Infrastructure & Shared Services Director Infrastructure & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Louise Marshall – Brother UK Ltd Infrastructure & Shared Services Director

Organisational Structure – Infrastructure & Shared Services

Louise Marshall Infrastructure & Shared Services Director Linda Willows Head of Legal & Business Management Brian Pickering IT Development Manager Sam Johnson Internal Communications Co-Ordinator Maggie Robinson Facilities Manager Shared Service BIE IT Shared Service BIE HR Shared Service BIE Finance

Infrastructure & Shared Services

Background

• Brother UK was established in Manchester in 1879 – it

was originally a sewing machine company (Jones) - taken over by our parent company 50 years ago, and from the early 1990s had a Japanese MD.

• These MDs came into the business for a 3 year term,

and then returned to Japan – with the business “stalling” periodically while it adjusted to new leadership.

• Our main purpose is the Sales & Marketing of Brother

products in the UK, via distributors and retailers – but we also conduct a number of support services and administration from the site.

Background

• Our main product focus was the sale of printers (laser and inkjet)

and fax machines.

• We had around 4 main competitors and held a solid and

consistent share of the markets we operated in.

• Our operating costs were relatively high but good margins meant

that we made a modest profit most years, and we had the security

• f the Brother group when needed.
• Our average length of service was 13 years, and staff turnover

was very low.

• However, staff satisfaction wasn’t high, because there was the

feeling of a “glass ceiling” preventing progression and promotion.

Organisational Hierarchy

Organisation Perceived Influence LOW HIGH

Organisational Hierarchy

Organisation Market Proximity Near Far

Background

• Our reporting structure was very hierarchical :

The winds of change…

• Around 3 or 4 years ago we realised that our year on year

performance was static, or dropping, and so was our market share.

• We now had more than 10 competitors, and our product

range was becoming less relevant in a digital age.

• Along with this new competition came the economic

pressures we all had to face.

• Business became less about loyalty, and more about

squeezing margins, and offering best value.

• The group recognised this at a central level, and got into new

markets, and developed new products – scanners, web conferencing, mobile printing, and many more - but that meant a big change for Brother UK…

A New MD…

• Along with that change came a new MD
• A young, British MD with a background in Sales

& Marketing, and a vision of a more entrepreneurial and agile organisation that could cope with the complexities of the fast moving markets we now operated in.

• After a lot of reading and networking, he

discovered the Kinetic Organisation Theory, and it resonated with his vision for the future – where as much of the company’s resources as possible are aimed at what the customer and the market needs. Phil Jones

The Kinetic structure

People who do the work Brings wisdom to ensure the we don’t Re-learn old lessons. The most senior decision maker in the organisation People Managers Ensures fair play! Provides all hard technology and soft infrastructure and training to help project teams deliver their best performance.

Wise Owl Work Loader

Defines and loads the projects, adjudicates, monitors quality of

• utput

Agility Controller

Ensures decisions do not impair ‘agility’ of the organisation in the long term

Owner Recruiter/Coach Rulemaker/Referee Connector

Makes links between cells for the benefit

• f the enterprise, sharing knowledge and

taking sure that effective interworking takes place.

Workplace Infrastructure Deliverer

Leaders Executives

Kinetic Working

People Culture Technology Process Workplace Impact / Kinetic Working

With all of these elements under the same leadership it was possible to align them in a common goal of creating a more kinetic organisation. Working groups were set up for each element, with changes being introduced.

Kinetic Working - Exercise

People Culture Technology Process Workplace Impact / Kinetic Working

Split into 5 groups & each group will be allocated one of these elements. As a team take about 20 minutes to come up with some ideas that could be implemented in a business to move towards a more kinetic way of working. We will then ask each team to present their ideas.

• That change started to take place for us 2 to 3 years

ago, and still continues…

• Since then our turnover has increased (despite the

tough economy), our staff levels have reduced, and the ratio of internal to external staff has changed with more in sales & marketing and the remainder in support services.

• Our operating costs are down, and our market share

has increased in all key product areas.

• So how have we done that???

The Brother UK Journey

People Culture Technology Process Workplace Impact / Kinetic Working

Transition Strategy

Our Direction of Travel

Prepare (12-13) Refine (13-14) Deploy (14-15)

Accelerate (15-16) 16-17 17-18

Grow Services Revenue Transform Business Model Portfolio Expansion Cost to Serve Reduction Continuing Brand Investment Contractual PV Transformed Business Model Renewed Customer Base In-built resiliency New Brand Perception

14-15

15-16

17-18

Rolling 3 Year Direction of Travel

Grow Services Revenue Transform Business Model Portfolio Expansion Cost to Serve Reduction Continuing Brand Investment Contractual PV Transforming Business Model Renewed Customer Base In-built resiliency New Brand Perception

• Reduce cost of business
• Customer Terms Review
• Deploy Brother Cloud BPS
• Protect and Convert MiF
• Scale MPS
• Grow new categories
• Evolve Workplace and Culture
• New Categories?
• Acquisitions?

People (Organisational) Changes

• Replaced the Senior Management Team of 15 with a smaller

Team of Directors covering the 4 main elements of the business : – Sales & Marketing – Strategic Development – Infrastructure & Services – Operations (Supply Chain & Service)

• Implemented a new Personal Development Matrix to give clarity
• n career development, and how everyone adds their own value

and impact. This included how their role is benchmarked against the outside world to ensure fairness and consistency of remuneration at all levels.

• Developed new, flexible working relationships for specialists in

the business.

The New Brother UK Organisation

Organisation NEAR MARKET

CUSTOMER FOCUS

Kinetic Organisation

• We identified some cultural champions who were evangelists

for the new ways of working, and helped others along the journey.

• Challenged the meetings culture in favour of more agile

discussions.

• Developed our “PRIDE” scheme, giving colleagues the
• pportunity to make peer to peer nominations, and give

immediate recognition for collaboration and a job well done.

• Holding regular employee engagement activities – charity

days, wellbeing weeks, customer focus days, coffee mornings – they bring people together outside of their usual working teams to build new relationships.

• Using psychometric profiling to understand

personality types and working styles.

Cultural Changes

• Made best use of our own technology by encouraging web

conferencing instead of meetings.

• Maximised use of mobile devices to work on the move and

remotely – creating apps for customer presentations, accessing service, ordering replacement consumables, etc..

• Introduced Yammer as a company wide social network for

sharing information and reducing the use of email.

• Rolled out Sharepoint to increase collaboration and simplify

the sharing of information, particularly for those who are not

• ffice based.

Technological Changes

• Introduced kinetic teams for projects, customer type or key

issues (like communications and employee engagement), bringing a diverse range of skills and ideas to find original solutions, with more people feeling connected to the

• utcomes and sharing the leadership.
• Introduced new policies to support new ways of working.
• Reviewed administration and support requirements across the

business, providing resources based on requirements rather than status.

• Implemented a cascading communications process, from

Directors meetings to quarterly reviews, then to team talks and 1-2-1s and appraisals

• Use common language and objectives

Process Changes

• Aligned infrastructure and shared services under one person

to ensure maximum value from existing resources, including the physical changes needed for agile working.

• Relocated some teams to make them feel more connected

with related departments.

• Created new styles of working space – stand up meeting

areas, café style spaces, etc… - but on a temporary basis and monitored use and feedback before deciding on a permanent style, and have them in all areas of the business.

• Recognised the issues associated with remote working and

created better connections across the business, whilst encouraging the flexibility to work off site.

Workplace Changes

• Old Brother
• Focused on personal job

title, grade and hierarchy

• Departmental Isolation
• Being a specialist in one

particular thing

• Holding on to the status

quo of how things are

• Being political
• Knowledge is power
• New Brother
• Focused on organisational

value & outcomes

• Working in Kinetic teams
• Retaining speciality and

contributing more widely

• Accepting there is no

longer a status quo

• Valuing everyone
• Sharing & collaboration

We’re on the journey, but we haven’t yet reached the destination

The Transition to Agility at Brother UK