Leading Australian Building Material Giant’s Tech Overhaul

One of the largest Australian building materials companies took on a massive challenge: shifting 7,000+ employees from Microsoft to Google in 18 months.

This case study reveals how they achieved this despite limited resources and a workforce across over 300 sites nationwide.

The Situation: The company’s CIO saw an opportunity to boost collaboration and cut costs by moving to Google’s ecosystem. However, with staff ranging from tech-savvy office workers to remote site operators, the transition would take a lot of work.

Key Hurdles:

1. Diverse tech skills among employees
2. Scattered workforce across Australia
3. Varied software needs across departments
4. Initial underestimation of the change’s impact

Tackling Change Head-On: With just one change management expert at the helm, they had to get creative:

1. Understanding the Human Impact: Getting amongst it, visiting various locations to meet employees face-to-face, listening to concerns, observing daily workflows, and gaining firsthand insights into how the change would affect different teams.
2. Grassroots approach: Co-created, informed, more empathetic and effective change management plan, ensuring no one was left behind in the transition.
3. Leadership Buy-In: They coached executives on change leadership, ensuring top-down support.
4. Homegrown Experts: They built a network of “change champions” from existing staff.
5. Peer Training: Champions led tailored, relatable training sessions for colleagues.
6. Boots on the Ground: On-site support was provided for remote locations.
7. Customised Rollout: They avoided a one-size-fits-all approach, tailoring the Google suite to each team’s needs.