Back in July 2009, the European Union (EU) issued a directive deregulating electricity markets, the goal being to liberalize them and increase competition. As a result, customers were given the right to choose their electricity supplier and the ability to change suppliers easily. EU countries also were forced to “unbundle” transmission systems and transmission system operators.
In France, this resulted in the generation of electricity and the distribution of electricity being broken into two different activities run by separate companies. It was decided that the main national electric utility, Électricité De France (EDF), would keep all of the assets and activities associated with the generation of electricity. In turn, a 100 percent-owned subsidiary called Électricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) was created and given the responsibility of managing the electrical distribution network. ERDF manages 95 percent of “the grid” in France. It is responsible for providing high quality and reliable electric service to 35 million customers by way of 1.3 million kilometers of transmission lines supported by 36,770 employees spread out over eight different regions in France.
Shortly after its creation, managers at the new subsidiary realized there was a problem. The parent company, EDF, was an international electric utility, and, therefore, needed a commercial and competitive corporate culture in order to compete successfully on the world stage. The subsidiary, ERDF, however, had a completely different mandate. It was charged with creating and providing a “level playing field” to any company wishing to sell electricity in France. It was required to provide equal and open access to all. This was directly at odds with the “legacy” culture ERDF inherited from its parent company. It was recognized that a “change management” initiative was required in order to make both white-collar and blue-collar employees more focused on the business development, customer relationship, and customer service aspects of the business. Management believed new skills and competences would have to be acquired and developed, allowing ERDF to serve all of its “customers” (both internal and external) in a professional manner.
In a nutshell, ERDF wanted to go from a traditional public-service-oriented culture to one that was more team based and customer service oriented.
ERDF knew it had a valuable asset in the reputation and corporate knowledge that was accumulated from being a part of parent company EDF. What it needed was a way to build on this foundation and create a culture that would drive it forward. One region in particular, ERDF-West (ERDF-Ouest), contacted an outside consultant to help it design and run an innovative “theater-based” training initiative. In this method, problems (and solutions) are conceptualized and identified by the use of narrative, acting, improvisation, and role-playing.
The training program that was developed involved the use of facilitators aided by professional actors who used two formats: “improvisational wrestling” and “improvisational cabaret.” As one can imagine, in improvisational wrestling, the actors “fight” verbally and artistically based on subjects that were given to them by ERDF employees participating in the training (the topic was usually some professional issue or concern, or a negative experience someone had). The improvisations were short (varying from 3 to 10 minutes) and were “refereed” by the person who suggested the topic.
The other format, improvisational cabaret, was a much calmer and simpler form of improvisational wrestling. The ERDF employees again came up with the topics, but also determined how the improvisation should be performed (through music, drama, comedy, etc.). They also were invited to take part in the sketches. Employees were encouraged to honestly express their feelings (both positive and negative) about the organization, its structure, and how things operated. The idea was to generate as much dialogue as possible.
After the theater part of the training, the next step was to get the participants to think about knowledge creation and generation. Critical reflection on the items raised in the previous portion was used to identify and understand the key issues facing the company. This then allowed for the development of a concrete action plan to deal with the agreed-upon problems.
What the employees came up with was a “tool box” that included:
- An ideal vision of what the perfect ERDF-customer relationship looked like.
- A “roadmap” of actions needed to be taken to reach this idealized vision.
- Identifying the collective corporate memory of past EDF practices, and identification of the knowledge needed to build a genuine customer relationship culture everyone would be proud of.
- Realistic assessment of the resources needed to reach these goals.
Results
ERDF reported seeing an increase in the participants’ ability to engage in both individual and collective self-evaluation and, as a result, better develop innovative solutions with regard to the way they manage customer service relationships. Interestingly, it was observed that an estimated 20 percent of the participants could be called “early adopters” who eagerly jumped at the chance for empowerment. Some 75 percent were considered as accepting of empowerment and were able to adjust accordingly. Sadly, 5 percent were deemed as being “left out,” unable to move past their “nostalgia for the good old days.”
Overall, ERDF was extremely satisfied with the results of the theater-based initiative and deemed it a success. The vast majority of the employees who took part in the initiative themselves reported extremely high levels of satisfaction with the training, as well. It was felt that, post-training, employees had an increased sense of empowerment and “ownership” regarding their work and the company’s corporate culture overall. Furthermore, the skills, competences, and abilities the employees developed and acquired during the training will be crucial in bringing about the effective change in corporate culture ERDF desires.
As one employee said after completing the training, it was “something I have been waiting to be able to do for a long time.”
Sources
- Boal, A. (1995). The rainbow of desire. (A. Jackson, Trans). London. Routledge.
- www.erdfdistribution.fr
- Descubes, I. and McNamara, T. (2013) “ERDF Theatre-based training initiative” ESC Rennes School of Business Technical Paper
- “Internal market in electricity (from March 2011)” EU official webpage. Accessed at: http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/energy/internal_energy_market/en0016_en.htm
- Oikarinen, T., Pässilä A. and Vince, R. (2011) “The Role of Reflection, Reflection on Roles: Practice-based innovation through theatre-based learning.” In Helina Melkas and Vesa Harmaakorpi (Eds.) Practice-based Innovation: Insights, Applications and Policy Implications, Helsinki: Springer.
Dr. Irena Descubes is an assistant professor at the ESC Rennes School of Business, France, visiting lecturer at the University of Economics in Prague, and a former visiting lecturer at the French National Military Academy at Saint-Cyr, Coëtquidan, France.
Dr. Tom McNamara is an assistant professor at the ESC Rennes School of Business, France, and a former visiting lecturer at the French National Military Academy at Saint-Cyr, Coëtquidan, France.
