TotalFinaElf (now Total)
TotalFinaElf - MERGER & TEAM ALIGNMENT WORKSHOPS
The information below was written by Stephen Cole, former HR Director, Total Fina Elf:
"Taylor Clarke were heavily involved in many aspects of dealing with a major merger we went through in year 2000. They facilitated our then, two companies, Total Fina and Elf, in the UK to look at the people issues involved in merging the two organisations. Taylor Clarke worked in collaboration with us helping us to devise a strategy and detailed plan to manage the change. They then delivered the following aspects of that plan:
Phase 1 Taylor Clarke trained all of our directors and managers (n = 120) to consider the issues likely to arise during the change. They helped them assess their own capabilities to support their people during and after the merger, including how to select people for the new organisation and how to manage those leaving the organisation and those staying. These sessions were for roughly 12 directors/managers at a time and lasted 2 days each. Our key senior staff not only gained insight and understanding about how to support themselves and their people during and after the change but also practised the various skills required. Taylor Clarke leaned heavily on Bridges Model of Change and their own TurnAround Model of individual, team and organisational change. We found that Taylor Clarke’s consultants managed to fully engage our senior people, a group of bright, challenging, highly motivated individuals who were new to many of the issues the workshops addressed.
Phase 2 All staff from the two upstream companies throughout the UK were offered 2 support workshops to examine their issues with the merger and to support them in their personal transitions. These workshops were roughly half a day in length and had a strong element of personal discovery and support. Bridges was again the main model that Taylor Clarke used. We found that Taylor Clarke’s knowledgeable and empathic approach worked well with staff who attended these workshops during the uncertainty created by the merger.
Phase 3 All the new teams in the merged company went through team alignment sessions lasting from 1-3 days. Taylor Clarke consultants facilitated these sessions which presented the new company vision, values and team objectives and then allowed staff in smaller, facilitated groups to debate these and work out action plans to move towards them. Each session was planned with the manager beforehand and evaluated with them some 2 to 3 months later. We felt that Taylor Clarke consultants were quickly able to build collaborative, productive relationships with our department managers and inject a large amount of positive energy and focus into these very useful sessions.
One of the main reasons Taylor Clarke was invited to help Total Fina Elf’s merger plans was our concern about the potential for a high labour turnover rate immediately after the merger. This concern was born out of the last major change programme that Total Oil Marine went through (in the mid 1990’s) when we shed 20% of our staff but then experienced a labour turnover rate of 20% in the year following that change. That turnover was unwelcome and expensive for the company as many highly qualified and experienced staff left.
After the merger, involving the Taylor Clarke intervention, we found that unplanned labour turnover was estimated at under 5% for the year immediately following the merger.
We maintain a close working relationship with Taylor Clarke. They are currently providing the following services, one to one coaching for senior managers, training in areas such as influencing, negotiation etc and facilitation of business planning and problem solving workshops. We have always found Taylor Clarke consultants to be highly knowledgeable, flexible and effective. They are both empathic and credible when dealing with all levels of staff in our organisation."
