Case Studies Case Studies We help companies and their employees deal with unique challenges every day. From coaching the C-suite on leadership skills to helping an employee’s family member find child care, to reducing a company’s health costs—we’ve been a part of some really great success stories. We are passionate, collaborative and responsive. Our customers agree. And it shows in our work and the positive outcomes it generates. Case Study 1: Self-Directed Work Teams and Employee Engagement Problem – The senior leader of a department within a client organization expressed a desire to establish self-directed work teams in an effort to re-engage the very experienced employee base while enabling increased efficiency and productivity across the enterprise. The Solution – Perspectives Organizational Consulting Group collaborated with the senior leader to develop a training process for work teams which focused on: Intra-team communications Elements of Shared Leadership Individual versus Group Decision Making Methods of Quality Improvement and Assurance Assessing, examining and improving existing work processes Developing and measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) Consultants designed and facilitated the large group training effort while coaching the senior leader to develop behaviors needed to sustain the change within his department’s culture. A key ingredient in the project was the re-scoping of the senior leader’s role into ‘sponsorship and advocacy’ for the work team. The Outcome – 6 months post-project, this work group leads all day to day operations with high-functioning working relationships. They have facilitated the highest productivity in their history, saw dramatic increases in both customer and employee satisfaction and when compared to industry standards they exceed all measurements. The executive’s new role has paid dividends in terms of re-setting strategic direction and improved margins on bottom-line revenue. Case Study 2: Organization Redesign Problem – The client company identified a desire to centralize and re-design their domestic operations. The Solution – Perspectives Organizational Consulting Group consultants partnered with client executives to develop and implement a work plan which included: Due diligence assessment of each operating center’s core business and staff Timeline by which to plan and centralize the 10 field centers into one facility Work process documentation, efficiency examination and standardization Establishment of key performance indicators (KPIs) by position type HR Talent Plan and Sourcing Activities Retrain relocated existing staff on standardized work processes New hire orientation and standard process training Establishment of quality assurance processes Throughout the implementation consultants facilitated, monitored and reported on progress. The Outcome – The client company retained 98% of their total business and significantly reduced their fixed costs while increasing their asset utilization. Newly standardized work processes quickly led to increased levels of productivity while employee satisfaction and retention steadily improved. Case Study 3: Helping Employees Face Financial Hardship Problem – A midsize community bank realized that its employees, much like the community, were being heavily impacted by the recession. The bank had a well-established community effort dedicated to addressing housing, food, school and welfare needs throughout the year. They immediately chose to extend their community programs to employees in need. But a challenge remained: How to determine the criteria for eligibility, and manage the programs in a way that treated employees with respect and made them feel comfortable accepting assistance. The Solution – Perspectives had been the bank’s EAP for many years and because Perspectives’ EAP is also an employee relations partner for Human Resources, the Senior Vice President tapped his Perspectives Account Manager for advice. “Perspectives was great,” he said. “They brainstormed with us and made recommendations about eligibility criteria, how to communicate about the programs and how they could help manage access to the assistance.” It was determined that the financial assistance program would be managed by the bank, but employees would be encouraged to call Perspectives EAP. Perspectives EAP consultants were then able to assess any additional issues contributing to, or resulting from, financial stress and offer help and resources for those issues. The food and toy assistance programs were more heavily managed by the EAP. Perspectives EAP was promoted in communications about the programs and employees were encouraged to call the EAP if they were interested in the assistance. Perspectives EAP consultants then assessed each caller’s needs and made sure that they met the eligibility requirements. In addition, Perspectives EAP consultants coordinated the delivery of food gift cards, and ensured that the proper toys were selected for children—all with 100% confidentiality. The Outcome – Perspectives EAP helped the organization extend those programs to employees facing hardship, in a confidential manner. The employees received assistance from their employer, no stigma attached. More than 200 instances of employees taking advantage of the programs and receiving assistance were recorded. No employee names were ever disclosed to the bank, but Perspectives was able to report on the number of employees that used each program and provide feedback on the effectiveness of the program. Case Study 4: Collective Team Insights Problem – A Japanese-owned company in the Chicago suburbs made a strategic decision to invest further in their management team to continue to grow the company. The Solution – A 360 Degree Feedback process was chosen to help managers identify leadership strengths, as well as professional development opportunities. The feedback was gathered from bosses, peers and direct reports. The manager also rated himself or herself on the same factors. Once the feedback was gathered it was shared with the manager which led to the development of a leadership plan. New managers benefitted by understanding how specific learning opportunities would increase their leadership acumen and seasoned managers were able to use the feedback to hone and improve their leadership skills. Once feedback was collected, each manager participated in a meeting to debrief the feedback and develop an action plan. The 360 team assessed what resources existed internally to support their plan, what resources and support Perspectives could offer the manager and finally any learning opportunities that would be helpful either in a live classroom setting or on-line learning opportunity. The Outcome – Almost all said they gained insight about themselves from the feedback they received. They felt the anonymous format allowed people to give honest feedback, positive and negative, in a way they would never hear in meetings with employees or colleagues. One manager reported the feedback allowed him to see he was monopolizing the conversation in his team meetings. He realized he talked “at the team” and was not facilitating discussion. He reported once he made changes in how he led his team meetings, the meetings became more productive. Another manager realized that she was much more vocal with criticism than with feedback about what was going well. With resources and strategies offered during the debrief she was able to deliver more balanced feedback to her team and saw how well they responded. An additional benefit for the company was the 360 team was able to identify training opportunities and initiatives that would support the organization’s goal of continuous improvement. Perspectives Ltd delivers an employee assistance program known as Life Enhancement, Assistance and Development (LEAD) and project- and program-based organizational services including assessments, training/coaching and critical incident support. CONTACT 20 N Clark Street, Suite 2650 Chicago IL 60602 info@perspectivesltd.com 800.866.7556 QUICK LINKS Services Case Studies Blog About STAY IN TOUCH Reach out to Perspectives for more information or sign up for our monthly newsletter. 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