WHEN INVESTORS COME IN

Tackling transition and the growing pains of scaling a business

CHALLENGE

A start-up was acquired by a private equity firm. There was low morale, diminished team spirit, lack of personal performance, all ultimately impacting results.

INSIGHTS

The people involved from the inception of the company were still with the organisation and were experiencing a change in culture, direction and method of working. The speed and rate of change was further amplified with additional acquisitions that needed to be merged with the business. The core team was under increasing amounts of pressure to provide stopgap solutions whilst other parts of the business were integrated. They were feeling undervalued and unrecognised.

SOLUTION & OUTCOME

Conducted individual and group sessions:

• Identified individual core drivers, strengths, aspirations and areas they wanted to develop
• Personal reflection on events and interactions – perception, reaction and subsequent influence on relationships with their colleagues
• Awareness and adjustment of personal behaviour and communication to improve relationships with colleagues
• Exploration and development of ways to tackle rifts with colleagues (e.g. identifies areas in which they could be each other’s mentors and role models, playing off each other’s strengths)
• Reviewed compensation structure: what got measured, what got rewarded and how they felt about it
• Reviewed roles and individuals in those roles
• Realignment of roles with functions playing to strengths and areas of competence as opposed to titles due to length of service

Resulted in:

• A team consisting of committed, competent and collaborative individuals operating in a more positive environment, with less friction and positive results.
• A more collegiate and collaborative work environment, with improved communication, transparency and higher levels of trust
• A compensation structure aligned with deliverables, contribution and value-add
• Realising they were not in the right role or company, some team members resigned – some went on to become founders of their own startup