Asset Management
Purpose and Culture Reframe
Opportunity
The arrival of a new CEO, who wanted to reshape the organisation to meet the future needs of a changing market, led the organisation to review its ‘Corporate DNA’ that had been created 15 years previously in a quite different financial and regulatory landscape.
The solution
Sheridan facilitated the process to articulate the firms’ purpose, principles and behaviours in a way that would resonate with both existing and future colleagues. It was essential to create participation and gain buy in across the whole organisation. We engaged multiple internal audiences to build a new purpose-centered narrative, grounded in demonstrable behaviours. By keeping the changing needs of customers, clients, and the regulator at the heart of the process, we were able to balance the real strengths of the existing culture with the future needs of the market.
The new purpose, principles, and behaviours were launched with more than 1400 people taking part in workshops across 3 continents, and with over 90 team leaders equipped to lead a discussion on how to embed these in the teams’ day-to-day work.
The event took the form of two 3.5 hour online sessions, one day apart, followed by a further two 3.5 hour online sessions the following month.
As an Executive Sponsor of the project I found that our coach facilitator showed exceptional focus, creativity and determination to ensure that this programme had a sustained impact. On occasion. I have seen ‘culture change’ done badly with limited impact, but I can only describe Sheridan’s approach as exemplary in creating something truly authentic and with wide-spread buy-in. This measurably impacted employee engagement and was also something customer facing teams would engage with their clients on.
Impact
Six months on, an impact assessment showed leaders and colleagues were overwhelmingly positive about the purpose-led narrative and the way it had been brought to life across the business. Non-customer facing teams reported that the customer had been brought into sharper focus, helping them understand their impact on customer outcomes,
and colleagues reported that they now felt more empowered to constructively challenge behaviours and decisions that did not reflect M&G’s principles and behaviours. The event took the form of two 3.5 hour online sessions, one day apart, followed by a further two 3.5 hour online sessions the following month.