Brief

Our mortgage broker client, the franchisor for a network comprising more than 400 franchise owners across Australia, was replacing their core operating platform with a new digital solution, to be employed with an agile methodology with a number of implementations planned for the coming year. The brief was two-fold:

• To provide additional senior change management capability for two projects associated with the platform replacement
• To offer mentoring and coaching to the Change Lead in a capability and knowledge transfer process.

Solution

The first of the two projects for which Blue Seed Consulting offered additional change management capability was a complex client migration, with a high frustration factor for franchisees, which had to be completed well before the launch of the new platform. Our consultants were asked to step in at short notice to turn around this project which was already in high-stakes mode. A delivery plan was put in place very quickly, with an extensive engagement component with the franchise network in order to rebuild trust with franchisees. We worked closely with the client’s Change Lead to deliver on this while building on the organisation’s own change management capability. The second project was planning for the launch of the broker platform which was some months away. We worked to engage stakeholders on agreeing to the change outcomes, measures and metrics, and achieving leadership alignment. From this flowed a change plan for implementation based on communication, learning and support needs. We needed to work closely with the Communications Director, Learning and Development Team and Product Owner to achieve alignment, while supporting the Change Lead’s learning process..

Results

Our consultants delivered the change planning for the platform launch whilst working carefully to bolster the Change Lead to take on the implementation once our assignment was over. Despite posing a significant reputational risk for our client, the project turned out to be an opportunity for the organisation to start a dialogue with its key clients. The anticipated frustration on the complex client migration didn’t materialise and all change outcomes were achieved, with clients migrating with minimal disruption and loss of productivity.