When Old Meets New

Generation Y employees can spark a change in leadership style if everyone else travels with them. When capable leaders, employees, and suppliers live according to a set of shared values and act like one team, enormous success can follow.

This story is about a 100 percent Turkish concern traditional in its management approach and surviving over sixty years of economic and political turmoil. Dedicated to the principle of giving back to society, this thriving business has approximately twenty-four hundred employees. Its business activities are concentrated in five integrated areas dealing with the automotive industry. Over the last ten years, it has achieved an average annual growth of 15 percent despite the economic crisis that began in 2008. Most people in Turkey recognize it as a shining example of how far the Turkish economy has advanced.

TMI Turkey’s entry into the story began with a telephone call from the company and a brief explanation of the problem. The revered company had become aware that its traditional style of management needed to change so it could attract and keep younger, Generation Y business school graduates.

The company had just appointed forty-eight Gen Y newcomers (here- after referred to as the Group of 48) to managerial positions. The Group of 48 was tasked with driving the business into the future. Ali forty- eight members came from different holding companies, and they all had different backgrounds.

This group would work in the headquarters of the company in Izmir. The ancient city of Izmir is small compared to Istanbul, but still it is a bustling city of almost three million. It has a recorded urban history of over four thousand years and is surrounded by a half dozen other ancient cities. It is the major port for Turkish exports, and because of a booming economy, a growing number of young Turkish professionals live there.

Every single member of the Group of 48 was a sophisticated young professional. It was clear from the beginning that they needed a pro­gram unique to them. The company wanted to create a leadership team for the future, different from the existing leaders who had grown up with the company.

After an initial meeting with a varied group of managers, a needs analysis was planned that would provide input for a customized transformation leadership program.

It was clear from the beginning that they needed a program unique to them. The company wanted to create a leadership team for the future, different from the existing leaders who had grown up with the company.

The corporate human resources director and the Group of 48 joined the meeting, at which TMI consultants described the needs analysis they would conduct. The director emphasized that these forty-eight professionals were to carry the rest of the company and its employees into the future, which needed to be tied to the company’s values. The company’s HR managers and TMI Turkey would co create a training program to develop a more modern style of managerial competency. TMI was also asked to create an approach that would internalize the company’s values throughout the rest of the com­pany, as well as among the company’s dealers and suppliers.

After many meetings, fieldwork, 360-degree appraisals, managerial team workshops, and the needs analysis, a two-year manager development program was agreed upon. The program had the full support of the corporate Human Resources Department. The reimplementation analysis and investigatory activities had provided the necessary creative space to develop a customized program that met the company’s needs.

The Program Launch

A kickoff meeting with stakeholders (corporate leaders, company heads, and HR directors) was recommended for the company. The Group of 48 was the star of this meeting. The members were up to speed about what was happening as they had participated in the initial investigation pro­cess. During the kickoff meeting, all stakeholders received a clear road map about the two-year program, complete with project aims and targeted outputs. Members of the Group of 48 were given descriptions of positions they would soon hold.

One point of anxiety was apparent. The kickoff meeting included one-on-one sessions with the company’s president. Members of the Group of 48 were apprehensive about the appraisals they would have to go through. However, when they felt the strong support they were receiving from the whole company, they understood that the program had been set up to ensure their success. Some said later, “Whew! I thought it was going to be more like business school—competitive, with a bunch of us getting failing grades. I can see now they really want all of us to succeed.”

TMI Turkey's Role

The entire development program was evaluated session by session so TMI could track the progress of the program. Because the company’s leaders were eager to experience the impact of this special group, TMI facilitators created a sense of urgency. The members of the Group of 48 began to see that the future was already around them and that their job was to make sure they got there without wasting time.

The new leaders were challenged with reading materials, articles, and homework. They joked that this was no different from their time at the university. They also received one-on-one coaching that focused on how they implemented their learning action plans. The good news was that all the participants came through the two-year program with flying colors. The next step was to plan a graduation ceremony.

Graduation as a Reinforcing Step in the Project

The graduation ceremony was a memorable event that is still talked about. It lasted three days! The members of the Group of 48 took the stage one by one. They answered questions from the senior leaders in the organization. Some joked that it was like a beauty pageant.

The questions included

• What would you change if you had more authority than you currently have?

• What do you see yourself doing five years from now?

• What immediate changes will you apply to your department?

The answers were funny, significant, and moving, and the leaders in

the organization could see their future standing on the stage. Delight was on the faces of the management team. They had been kept informed every step of the way about what was happening, and now they could see the results.

Moving the Implanted Values to the Next Level

The second phase was to impart the organizational values to the next level of employees, so work was begun on a program that had to be as good as or better than the original project.

The company’s values were simple: We are respectful. We add value. We continuously improve. We are result driven. These values are easy to depict on wall posters that people often stop noticing immediately. So the challenge was (and continues to be) to imbue these values with life in the organization.

The TMI team quickly saw from watching employees talking about the values that the heart of each simple statement had to do with communication, inspiration, and sharing. With this in mind, a half-day

workshop was created, filled with activities based on singing, drawing, and acting. The groups attending were large—up to eighty people in all workshop activities reflected the company’s values. For example, managers did not tell staff about the values and how to live them. Instead, the workshop participants described what the values meant to them and how they affected their work. One could observe that the val­ues were becoming internalized. The process of internalization reflected the change in management style the company was instituting.

There was some anxiety expressed about employees singing, acting, and drawing. But when the executives saw the release of energy and the creativity of these large groups of employees, they were sold. Original songs that came out of the workshops now play in the company factories. Televisions at the entrance of the headquarters building show the performance sketches that were created and acted out in the workshops. Now, everyone who enters the company’s buildings—employees, customers, suppliers, and visitors—is treated to these enactments of the company values.

This was a new experience in the organization’s history. Artwork, music, and theatre could bring values to life and make them easier to remember. This was not child’s play. This serious implementation reflected a different style of learning and engagement. Everyone could see it.

TMI Turkey also worked with the company’s dealers and suppliers. Special workshops were organized where the dealers built robots that rep- resented what the company’s values meant to them. They showed them off at the end of the program. This was the first time dealers and suppliers had a program set up just for them. As a result, barriers dissolved, and now their relationships with the company are stronger than ever.

The company’s ultimate goal was to create togetherness among ali the managers, employees, suppliers, and dealers. It wanted to show everyone involved with the company how to live a set of shared values and act like one team, which is exactly what happened.

Two years ago, this company was a thriving business. Today it is even more successful. The employees are committed and continue to do what is necessary to reach their targets. So what changed?

There is a qualitative difference in how the employees work. Now they work not only with their muscles and brains but also with their hearts. The feeling of belongingness is palpable. People who work there call themselves “a family.” The future leaders of the company, all from Gen Y, are as committed to this company as previous leaders were. They do not have to look elsewhere to find opportunities to grow. They see that their future is in this remarkable company.

Written by Ayşegül Drahşan, January 2016

From the "Shift" book. Edited by Janelle Barlow, author of the bestselling A Complaint Is a Gift, and George Aveling.

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