uSwitch: profiting from change

Founded in 2000, uSwitch is an online and phone-based comparison and switching service that helps customers compare prices on a range of energy, personal finance, insurance and communications services. The Times lists uSwitch as one of the two most established price comparison websites. The company has also been recognised as one of the UK's top 25 Internet brands.

Bright young staff

In March 2006 uSwitch was bought by the American media giant E.W. Scripps Company* for £210m. In the two years following the take-over uSwitch faced a challenging market and in 2007 they made a substantial loss. As a result, in the first quarter of 2008, the board was reorganised to face the challenge of getting the business back on track. In March 2008 Alan Tattersall - who had been working within the company for the past three years - was appointed as Chief Executive. Tattersall was given a remit to restructure the company with the aim of returning it to profit.

When Tattersall took over the reins uSwitch had - in common with many other dot-com businesses - a high proportion of bright and intellectual young staff recruited from top universities. However the company also had a broadly hierarchical structure that was stifling innovation and creating high employee turnover. Tattersall decided that the company could achieve better results if they used a coaching approach, giving their bright young staff greater levels of self-responsibility and encouraging them to grasp opportunities for development.

The Performance Coach

Nine years previously Tattersall had attended a coaching programme run by Charles Brook, Managing Director of The Performance Coach. Since then he had been consistently impressed by The Performance Coach’s business results, value-for-money and ability to tailor courses to suit different client agendas.

So it was perhaps not surprising that one of the first thing Tattersall did on taking over the reigns at uSwitch was to commission The Performance Coach to design an ambitious development programme for the new top team. The programme would aim to transform the company style from one of didactic management to inspirational leadership. As the top team had undertaken varying levels of prior management training, the course also had to create a level playing field by teaching a common language around coaching and development.

The Away Day

The first day was carefully planned. The Performance Coach were to use the morning to teach carefully selected technical coaching models, and the afternoon for facilitated role-play and discussion. uSwitch booked a light and airy room a considerable distance from the office. Everything was set.

However as soon as the session began it became clear that the top team needs were different than the planned session; during the past few years the leaders had accumulated frustrations, which had become a barrier to learning new skills.

The Performance Coach acted on its feet and adapted the day into a very open session. The morning was set aside as a chance to vent grievances and discuss the company's past.

During the afternoon The Performance Coach led the top team into the future, helping them to create a compelling vision of where they would like the company to be in eighteen months. The day created a phenomenal output, hundreds of sheets of flipchart paper, and the discussion continued over dinner and then well into the night.

The Follow Up

The away day was followed up by activity in the office. A consultant from The Performance Coach observed meetings and gave feedback as to whether team behaviour matched the standards that had been mutually agreed during the away day. Together the team also agreed company goals and personal goals, with all top team members given private coaching sessions around their goals. Tattersall mentions the coaching sessions as a particular turning point for the team, some of who said that it was the first time they had been able to speak openly about their work without fear of repercussion.

The Performance Coach then designed a second workshop session based on anonymous feedback from the private coaching and observations about collective issues that were affecting the group. This resulted in a workshop that taught a non-directive leadership model and laid out the business strategy for 2009.

Results

The development programme had a dramatic effect on the business. The environment changed across the whole company, with staff turnover dropping dramatically within all departments. Staff who had previously been reserved started taking initiative. A second development programme for direct reports made a further impact. These changes were reflected in bottom-line figures. Within ten months of Tattersall taking over uSwitch returned to profit with a strong predicted future growth.
The next chapter

Just as Tattersall was starting to plan for a second phase of coaching development, a new spanner hit the works. At the start of 2009 Scripps Networks Interactive announced they would be putting uSwitch back onto the market. Unable to start any new initiatives while the sale process was going ahead, Tattersall had to put his development programmes on hold.

Despite these unexpected changes, Tattersall continued using The Performance Coach during 2009 and found their support invaluable. Several directors spent a full day being coached through the sale process. Charles Brook also provided Tattersall with a confidential space to talk through the problems of balancing the needs of Wall Street shareholders with the needs of his team. Again the work has paid off. Despite the challenging financial environment of the current recession and the uncertainty surrounding the company's sale, uSwitch has experienced low staff turnover during 2009, has expanded into Spain, and continues to operate as a successful and profitable business.

“If the leader of another organisation asked me how they could turn their business around I would always start with coaching. Ensure you have an environment where people can thrive to the best of their abilities. Without the people you won't succeed.” - Alan Tattersall, Chief Executive, uSwitch

* E.W. Scripps Company has since split into two organisations. uSwitch is now owned by Scripps Networks Interactive.