Martinus Rail is a proud Australian owned and operated family business specialising in the delivery of rail infrastructure projects. Five years ago Martinus was an innovative, young, progressive company - it was small, and different and the culture emerged organically. The culture used to be very human, organic, flexible, trusting and open. People came in because of culture fit, not qualifications alone.
However massive growth, resulting in a high turnover of employees, led to the erosion of the Martinus culture and the Martinus vision.
COVID-19 and an already geographically dispersed team made connection within the organisation very difficult. Martinus struggled with the complexities of rapid growth and commercial success. Their unique family inspired corporate culture was at risk of being lost to the process and drivers of scale. The result was that high performers, who were initially attracted to the small-company values and feel, started leaving the organisation.
We engaged in an in-depth consultation process using ethnographic research to better understand what was happening on a day-to-day level, and how the rituals, symbols and relationships of Martinus had changed as the organisation had grown. Using a combination of participant observation, interviews and document analysis, we began to paint a clear picture of the ‘as-is’, and define a strategy for re-embedding the values, vision and culture that had helped them get to where they were, and were needed to take the next big leap forward.
We co-designed and delivered a custom Leadership Training Program that:
Our ethnographic study and report highlighted which parts of their culture were working and which weren't, and we designed a roadmap to enable them to renew the cultural aspects that have been so successful while also setting them up to scale with success.
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