Who are we?
Launched from its Bristol HQ in 1994, Orange was the fourth company to enter the UK mobile marketplace. By 1996 its coverage reached 90% of the UK population and Orange Plc became the youngest company ever to enter the FTSE-100, valued at 2.4 billion and with one million customers.
After being the first mobile operator to launch a tv-on-the-mobile service in 2005 and launching the iPhone in 2009 Orange now has over 15 million customers in the UK, and is one of the most recognisable brands on the high street.
What was our challenge?
A team of 9 Senior Mangers based around the UK, responsible for a directorate of 1000 staff. At the time Nicky did this work with us, our joint venture with T-Mobile had just been announced. Both brands are now run by one company Everything Everywhere.
We knew that our own roles and those of the wider team were very likely to change and that we would be coping with uncertainty in our own lives at the same time as we were responsible for ensuring support was available for the wider team and that business needs were met.
We had all had different experiences of change in the past and felt that between us we had all the necessary skills and knowledge to manage the change. At the same time there was the potential for a lack of consistency in our approach and also for individuals to be experiencing high stress levels with the associated risk that brings for the organisation.
What did they do for us?
A two day session, drawing on past experience and self awareness work carried out with Nicky previously, to work on a plan to help us manage change at three levels:
The eventallowed us to be totally open and honest about our thoughts and feelings about the announcement and ensured that we focussed on what we could control rather than being concerned about what was outside our control.
Nicky also organised a murder mystery challenge for us in the evening at no extra cost, which proved a great way of bonding our team further, and ensured we got great value from the daily rate charged!
What impact did it have?
As individuals left the workshop there were many observations about how much more confident and positive individuals felt about the challenges ahead.
During the coming weeks and months we were able to draw on the ideas we generated during the workshop to ensure a smooth transition. There is no doubt that both the team and the individuals progressed after working with Nicky.