| THE CHALLENGE | THE RESPONSE | THE OUTCOME |
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This division of a leading American automaker was facing a mountain of challenges. The wholesale field sales/service was being downsized from 26 zone offices to 15. The division was also bringing on board six data information specialists. In addition, the organization was hoping to transform a small nucleus of people into a highly energized project team responsible for designing a new high-tech Dealer Assistance Center. This new 19-member group had been given just one year in which to: provide dealers with maximum support in sales and service; incorporate the most advanced business equipment into daily operations; increase customer satisfaction; improve productivity in the wholesale work force; build efficient work teams to run the Center; and transform their own group into a tightly knit participatory team. |
At the invitation of the project team, Orion entered the picture. Our first step was to forge a strategy for change in conjunction with the division's internal OD consultant and the lead manager of the project group. Together, the Orion representative and the division's own consultant conducted an intense team-building session during the first three days of the project team's existence. By creating an atmosphere marked by communication and trust, the workshop opened the way to the next stages of goal setting and job design. Following diagnostic assessments of each team member's leadership styles and skills, deeper team development processes were applied at a critical juncture in the project group's evolution. By the time the group was ready to finalize the Dealer Assistance Center operations design, members had established the kind of culture that would ultimately set them apart in terms of operational effectiveness. | Today, the results speak for themselves. The project group has become a true team in every sense of the word. The 90-member Center is a model for the industry as indicated by at least two dealer surveys. What's more, this pioneering effort has not only become an example for cultural change throughout the entire division, but has also shown the potential for inspiring similar change efforts in other divisions of the automaker. Finally, because of the exceptional success of this effort over a five to six year period, Orion was invited to assist in the development of a vision for the entire North American operation. |
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