Problem
The merger of 3 independent businesses created the need for our client organisation to transition its people and develop a single identity with a customer centric culture.
Process
The program of work commenced with a rigorous culture diagnostic followed by future state alignment workshops with the leadership. The detailed gap analysis pointed to key targets for change with 27 approved recommendations forming the basis of a phased project plan. Strategic interventions were designed and implemented to restructure and reorient people to the new operating model, respect yet eliminate legacy branding, lift employee engagement, align systems and processes and develop the capability of people leaders and their teams. Top down and bottom up approaches were adopted to engage the wider workforce in setting the direction including the corporate values and behaviours which were integrated into performance management practices. Throughout the program of work, the consultants coached leaders, established a change champion network and partnered with the organisation's internal resources.
Outcomes
The accurate diagnosis of the 3 sub-cultures reduced wasted effort and enabled clear direction with purposeful improvement strategies. Regular pulse checks revealed positive impacts on employee engagement and productivity within 12-months. In addition, by coaching and working closely with the leadership and internal teams, the organisation developed its change and project management capability and executed later phases of the improvement program with minimal external consultancy required.
Problem
Our client organisation was experiencing high turnover and low employee engagement and the need to develop the capability of its people leaders was identified.
Process
12 senior leaders participated in a 6-month development program which included monthly face-to-face role coaching, 360o leadership assessments and 4 intact team effectiveness interventions. The group revisited the organisation's vision, purpose, values and behaviours necessary for success along with deep reflection on how they worked together and what needed to shift in terms of the team's dynamic. The team explored communication patterns, how they approached diversity, avoided conflict and made decisions.
Outcomes
Evaluation revealed significant improvements in team integration and collaboration rather than working in their respective silos. The leadership team meetings reportedly improved in terms of diversity of thinking, shared participation and clear decision making. Discussion with the leadership's direct reports found a lift in employee engagement as they experienced greater clarity, a sense of empowerment and recognition from their leaders who had become more visible and accessible to them. The leadership team reported working more purposefully in their role, increased support from their peers, shared accountability and confidence in their capacity to work through complex problems without referring to head office in the USA.
Problem
Our client required both change and project management support to implement a new enterprise management system set to transform how the organisation operated. The program of work covered a number of technical project streams and the need for consistent approaches to change leadership and management was evident.
Process
The consultants commenced working with the leadership and important stakeholders to align on the projects vision, objectives and business benefits as well as the engagement and communication principles to be adopted throughout the change. Governance practices and steering committees were established including their charters with clear roles and accountabilities. The consultants developed an organisation wide change strategy along with a comprehensive toolkit of artefacts and processes to support each stream of work. Change management plans were articulated, monitored and executed. In addition, the consultants designed and implemented a customised learning program to develop the change capability of all people leaders.
Outcomes
The project was delivered on time, within budget and with improved levels of workforce engagement and acceptance than had been experienced in the past. Moreover, developing the change capability of the client's internal resources along with an organisation wide change strategy, artefacts and toolkit enabled the client to consistently implement future change with minimal external consultancy support. The project revealed several cultural themes impacting business performance and Insight to Influence's contract was extended to provide coaching and team effectiveness support.
Problem
A local government client was implementing a new capability framework as part of their performance management process. This had not been done before and required a learning solution that would enable supervisors and managers to confidently adopt the framework as the basis of their development conversations with direct reports.
Process
Following consultation with the client, we recommended that a parallel process occur to blend the technical learning requirements with experiential practices. Our consultants first engaged the manager group in a learning session so that they would later role model how to apply the framework in an effective development conversation with their direct reports. The learning program occurred with 3-week intervals so that all participants experienced 'real' development conversations with their manager before, during and after the learning intervention which was custom designed to reflect the client's objectives.
Outcomes
Managers actively took up their leadership role which positioned 'development conversations' as being the norm and aligned with the cultural reform the client was undertaking. Evaluation feedback one week after the learning intervention was overwhelmingly positive in terms of their ability to 'apply' new skills, improved commitment to the capability framework and feeling confident and prepared to objectively undertake performance conversations, communicate with influence and manage emotional triggers and resistance.
Problem
Our client was experiencing a range of cultural and organisational challenges being faced by the leadership and those at the frontline.
Process
The program delivered a series of leadership development interventions as well as the establishment of 3 peer learning groups for the operations, engineering and maintenance staff. The learning groups spent one half day working collaboratively through complex problems at regular intervals over a 12-month period.
Outcomes
Within 6 months, tangible benefits and the beginnings of culture transformation were evident and the program extended to include additional learning groups. The client reports significant reductions in negativity and blame and greater ownership and proactive participation in resolving issues at the coal face. Cross functional collaboration and relationships are continuing to improve along with increased engagement and trust in the leadership.
Problem
The CEO of an energy company was committed to improving the organisation's safety culture and performance. The organisation had previously adopted a scattergun approach, rolling out many initiatives with very little impact. Insight to Influence was engaged to undertake a baseline culture assessment so that improvement strategies and investment decisions would be purposeful and measurable.
Process
The consultants administered 1000+ safety climate surveys to all employees including office and frontline personnel. A series of cross-functional focus groups and confidential interviews were undertaken along with worksite observation in meetings and an HSE systems auditing process. The final report presented the results to the CEO and leadership team who participated in working sessions to reflect on the results, explore how the team contributed and align on next steps and priority action plans. Site summary reports were prepared for each location and coaching provided to the site managers so that they could lead feedback sessions and engage the workforce in how to improve the current state. Several targeted improvement initiatives were planned and executed. The research process has been replicated a 2nd and 3rd time demonstrating the leadership's commitment.
Outcomes
The research design and report, including culture and auditor findings, was powerful in terms of the leadership recognising that the culture was not as good as they thought it to be. Recurring themes and the perceived values, beliefs and assumptions were clearly evident as well as how these showed up in employee behaviour. The client adopted a number of change initiatives including the simplification of systems, investigation learning teams, management and leadership development and radical changes around reporting requirements and delegations of authority at the site locations. The client has continued to assess their safety culture year on year with notable improvements in safety leadership and trust, frontline ownership, organisational learning, reduced risk taking, increased quality of reporting and overall employee engagement with the safety imperative.
Problem
As part of an annual planning and improvement program, a Queensland manufacturer wanted to better understand their customers' expectations by undertaking a rigorous evaluation of how they rated in terms of service and products.
Process
The consultant developed the customer satisfaction research framework in collaboration with the client and in consideration of best practice research in the consumer area. Leadership agreement on the key criteria by which the organisation wished to be measured included reliability, assurance, empathy, responsiveness, cost competitiveness and loyalty/price sensitivity. A rigorous qualitative and quantitative survey interview tool was designed and piloted, followed by data collection across 5 regional locations. Feedback from 238 customers was analysed and reported.
Outcomes
The organisation established a robust baseline of customer satisfaction and retained the standardised survey tool for future applications. Working with the leadership team, the consultant and client were able to identify specific issues unique to each region as well as the need for systemic changes to procedures across the organisation. A set of 10 recommendations to improve service planning and customer retention rates were approved and formed the basis of a targeted improvement plan. The client repeated the research process 12-months later which confirmed the effectiveness of the improvement initiatives. The research process sparked healthy competition between each region and commitment to service excellence and continuous improvement became integral to the company culture.