Our business environment is in a constant state of change. While strong companies withstand the urge to behave reactively, resilience in today’s market demands flexibility and emotional intelligence to make change an asset.
Mack Trucks, a longstanding client, faced a major corporate shift when Volvo acquired it. Although several years ago now, it is still an example of the importance of culture. The businesses were complementary, but each had distinct brands, backgrounds and cultures. The leadership of both organisations needed to retain the strength of both businesses while building a new, shared vision.
Use process to enable evolution
Carroll Consulting had managed the recruitment of several senior roles at Mack Trucks. Together we had established a strong picture of their culture and their management had a firm commitment to cultural recruitment – hiring processes anchored in an understanding of the values and character of an organisation as much as the skills needed of a particular role.
We worked with the leadership to understand the impact of the strategic acquisition on their business. Our process of mapping a client’s culture became a valuable tool to support the pairing of one global brand with another. Ultimately, all parties gained insight into the evolving nature of the culture. The leadership team was able to use this insight to support change management while Carroll Consulting was able to ensure the ability to provide insight within this new business landscape.
Drive business strategy through culture
The Mack Truck brand and business has successfully balanced its culture with that of Volvo’s, delivering a group capable of contributing to the advancement of both businesses. As just one example, one of Mack’s senior leadership team, who was recruited into Mack is now a divisional manager with Volvo. We continue to support both brands from time-to-time with recruitment initiatives. The depth of the process has supported the retention of high performers and created a framework for repositioning people within the broader business to better enable growth.
Success factors for your business
- Embed culture as a key tool to support your business strategy, rather than viewing it as a ‘soft’ side to your business
- Map the characteristics of your culture – it becomes a powerful tool when it is understood by a team rather than carried in the heads of a few leaders
- Organisational culture is not static and needs to evolve to stay relevant; revisit the factors that define your culture to ensure a balance between integrity and adaptability as you face change