James Smith aims for change plan by 1 January

A new drive for sales growth will be backed by an organisation which puts the customer at the heart of every decision. “Any changes we make will be guided by this simple operating principle,” he told staff on Wednesday.

Smith, appointed COO a week ago, said a small team would facilitate dialogue on how to best shape internal efforts and direct resources to support customer-facing businesses.

“We will tackle our work in multiple steps. The first step will be locking down the organisation and the operating plan that must be in place on January 1. We need credible, realistic budgets as well as management teams who are committed to delivering. We also must establish the operating mechanisms and rhythms that will support greater teamwork and the transparent flow of information across the company,” he said.

“The next steps will be further structured dialogues that will guide the evolution of our thinking about key strategic and operating issues. My commitment to you is that these will be open conversations, involving multiple voices from across the business.”

Smith said some decisions would be made fairly quickly; others would take longer. “But all will be the result of open dialogue and a desire to promote agility, speed decision-making and place authority and accountability as close as possible to the front lines.” ■