Client:
NO CAPTION
Wolseley UK is part of Wolseley plc, a FTSE100 company with a turnover of £13bn-plus. It’s the world’s largest trade distributor of heating and plumbing products and a leading supplier of building materials in North America, Europe and the UK. With a £2bn-plus turnover, Wolseley UK is a FTSE250-sized company which provides construction products and materials through a nationwide branch network.
“Today’s meeting has provided much-needed clarity and structure during a period of major change within the business. Whilst this change/transition is on-going, I am much more knowledgeable on the plan going forward – a fantastic conference” New Dawn conference delegate
Challenge:
A strategic review of the company, aligned with the ambitions of Wolseley plc, resulted in a focus on key, well-chosen markets, and businesses that were leading players in those markets. This meant disposing of businesses that did not fit those criteria – three in the case of Wolseley UK.
The scale and complexity of the changes presented a challenge. In addition to selling the three businesses, there was also a major reorganisation of the remaining support functions – and all during a major recession. The changes were potentially going to be viewed negatively by employees, so the key objective of the campaign was to ensure a potentially negative proposition was turned into a positive one, with buy-in for Wolseley UK’s winning strategy.
Response:
A sample of communications materials
Winning over the hearts and minds of the senior management teams to secure their support for the new strategy was essential – and the start point was ensuring they had a clear understanding of the rationale for the disposals and change programme.
A radically different approach was needed that would require a delivery with passion, energy and innovation.
The initial disposal announcement involved a combination of communications tools, including:
- a ‘heads-up’ teleconference for the top 50 managers
- a company-wide internal announcement
- a dedicated telephone line with a recorded information message from the MD
- bespoke briefings packs for managers in every business
- bespoke websites for employees of the businesses sold – which Wolseley UK was responsible for during a transitional period – launched on the day of the announcement.
Following the announcement, the changes were communicated in the form of a narrative of the company’s story prompted by questions raised in filmed interviews with grassroots employees. The questions formed the basis for a raft of communications tools used to relate the story to all employees in the business. Questions were tough and direct and included: “Are we simply making our competition stronger?” “Why are we shrinking?”
“…a model of planning, execution and evaluation to a diverse audience. The campaign was delivered with flair and creativity and met business needs” IoIC judge
They provided the framework for a keynote conference for 200 senior managers, which adopted a story form with each chapter of the story fronted by a video clip featuring employees asking questions which were answered by live presentations from the Leadership Team.
Delegates were encouraged to express their views on electronic graffiti walls. The ‘New Dawn’ title and logo used for on-going communication activities, including a managers’ DVD and all-employee brochure, was created by one of the delegates on the graffiti wall.
Results:
Conference materials
- 100% rated the senior managers’ conference good/excellent, while 97% agreed/strongly agreed they had a better understanding about the rationale for the changes at Wolseley UK
- Feedback was overwhelmingly positive with descriptors including ‘brilliant’, ‘inspiring’, ‘timely’
- Most significantly, a barometer survey to gauge feedback to the changes from the grassroots branch network employees of the retained businesses, was extremely positive, recording an Employee Engagement Index Score of 86%
- The New Dawn campaign claimed two major awards at the 2012 IoIC Awards, Europe’s largest and most prestigious internal communications competition