An Effective Change Strategy Helped Make This Partnership A Success

Case Study: BC Hydro Exercises its Change Muscle In A Corporate Partnership

Blending the culture and values of two merging partners is never a slam dunk. And when BC Hydro, a Crown corporation, owned by the government and people of British Columbia, initiated a partnership with MWH Engineering, they hired us to help with the transition. BC Hydro is a purpose-driven company that generates and purchases reliable, affordable electricity for its customers in environmentally and socially responsible ways. In addition to climate leadership, they have made commitments to a social mission including assisting with the economic development of Aboriginal communities. And, as always when a purpose-driven company partners with an organization with a different purpose and culture, the challenges are real. 

A few years ago, BC Hydro faced a major challenge to make a substantial investment in new and renovated dams, hydroelectric, and transmission and distribution infrastructure. To meet this demand and enhance the delivery of its capital projects, BC Hydro partnered with a global water and natural resources firm to create a capital improvement delivery platform. The cultures of the two organizations were very different. Thus they needed assistance in integrating their teams in such a way that BC Hydro’s purpose and values were honored. As part of the contract, BC Hydro and the other firm established an integrated team that included business governance and project planning, and control groups to implement best project management practices on three major capital improvement projects. The partners hired Miller Consultants to help with the integration of cultures, knowledge transfer and other change-related challenges. 

Over a 2-year time frame, Miller Consultants worked with the BC Hydro Company on the design, development, and implementation of a change enablement strategy to support the merger of two companies into the new partnership while maintaining BC Hydro’s commitments to the triple bottom line. Our purpose was to assist the leadership of the two companies in forming an integrated team with a shared vision. In addition, we helped them create and carry out a strategy for enhancing a change-receptive environment for all the project stakeholders. For example, we helped them design a communication strategy and assisted them in crafting messages and approaches tailored to their varied constituents. We helped them design and carry out an employee engagement plan and we developed the training curriculum that supported the initiative while also reinforcing their values and purpose. 

Throughout our two years with the BC Hydro project, we focused on increasing their internal capabilities for addressing the ongoing changes that were inevitable in their industry. Our commitment to them was to help embed the change-related tools, practices, and mindsets into the BC Hydro culture so that they would continue to thrive long after our work with them was done.