The client
A leading UK-focused Retail Estate Investment Trust (REIT). The business invests in and manages retail property such as shopping centres and creates shopping environments tailored to local communities.
The brief
The CEO had a vision of a unified, collaborative executive team fostering high levels of engagement, creativity, and innovation within the company.
Henry & Harris Partnership was tasked with working with the senior leaders to put in place an organisational development strategy to deliver the CEO’s vision. Our brief included helping to clarify their core messages, bringing their new organisational values to life and creating a roadmap to enable them to prioritise opportunities and strengthen their strategic talent management.
The solution
We needed a multi-pronged approach to cover all aspects of the brief. The first step in our partnership was to assess how to most effectively establish the collaborative teams and innovative working practices the CEO was seeking. We identified the key areas which could offer quick wins, along with some longer–term projects which would be central to the success of the overall strategy and their vision of their future workplace.
One of our priorities was to ensure the company was fully utilising the capacity of its dedicated and brilliant employees. To achieve this, we devised and implemented a new people plan. This involved resolving some immediate HR issues and establishing new policies and procedures along with an updated personnel system to maximise efficiency.
Our analysis revealed that several teams could work more cohesively together through a change in individual roles and responsibilities and reporting lines. This change also involved some redundancies, but our focus was to drive and deliver this in a way that helped people move on positively from the organisation where appropriate.
We also identified that applying more rigorous performance management approaches would help the organisation manage its people more effectively. We worked closely with the relevant leaders to develop this as well as a launching a bespoke reward structure to boost employee engagement. To ensure these changes were supported in the long term, we recruited a new HR Director and an outsourced HR team.
Alongside this we developed a tailored strategic talent management process and established development cohorts for those with leadership potential. We embedded learning and development programmes within individual teams to ensure employees were able to maximise their potential.
The Covid-19 pandemic arrived in the midst of this work, adding an extra layer of complexity. We were able to use our extensive experience in HR support to advise on the business’s overall strategy, helping to undertake risk assessments and manage those risks appropriately. We also oversaw the furloughing of staff and supported the senior leadership team when difficult people decisions needed to be made.
The benefit
The CEO now has a streamlined, focused and motivated executive team in place to support the business as it navigates the impact of the pandemic. Coupled with a robust HR system and strategies for organisational development, learning and development, the business is in a position of strength and ready to thrive despite the challenges of 2020.
Find out more about our organisational development and HR services or contact us today to arrange your free discovery call.
