When Growth Outpaces Culture
(in order to protect client identities, this is a composite account based on numerous BCG client engagements. The story is real, the costs are real, the interventions are real, and the results are real. The details of the organization, industry, and location are “diffuse” to protect confidentiality.)
An organization had experienced incredible growth over five years. Their strategy to grow through acquisition was working. The organization’s footprint had expanded across several markets, their staff had grown from 500 to 1,500 employees , the depth of expertise they could provide was exceptional.
Unfortunately, the parent company had not considered how the organizational culture might be affected by the fast growth. Focus and success was on operational integration. There was very little attention paid to cultural integration at a significant cost.
The impact- the cultures of the different organizations started colliding, since expectations and behavioral norms had not been defined. The next acquisition (we consider it to be the tipping point), despite operationally managing the acquisition the same, was deemed a failure due to almost 100% turnover in the acquired entity, with complete loss of the expertise and institutional knowledge the parent company had invested in. This churn led to client dissatisfaction and loss of trust in the new entity, leading to significant decline in revenue, because there was no one to deliver the work for clients, and those that did, did not have the expertise of those who had left. Finally, there was erosion of employer brand in the area, and finding talent to replace the exiting staff became difficult. The cost was significant.
What happened next?
One person on the leadership team saw the issues and said, “enough.” They enrolled BCG for help. We facilitated a series of executive sessions to uncover the actual culture that existed and measured it against the stated culture (many times they aren’t the same) and began aligning the organizational mission and values with reality. The cultural outputs were validated through staff engagement across the different entities, to ensure what leadership was creating aligned with what staff were experiencing. Where there was confusion or misalignment, we made changes. We defined how the values are lived to the behavioral level, so that everyone from the top to the front-line knew what was expected. The organization shifted from a group of different entities, into one aligned organization with room for each to express the values in their own way. This took two years.
The results?
The executive team began hiring for the evolved culture. Yes, some exited the organization, but this time they were the people who didn’t align with the new culture. The organic momentum started to speed up with the creation of local culture councils. Employees started to bring ideas to the leadership team about how to improve things, and the leaders took action. Momentum started to build organically.
Within a year, the change was not only visible and palpable. Turnover, workers’ comp and HR claims, quality issues all declined. Customers returned and employees returned. Within two years, the organization was different, but rooted in its original core mission and values. By the third year, they had earned Best Place to Work as an overall organization, with local recognition in their specific services market.
And for each subsequent acquisition, they had a cultural integration approach that they could apply to mitigate the cost of change and to accelerate the onboarding of the acquired organization. And, yes, they are still growing.
From Fixing a Team to Finding Their Identity
A small team inside a larger organization had been through multiple leadership changes in a short period of time. The organization had clear expectations of what this team should deliver but they weren’t aligned with the department. These expectations, without the stability of a consistent leader were starting to become a problem, for the organization, the interim leader, and for the team. They had lost their direction, their confidence, and their trust in each other.
What went wrong?
On a team this small, everything is visible. There's no hiding. The team felt disempowered, disconnected, and siloed, and it showed. Competing behaviors, gossip, frustration, and colleagues leaving were all having an impact. What should have been a tight, high-trust group had become porous: changes were coming and people were leaving without giving the team a chance to stabilize.
What happened next?
The operational leader overseeing the team in an interim capacity didn’t have the time or energy this team needed to manage the team dynamic. A new team leader had just come on board and was already starting to make changes, but there was still an opportunity for the team to have a frank conversation to let go of the past and decide on its future.
We started with a team assessment, looking at interpersonal relationships, organizational dynamics, resources, the full picture of whether this team was actually set up to succeed. Then interviewed the team and key stakeholders. What we found created a new opportunity and changed the scope of the engagement. This wasn't a "fix the team" project anymore.
We shifted the team offsite to focus on leader assimilation, strategic visioning, and org design: Who are we? How do we want to serve? What's our brand? How do we develop ourselves to deliver on a new commitment?
The team aligned on shifting from tactical support function to a higher touch function. They wanted to become a transformational partner to their stakeholders; exactly what their new leader had hoped to build but hadn't yet known who on the team would actually want to be part of it.
The team leader walked away knowing who was skilled and ready to deliver on that new promise, and how much real appetite existed for it.
The results?
The team is moving forward and running with a new identity, a new mandate, and the potential for real impact and recognition.
What Got You Here Won't Get You There
A senior leader had been asked to open a new market and build a brand-new department from the ground up. There was just one problem: they were still doing their old role. And, for a while, the role before that too.
Why Coaching?
They were overwhelmed and exhausted and questioning if this path they were on was right for them. They were carrying three roles' worth of work and approaching the work the same way they always had. Underneath it all, they were getting in their own way: working harder, not smarter, because some part of them needed to prove they deserved this new role, at exactly the moment they most needed to let go of how they'd earned the last one.
What happened next?
BCG was brought in for executive coaching to help this leader integrate into the new executive role. We helped them get honest about what actually required their attention versus what didn't, create an approach to offboard the previous roles, and empower the people around them to step up and take on new roles and responsibilities. With young children at home and a genuine desire to be present for them, we also worked on what work-life balance could actually look like.
As this leader was seriously considered leaving at the time we started coaching. They needed to find where they actually had agency, the decisions genuinely theirs to make, without waiting for direction, where the details were worked out by their team, and they fundamentally had to shift to a more hands-off leadership approach, instead of trying to control everything at once. As they leaned into their real strength as a strategist, something shifted. They didn't need to become a different person to succeed in this role. They needed to lead differently than the role that got them here.
The results?
They built the department. They built the business. And they didn't stop there. They've since moved on and up, building more businesses and continuing their group. They are now a senior executive at the company.