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Fabio Torlini, Managing Director EMEA, WP Engine discusses the main challenges of dealing with change, and how leaders can execute their strategies well to ensure this change doesn't heavily impact their workforce.
How do you ensure that your people are resilient and capable of shifting with this growth and pace of change?
Having worked for fast-growth companies for most of my career it’s clear to see that transformation is an inevitable part of every business. You’re either driving the change or you’ll be buffeted by an overarching change in the industry. The rapid growth of technology over the last 10 years has accelerated the pace of change, whilst at Rackspace, I saw the company go from being the disruptor in the managed hosting industry to being disrupted as cloud computing became a reality. Every company is now dealing with digital transformation in some way. So much so that leading retailers, transportation companies and car manufacturers are seeing themselves as tech companies first.
The reasons for this shift are both due to generational expectations and the fact that technology is now available to businesses of all sizes. In 2011 there were 150 marketing technology providers, in 2018 that number jumped to over 7000. At the same time, younger generations are expecting more from companies in the form of meaningful digital experiences. Businesses that are winning today are doing so because they’ve shifted to a technology-first mindset, integrating it across the entire business. But just focusing on the technology side of the equation isn’t enough.
The tools you’re using will change and your teams must be dynamic enough to change with them. Trying to force fit legacy team models into this new world will only lead to confusion, instability and ultimately failure. To maintain a resilient culture, you must build a team that is equipped to take advantage of the change around them and be ready to learn and adapt. This doesn’t have to be a wholesale change or even a formal reorganisation, but putting the right people together is a necessary first step.
Once you’ve done that, the next step is identifying a guiding light that can keep your business focused through change and transformation.
At WP Engine, we help businesses drive forward faster, to expand and capitalise on growing opportunities brought by an increasingly expanding digital economy. We’ve confronted the challenge of change by fueling our culture on the foundation of our values. Each of our five core values guides how our culture responds to growth, failure and the uncertainty that comes with both.
I would like to share with you our core values to show you what we’ve done, in the hope that it can help you build a resilient culture that embraces transformation.
When it’s right for the customer, right for the company, and you’re proud of your decision – you’ve done the right thing. When we’re learning from our mistakes, we’re doing the right thing. We trust each other, transparently share results, forgive honest mistakes, act ethically, demand excellence from ourselves, and remain accountable to each other.
We amaze customers with our service, expertise, and transparency. We are grateful for our role in our customers’ lives. We will not let them down. We turn customers into advocates, earning it with every action.
We are challenged by the most interesting and meaningful work of our careers. We celebrate successes and nourish personal growth and leadership. We support and develop each other, while not forgetting to laugh.
We choose long term investment over short term gain. We build for growth and profitability, because financial health sustains us and ensures we’re in control of our destiny. We build lasting relationships with customers, employees, and our communities, by making what’s important to them, important to us.
We aspire to earn a leadership position in the WordPress community through original contribution, shared expertise, and active participation. We empower our team to lead and participate in meaningful programs in their own communities. We support and engage with our local communities, changing lives, growing and thriving together.
Forging a lasting culture in the face of so much change comes down to shifting perspective, embracing change, and living by your values. Change is an inevitable part of business, but once you learn to embrace change it shifts from a challenge to an opportunity.