Changing the Company - A Great Experience

Back years ago, the company I worked for needed to change the way it went to market and the internet. I will say it was a great experience from a business prospective and being a part of this historic group. Here is how it developed. 

In the late 90's the company realized it had to change how it dealt with customers and how it went to market. It was stuck in the old print model and everything was changing to e-commerce and the internet. The company formed 3 teams (publishing, sales, and editorial) made up of individuals from every part of the business. I was part of the sales group. What did we do:

• we evaluated steps in each process right to delivery based on current business practice.
• we tore down each step and evaluated based time, cost, and how new technology, connectivity and software would work better and streamline delivery.
• we designed a new process based on software, technology, and connectivity to better serve the customer and maximize revenue and profits.
• we built powerpoint presentations of our new processes (new company) and presented them to the CEO, COO, and leaders of the 3 key areas. 
• Changes were made based on their approvals and the company became a leader in these new processes.

This experience was great and we did this while we were doing our daily jobs. Needless to say, the number of man hours we put in were enormous over this 3 month time. What I am going to say may astonish you but there were two comments about me (HR) from the leader of our sales team Sheila Rice (current executive at Northstar Travel Media), " you don't think like an HR person you think like a business person" and "the value you brought to this team was outstanding because you viewed the end result like a customer would". The second comment was from Greg Flores (current EVP & CHRO at TJX Corporation), " Bill you can make something from nothing that has value".

Now, I'm not blowing my horn but this is what all HR practicioners should provide to their businesses.