Three into One - Team Energy
“We are starting to act as one team, positive and fired up.”
Mark Holweger, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Axa
The business challenge
Three into one
Fast. Dynamic. Highly commercial. This is the world of AXA Corporate Partners. As the corporate arm of the global insurance company, Corporate Partners already has an impressive track record of delivery.
But, new Director, Mark Holweger explains. “We had three separate teams - retail, financial services and new business - each very, very successful in their own right. But it was time to change what we meant by success. You can always do better. We were looking for a step change in our performance - both for profit and double-digit growth. This is now our driver, and our ambition.”
Attiva’s brief
One team, one culture
“I knew what I had to do on the business strategy front,” explains Mark. “But there was a huge cultural side that I realised I needed help with. The three teams inevitably had their own mini-cultures, their own processes, their own ways of doing business - things that worked for them. My challenge was to create a one-team approach, like a football team, with a common purpose, clear roles for each person and a clear understanding of how everyone supports everyone else.
Mark continues. “From the start, I liked the way Attiva listened. They clicked very quickly on the issues I was dealing with. I was looking for deep-rooted behaviour and culture change, not average team building stuff - so the Directed Energy ® concept felt right to me - if I could get it to happen in practice”.
The solution
Team energy
“Directional, engaging, thought-provoking, a huge step forward on our journey,” explained one of the senior managers taking part in the process. Attiva’s Team Energy process was the basis for the solution, customised as always to the particular situation.
“Attiva’s approach is not your typical assessment of a team,” explains Simon Broome, Senior HR Business Partner. “It is very engaging and even from the pre-work, you soon realise this is about thinking outside the box. Plus, the beauty of the approach is its simplicity. There is no management mumbo-jumbo yet the outputs are very powerful.”
The process
Release directed energy®
Attiva established a map of the dynamics of the teams, then the teams came together in their first workshop to clarify direction - building up the purpose, goals and aspirations of the combined team. Back in the workplace, individuals initiated structured dialogue sessions to get back in touch with colleagues and customers and to sort the wood from the trees in terms of what really matters. Back together in a second workshop, the teams put their findings under the spotlight. This acted as the catalyst, releasing energy & resulting in clear action plans.
“A very relevant, intelligent, energising approach,” commented a senior manager. In three months time, the teams will come back together to review progress.
“Sometimes, team building work is a facilitated discussion that goes where the facilitator wants!” explains Simon Broome. “Instead, Attiva uses people’s energy to create focus in an interactive way, so the team owns the output. The process drives out the issues in a structured way that has ownership and accountability written all over it.”
Impact so far
The trigger, the spark
“Building culture is a long-term process,” explains Mark. “Attiva’s approach recognises this - the workshops take place over a period of months, not a one-off event.”
“It is early days for us, and we don’t yet have formally measured impact - that will happen with our next satisfaction survey - but already people are saying that it feels as if we are moving to more of one team. Plus they say they definitely know their colleagues better which is essential. In fact, we’ve just secured a big win and, on that deal, we definitely started to see people pulling together and more of a joint effort”
Simon Broome adds “Attiva have helped us to get three different teams to the same point, at the same time and knowing what they need to do to become ‘One Team’. Some of the challenges are tough - the action plans have some difficult stuff in them - but there is a commitment and energy to see them through.”