The challenge

Following a period of acquisition, our client’s business was going through significant change.

They were evolving from being a US fashion company with a single brand to being a multinational group of luxury brands. Against a background of transformation programmes and growth, they needed to change their HR operating model to align to the new group structure and establish more effective Centre of Excellence and Shared Service capabilities.

Change Associates was asked to help.

What we did

We used quantitative activity analysis to understand where people were spending their time. This was supplemented by interviews with stakeholders, including the MDs of the brands, to understand challenges and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Organisation data showed the ratio of HR to employee roles was adrift from best practice. Cost data revealed an opportunity to reduce spend, particularly on senior roles, by moving to a Group level operating model.

The brand organisations had very different cultures and structures, so we worked closely with senior stakeholders to agree design principles, workshop key questions, and ensure alignment to the change. In building the new operating model we helped our client decide where activities were best done (within brands or across all brands), and the optimum location for each capability – local, regional or global.

Change Associates’ consultants identified a highly distributed structure with significant fragmentation of process and variation in roles across the three territories of North America, EMEA and APAC.

We recommended greater centralisation and standardisation, and presented options for a Group HR operating model and organisation design to the global CHRO, together with cost implications. We then designed detailed ‘charters’ for each function to support implementation of the change.

The result

• Our client made significant changes to the senior structure in HR following our review

• They identified opportunities to increase the use and effectiveness of shared services and Centres of Excellence

• Key stakeholders felt involved and consulted at every stage of the process

Image (c) Shutterstock  | BrendaArtemiza