Overview of Projects

• Business Transformation – Shrinking margins, industry consolidation, and measures that were not linked to company profitability necessitated the need for significant changes in the behaviours and focus of this B2B sales force of 340 people across Canada. This involved redefining measures, compensation, sales territories, client assignments, roles, organization structure, and management competencies. The project spanned a 2 year period and was the leading initiative that redefined this organization’s position in the market.
• Employee Engagement – A new leader with a new vision for this organization numbering over 30,000 full and part time staff meant ensuring everyone was aligned and engaged with the new direction that was being set. The survey design was efficient (fewer than 40 questions), customized from established engagement survey methodology, and utilized appropriate technology for deployment and analysis. The result was a key metric that defined the focus and efforts for the management team in a year of intense change.
• Curriculum Design – The design of an internal certification program for the buyer group of this major Canadian retailer was one piece in their business transformation and cultural change. The instructional design standards included behaviour-based instructional objectives, criterion referenced evaluation items, and an overall architecture that ensured an appropriate development path for new and veteran staff. Key to the success of this program was a high level of involvement from buyers that were impacted by this initiative.
• Organizational Restructuring – This business unit of a major sales and distribution organization was fragmented into five separate companies. These were consolidated into one organization that was more focussed, more efficient, and able to better service their customers. This involved amalgamating three sales approaches, realigning the organization structure, and implementing new leadership competencies. The result was a company that attained a major market position in its industry with a stronger brand and a superior sales offering well above its competition.
• Culture change – This multi-plant manufacturer wanted to embed its new team-based, continuous improvement culture into all aspects of the organization. The challenge was to adapt the approach for each location as they were at very different levels along the culture change spectrum. A customized development path was created that was practical and incorporated each location’s current state, the common direction to be achieved, and the unique business realities of each plant.
• Performance Management – When the US parent of this organization merged with another industry leader, it created a new entity that was committed to incorporating the best aspects of both into its culture. One of the key levers for this was to redesign the performance management process. The system was built from the ground up by examining the fundamental principles of employee performance, recognition, and coaching and to ensure it was sustainable. A simple approach that was based on research and best practices launched this initiative that helped crystallize the new organization.