The client

The EMEA finance function of a global hotel company.

What did Hotel Solutions Partnership achieve for the client?

Value from the consulting assignment came in two ways – one was in the enhanced capabilities of the change team (many of whom went on to be leaders in their own right) and the other was in the direct value brought by the realisation of some of the gains from the merger.

Background

The client company had just acquired another leading global brand resulting in 400 owned, leased, managed and franchised hotels. The client’s representative, VP finance of the EMEA organisation, was charged with integrating the two finance functions – at the hotels and in corporate offices – to extract synergies. The project leader, VP finance of EMEA for the enlarged business, had identified a change team – eight individuals from the two companies – to assist him identify and drive the change in process, organisation and technology.

Hotel Solutions Partnership was asked to work with and mentor the VP finance; to mentor the change team; to help the team work effectively across borders and cultures; to contribute to the cultural issues of change and to work at the business unit as well as the corporate level.

Consultants: Rosemary Jackson

Methodology

Rosemary took each member of the change team individually through a Myers Briggs evaluation, supported a 360-degree assessment of each of the team (Benchmarks), and assessed high-performance patterns. Through these inputs, an open dialogue was developed through which the leader and the team fine-tuned the way the change team worked and led the change process. Two major meetings were facilitated for the international finance team, one in Brussels and one in Dubai, to which all the finance managers from the hotels and the regional offices came to learn about the background of the two companies and what the new company hoped to achieve. Several other smaller meetings were facilitated, including one each in Luxembourg and Vienna.