Retailer’s Change Management and Communication Strategy Drive Sustainable Results
Client Challenge
The client is a 130-year-old leading, global, specialty retailer of apparel and accessories for men, women, and children operating four brands in over 700 stores across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, as well as two e-commerce sites. The retailer was experiencing significant growth within their wholesale and franchise divisions. The core retail business possessed a deep ‘retail first’ commitment, and the client recognized the need to optimize their business processes to ensure activities were focused on this agenda.
In parallel to assessing the retailer’s operations and recommending business process improvements, Parker Avery was tasked to deliver an organizational change management (OCM) roadmap that would underpin the entire effort. Imperative to the OCM roadmap and overall success of the initiative was the inclusion of a robust communication plan to help the organization understand and embrace the process improvement opportunities.
Parker Avery Solution
Over eleven weeks, Parker Avery collaborated with the client team to build a strategic change management roadmap with a highly targeted communication plan focused on helping the organization understand and maximize the company’s growth opportunities.
Parker Avery conducted over 30 interviews and facilitated cross-functional workshops to help the retailer build and refine the change management and communication strategy. Guided by Parker Avery, the client was able to:
- Prioritize key functional areas for engagement
- Conduct a comprehensive audience segmentation analysis to ensure focused and impactful communications
- Develop a six-month roadmap, embedding key communication milestones
- Craft tailored messages and benefit statements based on the different roles and levels being addressed
- Create an engaging and interactive launch campaign to pique interest and create excitement throughout the organization
The initiative was supported by a program governance team, comprised of varying functions and levels, and underpinned by strong sponsorship from senior executives.
Further, Parker Avery equipped the client with the campaign kick-off deck and provided executives with a change leadership toolkit to guide them through the upcoming transition.
Results
The effort allowed the client and Parker Avery to collaboratively build the retailer’s initial change management and communication strategy by leveraging the client team’s expertise and insights. Ultimately, Parker Avery guided the company in identifying, crafting, and executing their own change activities. This knowledge transfer ensured a sense of ownership and commitment to new ways of working, as well as minimized organizational resistance.
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