Large Family FMCG & Retail Business Professionalizing a 100+ year old legacy enterprise while preserving tradition, to realize greater value. Can a family-run business successfully bridge tradition and progress? After acquiring a prestigious heritage brand, a leading Asian private equity firm set out to transform and enhance the company’s value for a future sale. They hired a new CEO to unify and professionalize the three Asian offices. However, the CEO encountered significant cultural and operational challenges. After over a year and a half of internal efforts and wasting millions of dollars with internal projects, the private equity firm hired Awaken Group to accelerate the transformation and help the company unlock its full potential. We identified these issues: Was it an individual leader issue, a team issue or cultural? Why was there such a lack of trust? What was needed to move faster? How might we unify this team? A human-centered approach to break down silos and rebuild trust Awaken Group had to walk the fine line between including the ‘old guard’ who built the company with the ‘new professionals’ who wanted to integrate systems, processes and operations, along with the Board who was looking for a successful exit. We pulled the following levers to bring the team together so that collectively, they could execute faster and ultimately realize enterprise value: Deciphering the Underlying Politics: By investing in key leaders, we gained insights into the decision-making processes and motivations driving the organization. This enabled us to advise the Board on the best path forward. Building Bridges of Trust: We created safe spaces where employees across levels and offices could voice their concerns, frustrations, and aspirations. This led to the creation of ‘motivation-based personas’ for more tailored ways to engage and empower. Co-creation of the Path Forward: We were very intentional to engage cross-functional, cross-office, and cross-generational teams in a collaborative process to ensure everyone felt ownership of the way forward. From dysfunction to high performance: Removing barriers to accelerate growth Awaken Group’s intervention proved crucial in overcoming the obstacles that had hindered the organization, setting it on a healthier growth trajectory: A Unified Organization: By fostering trust and open communication, we helped dismantle silos and aligned around a shared sense of purpose. Previously isolated offices began to collaborate toward common goals. Empowered and Aligned Leadership: Co-created engagement strategies fostered ownership, empowering leaders to champion change and drive impactful initiatives. Roadmap to Success: Awaken Group’s recommendations informed key Board decisions, leading to leadership changes and improvements in alignment, productivity, and performance. These changes contributed to a 4x return on exit, securing future regional growth while preserving the company’s family legacy. Transforming Organizational Culture and Mindset for a Successful Exit
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