategy, and to demonstrate a supportive approach at group level;
- To support the company’s repositioning toward growth markets.
Responses and Critical Success Factors
- Wavestone supported the company in building the project vision and the mobility team, the change management process (communication, engagement of managers, etc.), preparing HR interviews, researching opportunities for the employees (permanent jobs/routes out), and in the steering of the entire process (facilitating events, reporting, etc);
- We obtained very good results : the employees and the social partners recognized the quality of the job that had been done. The management team stated that it was highly satisfied with how the change had taken place within the company and with the number of employees that had been redeployed.
Overall framing of the project and definition of the approach to be used to support employees.
Preparation of the HR interviews
Support and ongoing contact with employees
