It all made perfect sense to C. James Prieur. Back in 2006, he wanted to move about 400 employees from Chicago to Carmel, where CNO Financial Group Inc. maintained its corporate headquarters.
They all worked in the same department of the $4.3 billion insurance company (which at the time was known as Conseco Inc.) So why, Prieur reasoned, did these people need to work in two different cities 180 miles apart?
“It was to get more efficiency in the office and get more expertise in one place and get focused on improving more of the back-office operations in the company,” says Prieur, the company’s CEO. “In many respects, it’s the biggest part of the company, because it’s a lot of people. It made more sense to do it one place.”
There was one problem.
“There was this funny Carmel versus Chicago thing going on,” Prieur says. “There was some concern among the people in Chicago that what we were signaling was that we were going to exit Chicago. That was not something we were considering.”
But the rumor persisted and left Prieur with a tough task. He had to convince everyone that this move was good for the 3,500-employee company. He also had to reassure those who feared this move was a precursor to an even bigger exodus from Chicago.
“There are always going to be people who don’t want a change,” Prieur says. “If you’re making something more efficient, that means jobs are going to disappear or change. People like to keep their jobs.”
Prieur knew deep down that the consolidation was the right thing for the business. He also knew that he didn’t want to engage in a contentious debate about something he had no intention of doing anyway. So he focused on the move he did want to make and his strong resolve to get it done.
