Managing change during transformation at Asahi
Change management experts from Asahi Europe & International share the methods used and challenges faced in a major transformation
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PEX Network decided to exclusively release the keynote session from PEX Live: Change Management and Culture Change for Business Transformation 2021 ahead of this year’s event.
In it, Katy Murarotto, head of business process management, transformation and Soraya Abdelmageed, change management lead at Asahi Europe & International, discussed how the business has been managing a major transformation and the challenges they have faced.
To attend this year’s PEX Live: Change Management and Culture Change for Business Transformation 2022 featuring Danske bank and Novo Nordisk, you can register here
Here we summarize some of the key points from the discussion, titled Dynamic Duo at Japanese Beer Producer Sow the Seeds for Business Transformation.
Related content: Driving transformation with effective change management
Managing change with transparency
With Asahi Europe & International operating from several regions across the world and in several different markets, the business operates with a number of different systems, ways of working and cultures across the enterprise.
Due to this level of variation across the business, Asahi Europe & International initiated a large-scale business transformation programme to bring all of its varied systems and ways of working together.
Murarotto and Abdelmageed noted that one of the keys to achieving this has been transparency with regard to changes made and their scope and goals across the business. Leaders needed to be instructed exactly what was being changed, why it was changed and what their role in effecting or managing this change would be.
They developed a plan for change to be distributed across the whole organization. They also ensured leaders understood that the outlined changes and goals did not need to be immediately actioned but were something for the business to work toward. This allowed everyone to feel involved and view themselves as a catalyst for the change the business was undergoing.
Remaining agile when change does not work
Abdelmageed noted that it can be difficult to understand what impact a change will have and how it will vary for groups or departments that have different ways of working across the business.
She said that sometimes change will not benefit everyone and communicating this is key to prevent people becoming frustrated and disenchanted with the transformation when a change negatively impacts them.
In order for transformation to have a positive impact, it is necessary to take a risk on some changes without a guarantee that of success. This requires managing the mind-set of the business with regard to change and moving away from the idea that things will always need to be perfect. Abdelmageed recommended embedding a more agile mind-set that allows the business to pivot to new ideas whenever a particular change is found to be ineffective.
To hear more experts share their insights and experiences with change management, register for PEX Live: Change Management and Culture Change for Business Transformation 2022.
If you would like to watch all session from PEX Live: Change Management and Culture Change for Business Transformation 2021 on-demand, click here.
What have been the major barriers to change in your own organization and how have you overcome them? Let us know in the comments below.
