CRC mergers and avoiding the cricket whitewash

I’m not a big follower of cricket, but know that England are suffering at present and I wonder if probation feels the same.  Whereas the cricket team may not be able to avoid a series whitewash, the new probation CRC chiefs now have the chance to ‘step up to the plate’ (familiar phrase on sky sports at the moment) and lead their teams to glory.astrauss

This week I’m doing some work on the CRC start up and in particular planning the merger work for those Trusts who want to use pam to help them merge and change successfully.  Its an exciting time with most of the new chiefs now appointed and starting to look ahead to the next phase in the life of probation services.  

For those not familiar, 21 CRCs (Community Rehabilitation Companies) will emerge in April from 35 existing probation trusts, as part of the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) programme.  pam was also used to help some of the original 42 probation boards merge and transform into 35 probation trusts so we have good experience here.  It is currently used to help numerous trusts with their exit plans and key milestone management in addition to being used for much of the day job beyond change management itself.

In thinking about how to structure the merger environment, I typically put myself in the shoes of the leaders our pam service will be supporting as they physically go through the merge and transition. A key issue for me (and therefore them) to meet the goals is going to be winning back the hearts and minds of a probation workforce that has been poorly treated in the change to date.

It’s fair to say that NOMS and MoJ has not had the most successful of communications campaigns around TR to date and it is going to be top of my mind to change that.  So how do I merge 2 or 3 probation trusts successfully, get it ready for sale 6-8 months later to maximise taxpayers RoI (better than the post office sell-off), and still deliver a great service on the way for a greater number of users? In addition I’ve got other local stakeholders like partners and the Police & Crime Commissioner to consider.  It’s one thing having letters delayed by unhappy posties but clearly public protection of offenders and support for victims cannot be put at risk!  It is a tall order but doable if we plan well and get things right quickly in delivery.

CRC’s only have a short life before they get sold.  I as a chief will therefore have limited opportunity to make change beyond NOMS and MoJ constraints as it will affect the sale specification.  But I will clearly seek some freedom in doing things my way too as that is what leaders do.   I and my employees within the CRC also still have responsibilities, ambitions and values to consider too, as do our partners.  Most of the team are probation professionals who have no desire to change careers either. So it set me thinking…

I remembered some work by McKinsey many years ago where their model of culture change during mergers is quite apt here.  Lets assume that culture is simply ‘the ways things are done around here’ (thanks to Egdar Schein). I’ve adapted the model slightly for my purpose and added the outcome, but the essence is the same:

cultural change during mergers rev 1.0

I imagine that CRC’s will be looking for cultural integration at a minimum, taking best of breed practices and embedding them across the merged organisation.  This is however also a great opportunity for a leader and his/her team to set out what the CRC of the future should look like (regardless of any new owner). I would therefore look more towards  the transformation of culture and get a stake in the ground now on building a new organisation that can stand tall and proud post sale.  It would put me and my employees in prime position to be the leader and employees of choice for my new owner.  In simple terms that means embracing new ways of working now, not waiting for a future owner to then transform the organisation and leave me or my staff behind as part of the past.

England has little chance to save the Test series this year, but probation can still rise to the challenge.  It can inspire and equip its people for the next part of the journey to bring about change for the better that we all believe in.

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