The Challenge
A sporting organisation in the UK needed help to get to the right size and shape to achieve its desired future impact. Previous rounds of cost reduction and crisis management had fundamentally shifted the organisation’s activity and people investment. With a significant growth and transformation agenda ahead, the client needed help to align its organisation behind its future role in the sport and build a path to operating on a sustainable cost base.
This required a critical assessment of the current operating model, capabilities required for the future, and opportunities to work in a fundamentally different way. Rather than embark on another “cost-out” exercise, the organisation needed to emerge from the process in a stronger place than ever.
What We Did
In an initial phase of work, we supported the CEO & Executive team to explore their current strengths and challenges, assess their people investment and identify opportunities to do things differently.
- Building on a clear strategy and activity prioritisation, we made recommendations on capabilities that need to be protected and opportunities to work differently achieve better outcomes.
- We then facilitated members of the leadership team to explore cross-cutting opportunities and align on the key areas of change.
- In detailed design, we utilised an organisational analysis tool to model different scenarios and arrive at a proposed future organisation, collectively owned by the Exec.
- In the final phase, we supported teams to adopt new matrix working practices and supported the Executive team to reflect on their own leadership journey.
The Impact
The changes included greater centralisation of core functions, elevation in the role of leaders and the development of some critical areas based on the future needs of the game. Through our work together, the organisation:
- Delivered a successful consultation process with staff, centred on the needs for change driven by its future ambition in the sport
- Achieved a 12% reduction in people spend as part of a return to financial sustainability
- Implemented an empowered management team that allowed Exec to play a more strategic, driving role
- Invested renewed focus into building staff trust and creating a positive culture, with confidence inspired by improvement in broader strategic metrics (on-field results, fan engagement, participation)