Large-scale transformation program for major European postal operator

The incumbent postal operator in one of the largest European countries was in the midst of a €1.5 billion transformation program, impacting all core areas of its business.

Challenge
The postal operator comprised over 160,000 employees and responsibility for providing universal service to nearly 30 million addresses daily. Leadership was committed to reducing costs and modernizing operations, while maintaining quality of service and customer service levels.

A.T. Kearney was asked to support this large-scale transformation program, which included almost 150 projects, encompassing:

• Operational improvements
• Commercial innovation and new products
• Systems enhancements
• Property rationalization and upgrades

Approach
A.T. Kearney approached the project from two angles: working with the Transformation Director responsible for structuring the effort, and with the Head of Deployment Support and Operations charged with actually supervising the initiatives.

We helped the Transformation Director refine the projects and overall program structure, including the business case approval process and program governance. Additionally, we assisted him in setting up the implementation hub.

In collaboration with the Head of Deployment Support and Operations, we established deployment structures and capability requirements, developed tools to analyze and plan unit-level people transitions, defined people change requirements, and set up integration governance mechanisms on a regional and area level.

Additionally, we worked across operations, coaching and supporting local deployment managers.

Results
The European postal operator ended up with a tightly structured, streamlined set of projects, closely coordinated between central program management and the operations deployment community.

Much of the success of the program was due to the design and recruitment of deployment leadership teams and people change managers across operations, as well as to the implementation hub and deployment approach.

Contact

For more information, please contact Charles Hughes.