Transformational change is at the heart of the Golden Marzipan Group.
For this reason, in this third Breakfast Briefing of Series 3, Golden Marzipan’s Peter Lunio hosted an in-depth panel discussion with leading experts Nick Horne, Group Chief Executive at Wythenshawe Community Housing Group and Nicole Kershaw, Chief Executive at One Manchester.
This last Friday, our panel experts shared their insights on how to apply transformational change strategies that stick in the housing sector.
Transformative Change Is Coming
Back in 2014, imminent technological obsolescence was a challenge to face by many organisations. Also, at that time, Forbes Insights in association with Medidata released a report on Transformational Change that works.
As they stated, “the cost of an unsuccessful business transformation can be
catastrophic”. They also pointed out that the financial crisis of 2008 “reshaped” the landscape, triggered by the “Big Data and the advent of the cloud”, among other factors.
Additionally, the Transformational Change report by Forbes Insights points out that, in most cases, transformation work begins with “visionary leadership.”
However, in the social housing sector, change is now a constant. With technology’s help here to stay, what could our organisation’s priorities be?
Effective Transformation
For many, this has been an emotional but practical journey.
As Nick stated, “the heart of the transformation is around reimagining a customer experience, looking through their lens.”
Also, he clarified in a revelatory way, “transformational change is more than changing an IT system.”
Secondly, and according to Nick, there are 5 major elements involved in the process:
- Customer contact experience – How does the customer access your services and how these are delivered.
- Culture, people, and leadership – As previously mentioned by Nick and Nicole, “having the right culture empowering and trusting people at the front line of the organisation” enables effective change, confirmed Nick this time.
- Thirdly, data – It certainly needed “a lot of work to improve it”, said Nick. We need to ensure the customer can access systems; pointing them to “a single source of truth” in a reliable way, he highlighted.
- Service design – Do you have a vision for your customers’ interactions?
- And, underpinning everything else, is placing new, better systems.
Supporting Transformational Change Consistently
Nicole clearly stated that your business transformation journey has to start answering your whys. Linked to that, and having responded to your whys, your purpose will come to life.
So, what should be the prevailing purpose? As Nicole sees it, it mostly “about customers and colleagues experiences”.
She continued stating that “designing and understanding outside in, without filters”, which also means to really understand the organisation’s needs.
Finally, Nicole emphasised, it’s about having “clear outcomes” so you can measure your progress. But, “don’t start with tech”, she said, “there has to be more than that.”
Transformational Change Gone Right
When mentioning costs cuttings, Nicola talked about “efficiency for purpose” being a priority.
And, Nick made a point of “crafting the organisation’s purpose” first. “Setting boundaries for the organisation going forward” is essential, he implied.
Therefore, efficiency has to be about a coherent transformation programme with crystal clear “expectations on what the outcomes are” and explicit metrics, mentioned Nick.
From the change’s perspective, and as Peter Lunio also stated, “knowing your purpose is key”. Simultaneously, and as a starting point, “don’t just push tech”, but invest in “customer experience”, he expressed.
Peter summarised everything affirming that “communication is pretty crucial so make sure that you prioritise them”.
Responding to Change
Of course, Golden Marzipan is passionate about the power of effective transformational change in the housing sector.
Our five tests for transformation envision transformation as plausible and tangible:
Please, get in touch if you want us to make it possible for your organisation.
Lastly, if you would like to discuss any of the items raised in this blog, contact Peter Lunio at peter@goldenmarzipan.co.uk
