Results

Challenge

A college had created a new Strategic Plan driven by the concept of moving from “Good to Great”. A key strategic initiative in the Plan was the need to create more disciplined, strategic leaders at all levels so that the organization had the capacity to achieve its strategic goals.

What We Did

Developed a customized approach to improving leaders’ capacity to execute the strategy that:

Identified the demands the strategy placed on the organization in terms of leadership competencies,
Assessed the overall capability of the college’s leadership, and,
Created a process to intentionally accelerate the development of key leaders through the use of development cohorts.

Result

“We have been working with Michael Couch and Richard Citrin for the last year and a half and the results have been excellent. They do not come in with a canned program that the organization needs to incorporate. Rather through a process of confidential, directed dialogue with key constituents, the current talent assets of the organization are assessed and mapped, and key competencies for leadership success are identified based upon the needs of the college. Michael Couch and Richard Citrin are outstanding professionals that conducted all the sessions. They are excellent facilitators and are skilled at guiding participants through some difficult conversations. After completing the talent assessment and competency profiles, high potential individuals were identified to participate in the leadership development program. This stage has just commenced but participants have been very positive of the individualized plans for their leadership development. We are pleased with their services and the results have been realized. I highly recommend their services.”
President

Challenge

A large regional human service non-profit realized that their new strategy required a significant change in the leadership capacity of the entire organization.

What We Did

We started by assessing the present leadership capability across the business and jointly creating an organization development action plan. We then developed leadership competency models and worked with cohorts of high-potential leaders to create targeted individual leadership development plans based on high impact competencies.

Result

The overall leadership capacity of the organization was improved. The leaders felt that the process helped them improve their collective decision making, got lower level leaders more in tune with the business, improved the communication between units and raised the bar for the performance of first-line supervisors. They now felt better prepared as leaders to face future challenges.

Challenge

A global chemical company was projecting a gap in critical technical talent due to demographic shifts. They needed to develop a pipeline of talent to assure the future growth of the business. A cross-functional team had been formed but it was struggling to gain traction and focus on a plan.

What We Did

Designed and facilitated a process with multiple stakeholders to create a strategic talent plan for the initiative.
Developed competency models and behavior-based selection for the pivotal positions.
Facilitated a team to create a detailed rotation and development program for new engineers.

Result

The project made significant progress in a shorter period than expected.
The talent plan was approved by the leadership team who is interested in expanding the capability across other units
The company has the foundations of a competency-based talent management system that can be used to address other challenges

Challenge

A global manufacturer was challenged by the Board of Directors to improve its retention of key executives, promote more leadership from within, and establish an effective succession planning process.

What We Did

We prepared a Strategic Talent Management Presentation to be given to the Board by the CEO and CHRO.
We designed and implemented a talent assessment process to assess leadership capability across the company.

Result

The Board reacted very positively to the process. They liked the fact that it was forward-looking and linked to the strategy, gathered input from multiple talent perspectives, identified talent gaps to be addressed, included action planning, and was linked to the business review process and schedule.
A total picture of the organization’s leadership capability was created along with a path to significantly improve it.

“To a person, our leadership team thanked Mike at the conclusion of each review session. We appreciated his insight and ability to facilitate the toughest conversations – those that deal with people.”
VP of Human Resources and Company Officer

“I wish we would have done this 5 years ago! We’d be in much better shape.”
CEO

Challenge

A Specialty Steel Manufacturer had been unsuccessful in deploying and achieving its Strategic Plan.

What We Did

Created a process to identify and prioritize the key initiatives required to achieve a five year business plan and to improve the strategy deployment process.
Completed an assessment of the overall organization talent and developed a multi-year plan to significantly improve.

Result

The Strategy was successfully deployed to the organization.
Projects were prioritized across the business

“Mike works very well with our team and has earned the respect and trust from our people very quickly.”
President and COO

Challenge

A new CEO came on board to lead a mature business where growth had stalled. How can he get everyone aligned behind a new strategy and does the organization have the talent needed to execute the strategy?

What We Did

Designed and facilitated a business planning process
Completed a review of the organization’s talent based on our Strategy-Driven Organization Development approach
Designed a market- and performance-based compensation system for the business

Result

The company implemented an Annual Business Plan that focused on achieving top-line growth, that prioritized initiatives across the business and where each function clearly understood its role in achieving the Plan.
The business had a picture of the organization’s talent and the actions needed to improve its capability.
The company had a compensation system that supported the Business Plan.

Challenge

A new leader wanted to improve the capability of his function, increase the amount of teamwork on the leadership team and significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of a core business process.

What We Did

Designed and facilitated a process to complete a detailed process analysis and improvement plan
Facilitated the development of an Operating Agreement for the Leadership Team, including the framework for a measurement dashboard

Result

The functional leaders began to work more as a team, focusing across the business and not just their location.
The function will be better prepared to handle the planned growth of the business.
The function will increase its capability to accomplish other objectives.

“Michael was a superior coach and facilitator for our senior team meetings. I found him to be confident and efficient, with the experience, technical skills, and “been there, done that” to elicit the respect of the group. His suggestions were insightful and led us to value-added solutions. Overall, the outcomes we achieved surpassed my expectations. I look forward to having Michael continue his work with our team.”
Director – Americas

Challenge

A new non-profit’s Board of Directors was not pleased with the progress the organization was making on key initiatives they needed to get up and running.

What We Did

Designed and facilitated a highly interactive action planning session with the Board members, focused on the short-term issues.

Result

Increased the organization’s chance of success by identifying about 100 fundraising and publicity ideas, reducing those down to the top seven assignable, specific actions steps needed to quickly get the money and land they needed to start.

“What I really liked, though, was that for each action step he got a leader to step forward and take charge of that step. He really took our group to a new level. I highly recommend that you get Michael’s help to help move your group or business forward.”
Board President

Challenge

A new President of a recently merged organization passed away unexpectedly during a critical time in the organization’s transition.

What We Did

Designed and facilitated the development of a Corporate Operations Committee that replaced the role of the President of Operations. Created an Operating Plan and Agreement involving the heads of 5 operating units, Sales and Marketing, and R&D.

Result

The Operating Committee successfully managed the transition without a negative impact on the organization.

Challenge

A new rolling mill purchased and installed at a cost of over $60 million to replace four obsolete mills was six months into start up and had not rolled one coil of steel.

What We Did

Designed and lead a multi-stage process with cross-functional teams to generate and implement improvement ideas.

Result

Project attained the goal.

” . . . within weeks Mike and his methodology that involved the inputs of ALL the people involved had the project turned around and soon thereafter the anticipated benefits of the project came to fruition. Seventy individuals became an inspired team proud of their new mill.”
Operations Manager

Challenge

A privately-held manufacturing organization was having difficulty achieving key objectives and was concerned that it was not organized effectively.

What We Did

“Mike designed and facilitated numerous sessions, from strategic planning to idea generation, with employees at all levels.”

Result

“The approach helped move us to a team and process-based organization needed to respond to today’s competitive pressures.”
Company President and COO

Challenge

A non-profit conservancy organization was not sure how it was connecting to is membership base.

What We Did

Facilitated a series of focus groups of major donors in different regions.

Result

The organization had prioritized recommendations from key donors. They saw great value from the increased exposure to its donor base.

“Your excellent facilitation allowed us to gather a lot of input from a short meeting – I was impressed”
CEO

“When over 20 of our members showed up for a roundtable discussion, I was not sure how it would work out to make sure everyone had a voice and that no one dominated the dialogue. You did a fantastic job in facilitating the conversation, keeping things moving, and in drawing out the quieter members as well – all in a 1.5-hour session! The results from the project were far better than we had hoped – our members felt that we were listening to them and that we appreciated them. We came away with very useful feedback on their interests and concerns.”
Director of Development

Challenge

A recent merger demanded a doubling of production without a significant capital investment from a facility that was wallowing in inefficiency and severely lacking in direction.

What We Did

Designed and facilitated a project with multiple stages and many inter-disciplinary teams to develop a plan to double the capacity.

Result

” . . . in short order, every person involved in the project was brought together with Mike’s methodology, the production skyrocketed toward the doubling that saved the merger. Several hundred individuals became an inspired team.”
Operating Manager

Challenge

A newly implemented Project Management System was not functioning up to expected levels.

What We Did

Designed and facilitated sessions to evaluate the effectiveness of the Project Management system and determine an improvement action plan. Generated and prioritized the capabilities to be a successful Project Leader.

Result

Rated performance of the process improved. Project teams were much more satisfied with the process.

Challenge

A company acquired a new subsidiary to attempt and entry into the Automotive Market.

What We Did

Designed and facilitated the development of a Strategic Plan to create a new Automotive Business Unit.

Result

Business Unit was successfully launched and new products brought to market.

“Mike was instrumental in executing the strategic plan used to successfully launch the company’s new business unit. Mike has the talent and expertise to improve the effectiveness of any team, process, or person in any company.”
VP – Business Development