TAQA Asset Acquisition – Smoothing the Transition
Project Overview
When TAQA in the UK acquired North Sea assets including the ownership and operatorship of BP’s Harding platform it had three months to help the North Sea platform change hands and stay productive. It enlisted our support to deliver the change to the people on the Harding platform.
TAQA is a progressive global energy company. Its UK business is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company. With the highest ethical standards, TAQA’s interests are in power generation, water desalination, oil and gas.
They’ve made headlines for their work in buying and reinvigorating North Sea assets. Their latest acquisition is valued at more than US$1bn and includes the ownership and operatorship of BP’s Harding platform.
As soon as the acquisition completed, c200 people switched to new IT and ways of working. Afiniti provided change management, learning and communications to have everyone on the Harding platform up to speed and productive from Day One.
Our Solution
- We established a communications hub, globally recognised, which would drive the communications and engagement plan.
- A workshop-based Change Readiness Assessment to identify where best to focus resources for success
- A full training needs analysis to determine scope and the best approach. Assessment included both the BP platform and onshore
- Designed learning content and managed additional internal and external teams for learning delivery
- Design and delivery of two induction days and additional courses, focused on the most relevant changes to IT users on and offshore
- Designed consistent project communications and branding, in harmony with corporate messaging
- Creative communications approach to join up up in-person, digital and ambient activity together with the learning experience
- First-hand support on the platform for two weeks over the transition period
The Differences We Made
- We delivered our promises before handing seamlessly back to the internal communications resource.
- By addressing the gaps we found in the project’s change readiness, and gaining support from senior stakeholders, TAQA had the foundations for an efficient transition
- Our exhaustive training needs analysis gave sponsors confidence that the recommended delivery approach offered the most effective use of resources
- By focusing training on key changes between BP and TAQA, we used the short time available to help people transfer with minimum disruption to their work
- Our flexible key message framework and comms approach engaged users directly, built positivity around the transition and made sure IT users felt ‘taken care of’ – as seen in user feedback
- TAQA has access to learning materials designed to provide long term support
- TAQA’s learning and project communications felt seamless, delivered within the tone and style of TAQA’s culture and protocols
- A flexible approach dealt with change in scope, for example movement from eight applications that could be new or changed, to 17 apps and processes
- Rigorous project management and communications meant programme stakeholders remained connected throughout the pressures of the project lifecycle
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