A major not-for-profit organisation was about to undertake a number of acquisitions that would transform its structure and operations. Here’s how PM-Partners ensured ongoing excellence, collaboration and transparency for clients and staff during divestment.

Highlights

• Life Without Barriers had a six-month deadline for completion of acquisition, integration, transfer and ‘go-live’.
• PM-Partners drew on its experience to help the organisation move from BAU to ‘new world’ operations with no discernable impact to clients or staff.
• The programme was delivered on time while adhering to stringent standards and has also boosted LWB’s internal skills and capabilities.

Customer background

Life Without Barriers (LWB) is one of Australia’s largest social purpose, not-for-profit organisations. It provides services such as foster care for young people, accommodation and lifestyle support for those with disability and home care services for the elderly. Recent ownership changes and transitions, created a key internal project with a tight, non-negotiable deadline.

The challenge

LWB had a very compressed and fixed timeline to complete several acquisitions. These new organisations also had to be integrated into its operations with no disruption to service for clients and staff.

This would all take place within an environment of stringent regulatory compliance and human complexity while LWB maintained its extensive service offerings. Around 680 LWB policies and procedures needed to be adhered to throughout the entire change.

As further acquisitions and divestments were possible in the future, a secondary objective was to create a blueprint for managing future growth/restructures efficiently without impacting the quality of care and service innovation for which LWB is known.

How PM-Partners helped

Working with the CEO and the Board, PM-Partners initially undertook an assessment of services provided to ensure continuity of business and quality of care during the transfer of responsibility process.

“We thrive on taking difficult problems and simplifying via a disciplined, experienced, human and collaborative approach to change.”
– Angelo Grasso, Transformation Consultant at PM-Partners

PM-Partners used its experience of large-scale change and transformation to set-up and deliver a dedicated programme to undertake the acquisitions and subsequent integration. Key elements included:

• Detailed planning – many resources on the program also had BAU responsibilities.
• Prioritisation and definition of ‘must haves’ for day one implementation.
• Clear accountability matrix to ensure no gaps post ownership transitions.
• Critical risk assessment and mitigation.

Outcomes delivered

The programme was delivered on time with no material services deterioration throughout the transfer. In the process, procedures and processes were simplified and the client team gained M&A integration, project management and leadership skills. Stronger collaboration has also driven transparency between the lines of business, together with the ability to problem solve to share the load.

During the programme, LWB also built and created a new intranet and ensured award conditions were maintained for staff. Overall, 800 unionist staff, 600 clients and associated assets were transferred with no industrial relations or staff issues.

PM-Partners completed a comprehensive handover, and the programme has since transitioned to BAU.

“It was relatively straightforward in terms of running as a programme, the complexity came from a significantly reduced timeframe, and from helping people in the programme to balance programme work and BAU tasks.”

“We enjoy helping organisations during times of change as we have the experience and commitment to deliver the support they need.”
– Angelo Grasso, Transformation Consultant at PM-Partners

Are you worried about your organisation implementing a highly strategic transformation successfully? Find out how to reduce the risk and ensure success. Contact the team at PM-Partners or call us on 1300 70 13 14 today.