Providing a steady hand during an organizational transformation
Summary
See how our team prepared strategic partners, suppliers, targeted employees, and other key stakeholders for critical business process changes during an 18-month transition period.
Challenges
- Maintain business continuity and strong relationships with partners and suppliers during a lengthy, fluid separation process.
- Set expectations about the nature and timing of key business process changes, through early and ongoing engagement and clear communication.
- Create timely, clear, and accurate materials for stakeholders in 32 countries, including more than 50,000 suppliers representing more than 24,000 contracts and $35 billion in annual spending.
- Ensure employees understand how the planned separation will affect suppliers, what will change and when, and how to respond to supplier questions and concerns.
- Equip Procurement leaders with timely, relevant information and resources, so they can confidently answer employee and supplier questions.
Solutions
- Developed and delivered an orchestrated, customized email campaign to employees and suppliers explaining what to expect and what actions to take during the transition period
- Created a regular cadence of notifications/reminders ahead of “go live” in each country
- Managed translation of materials into more than 25 languages
- Validated and prepared supplier email distribution lists for each country
- Applied email marketing best practices to optimize open rates and drive required actions
- Tracked delivery and open rates for each cycle to ensure accurate audience targeting
Program elements included more than:
- 200 separate, targeted email messages to employees and suppliers in 32 countries
- 30 comprehensive FAQ documents for external partners and suppliers
- 30 sets of customized talking points for Procurement/Help Desk staff
Results
- The company experienced few measurable delays in invoicing/payments during and immediately following the separation period.
- The Procurement Help Desk received a manageable volume of separation-related questions, issues, and escalations; staff was prepared to answer questions and troubleshoot issues.
- Employees and leaders reported little disruption in business continuity or confusion about process changes.
- Open rates for employee and supplier emails were well above internal and industry benchmarks.
