Situation: to differentiate the firm in an industry that sells same services at high end prices to the same customers and it is hard to measure the value – the CEO set a goal of become an exceptional company within the holding company and the industry. employee survey results revealed a lack of trust in senior management and low engagement due primarily to a lack of career development opportunities. This was unwelcome news at a time when the economic recession and customer survey responses presented challenges to customer engagement and retention. The future state required enhanced collaboration with leadership and more relevant services to assist clients meet shrinking demand for products.
Our approach: we collaborated with the leadership team and HR to develop a leadership competency model to meet the evolving needs of customers and employees. We implemented a 360-degree assessment process for the senior leadership team and collaborated with managers to identify development opportunities for the expanded leadership team. The solution included leadership consulting, assessment and coaching with competency and performance goals development. We identified specific employee engagement goals and metrics and cascaded them to all people managers to insure commitment and alignment to behavior expectations.
Results: All managers were aligned on shared competencies, goals and performance expectations. At the end of the first year, all employees had development goals and a discussion with their manager. After year-end, we conducted another employee survey and analyzed targeted performance metrics. The client attributed the improved employee and customer experience to our engagement. During the third year of the economic recession, all key business results improved – revenues by 34%, profitability by 22%, customer retention by 50%, customer growth by 30%, with no loss of key client-facing employees.