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One-to-one
with Garry Dryburgh President, Middle East and Africa, Amec Foster Wheeler Amec Foster Wheeler is one of the world’s leading engineering, project management and consultancy companies. We caught up with Garry in Abu Dhabi to discuss the Amec Foster Wheeler merge, the Middle East market and his company’s plans for the future. Q
turn a good profit, so our direction had to follow the money. We also committed to one culture throughout the new organisation. Through surveys, interviews and workshops we developed new values, behaviours and their launch and embedding plans.
Prior to moving to Abu Dhabi last year you led the Amec team that integrated Foster Wheeler into the company. What were the main challenges of this reorganisation and how did you go about achieving this integration so smoothly?
A
The main challenge was how to successfully combine two large, proud organisations, with 40,000 people in 50+ countries and histories spanning over a century.
We achieved this by treating it as you would any large, complex and strategically imperative multi-stakeholder programme. We began by truly understanding our current location and abilities, then carefully determining and agreeing the destination before setting and persistently navigating the optimum course of travel.
We did several key things to effectively plan and manage our bold adventure – I’ll elaborate a little using my three ‘R’s:
Ruthless prioritisation We began by probing and listening hard, on culture, capabilities and ways of working. We agreed clear expectations on the deal rationale, developing straightforward integration principles which ensured we focused on critical issues. We’re in business to add real value and from these efforts
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Right people It is people who win, deliver and support successful projects. It requires working interdependently on key priorities with energy, effort and enthusiasm. We resolved any potential ‘power’ issues by getting the right senior team working together early as our Integration Steering Committee, each member actively sponsoring work streams. We handpicked the Integration Management team, the Regional Champions and the many work stream leaders. Rhythm A rewarding challenge in any enterprise is getting it into rhythm. This requires a passionate vision for the future which wins hearts and minds and the determination to design and then really drive the selected business model into life. Our drumbeat included: planning and engaging early, effective governance, sponsorship from top down, momentum in integration and base businesses, making the hard but critical decisions, and investing to create a repeatable integration model.
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Q
You came to Abu Dhabi in August 2015, after a year here what are your reflections on the region and what advice would you give companies thinking about tapping into this market?
A
My reflections are heavily influenced by considerable travel and direct engagement with our customers, our people and other key stakeholders. In the past few months I’ve had the privilege of spending time in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan and also across parts of Africa including South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Namibia. As a result of these travels I have reached the following conclusions:
Firstly, it’s all about people as it is people that win, support and deliver great solutions
Secondly, in travel as in life, it’s the connections that count. Connections are stories waiting to be told. Stories that make sense on where we’ve been, where we’re going and what matters most.
Thirdly, the world needs business leaders who are passionate about more than just business.
Put those three together, as we do in Amec Foster Wheeler, and there’s opportunity to make a difference in any market, whether that’s in the Middle East, Africa or any other continent.