How does a company with a start-up mentality scale up at speed?

After growing a global footprint by purchasing smaller competitors this company made a strategic decision to create a platform that consolidated a patchwork of systems into one unified platform to enhance internal efficiencies, accelerate product innovation, and unearth new competitive advantage.

A consolidation program was scoped, a multi-million dollar budget set and the market briefed in the traditional way. Partners were chosen, panels formed, service agreements signed… And then the in-house software engineering team decided they wanted to walk a different path. Rather than handing over the problem for consultants to fix, the client wanted to maintain control of the entire process.

This challenged EY teams to find new ways of working.

The research undertaken by EY teams and the Saïd Business School has revealed the six conditions that will increase the likelihood of a successful transformation by a factor of x2.6.

These six conditions weren’t all in place when the technology transformation project began. As Asmita Verma Rajendren, EY Humans@Center Lead Partner notes, “The cost to the client was clear: not just the cost of delivery and shareholder trust, but also a risk of high burnout and turnover rate among the team, with knowledge walking out the door.”

By launch, all six conditions for a successful transformation were in place.

To support the client on the journey, a combination of intellectual and interpersonal skills were required. “The balance between rational and emotional was important on the client’s growth journey. In reality, this meant marrying good program delivery practices with empathy and care. Thinking about the delivery team on the ground as people and not resources.”

As Asmita observes: “Small things, done really well, become a key to the success of a transformation.” Some of the changes – like ensuring every team had access to the same internal communication channels – did more to reinforce the philosophy that ‘every voice matters’ than any formal policy could.

Placing humans at the centre of this ambitious transformation paid off. The client’s team has developed a transformation muscle that sets them up to lead themselves through future growth initiatives. Siloes were dismantled. Software upgrades are no longer undertaken three times, and servers don’t need to be maintained in three separate markets. Products are only built once before being rolled out to a potential market of more than 250 million customers. As the client steadily grows market share, it is poised to prosper well into the future.

This success story is also a powerful case study of human-centred leadership for others contemplating the way forward. As the Humans@Centre research shows, prioritising people improves the performance of a transformation by up to 12 times. The true secret to scaling up lies in the power of prioritising people.