The LAFARGE Story, Aparna SharmaThe LAFARGE Story, Aparna Sharma

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Stories ofCourage, Leadership & Conviction

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Lafarge,

area level meetings were conducted bymanagers who attended the LSIP workshopswith their respective teams. In these meetings,Managers cascaded what is expected out ofeach team member and how each of them canplay a critical role in achieving Abhilasha 2015.To further strengthen the teams, specially twoimportant functions, Sales & Marketing andQuality Control, learning initiatives weredesigned & rolled out. For Sales Team, underthe banner of Lafarge India Sales Academy(LISA)

Two workshops were designed & deployed,one was on Product Training & the other onSales Force Effectiveness (SFE). For QualityTeam, Lafarge India Quality Academy (LIQA)was launched which focused on improving theProduct knowledge & trouble shooting. Thisensured that we built the capabilities of peopleto change.

Further to sustain the change initiative atthe grass root level, an initiative "MITRA"(Meeting & Interacting To ReinforceAbhilasha) was launched. Thishelped in employee alignment toAbhilasha & creation of innovativeideas to reach there. Regularcommunication to all employees onachievements on different pillarsunder the banner of "Wings of Fire"has been very successful. Pep talks areregularly conducted at various levels

to engage employees. This helps in positivereinforcement of the change initiative.Seamless implementation of the neworganizational structure with a continuousfocus on providing career opportunities for internal employees is being driven across the organization. Sales Force Effectiveness trainings in particular were very successful and positivelyimpacted VAP sales and customer satisfactionscores.The need of the hour was to revamp thebusiness and bring in a turnaround.

What Lafarge did differentlyA new organisational structure wasintroduced with the objective of achievingenhanced customer focus and greaterproductivity of the existing workforce.Cluster Managers were appointed tomanage plants in major markets, the qualityfunction was strengthened through creationof Area Quality Managers.

Sales Managers were trained on 'Sales ForceEffectiveness', 'Value Selling' and 'TechnicalSelling' to enhance commercial acumen and

customer focus.

The Sales Team wererestructured and the Key

Account Managers weremade to report directly to the

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Case Study - 2

Further to sustain the change initiative at the grass root level, an initiative "MITRA" (Meeting &Interacting To Reinforce Abhilasha) was launched. This helped in employee alignment to

Abhilasha & creation of innovative ideas to reach there. Regular communication to all employeeson achievements on different pillars under the banner of "Wings of Fire" has been very

successful. Pep talks are regularly conducted at various levels to engage employees.

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CEO to foster greater accountability andquicker decision making.

Quality linked failures were periodicallytracked and made part of the KeyPerformance Indicators across theorganisation.

A detailed segment based marketing planand branding architecture was adopted tosupport the turn-around strategy with anenhanced focus on prescriptive selling andprovision of value added products.

A Large Scale Interactive Process (LSIP)was initiated to drive change and adoptionacross the organisation. Leadersperiodically communicated organisationalgoals and strategic imperatives toemployees ensuring alignment and focus onachieving set performance goals.

Cross functional teams were created togenerate solutions to key organisationalpain points, these were periodically sharedwith the Management Teams and integratedinto the change strategy.

Lafarge built and sustained the momentumof the Change Intervention through theLSIP workshops which ended with eachFunction Head identifying action plans forthe next 100 days with milestones and stricttimelines. This helped create a sharedvision among employees and supported theimplementation of organisational strategyby aligning employees with organisationalgoals.

Success stories were shared across theorganisation creating a Best Practices andLessons Learnt Culture across theorganisation.

The organisation identified a key market segmentwhich had the potential of emerging as .a strategicdifferentiator in terms of enhanced revenue and profitsin the medium to long run. Accordingly it launched anorganisation wide change intervention with theobjective of aligning larger organisational goals withperformance goals of individual employees. Lafargetherefore 'acted on what it knew' and implemented aseries of directed steps to achieve its goals-adifferentiating feature of Learning Organisations acrossthe globe.

Ensuring alignment and high engagement levelsduring implementation of the Change Intervention iskey. Leaders play a very important role incommunicating organisational strategies and short /medium term implications of implemented decisionsacross employees. This therefore creates an incubatingculture which helps manage discordant informationeffectively.

To ensure a sense of urgency and maintainmomentum, it is imperative that Change Managerscreate a robust Strategy Articulation document withstrict timelines and well-articulated goals. This was akey differentiating feature of Abhilash 2015. whichgreatly contributed to the success of the changeintervention.

Providing, customised learning solutions basis businessneeds is essential to bridge observed technical,functional and behavioural gaps. Understandingbusiness needs, supporting knowledge transfer postworkshops and documenting improvements andsharing success stories is key to ensuring optimalLearning Transfer and Change.

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Case Study - 2

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Key take aways for Change Managers

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