"Destra
offered practical tools
and the chance to practice new skills. It helped us understand the
differences between virtual and face-to-face meetings, and how to
improve overall effectiveness."
—Management executive from a technology company
Technology
and
Telecommunications Business Case
In
recent years, this high-tech business allowed
each office, region
and/or location to independently create its own marketing programs and
sales support. Duplicated effort, funds mismanagement and splintering
of the corporate message and vision kept the company from becoming a
market leader. Resources could have been used more effectively with
ultimately
greater system-wide impact if the marketing approach were coordinated
across the organization. The wide variety of services and range of
markets made the task even more complex.
The
Challenges
Stimulate
market growth in a
competitive internal
and external environment
Forge
cooperation among diverse,
opinionated
personalities within marketing departments
A
large number of independent
stakeholders create an agreement to the plan
Current
systematic strategy runs counter to
the
existing organizational culture
The
Opportunities:
Design
and implement a coordinated
marketing effort
to position the company as a market leader
Form
a cross-location, cross-functional
task force
to analyze marketing and sales needs
The
Outcomes:
Forged
cross-business action teams that
exercised
influence without command and control authority
Blended
diverse perspectives into a
common vision
Enrolled
a broad group of stakeholders
toward a
common goal
Destra was BHP Billiton’s partner for a
Minerals-wide
deployment of cultural change using Six Sigma integrated with Change
Management & Facilitation Skills from 2000 to late 2004. This
included initial benchmarking of cultural and performance parameters,
building a Deployment strategy, Leadership Team Alignment, Extensive
Global Training, Coaching of Projects and Knowledge Sharing Forums.
The business outcomes achieved in the first year at BHP Billiton
included:
108
Coaches trained
115
Process Improvement Projects completed/in
progress
US$29M
savings in first half
year: Annualized
at US$65M
Average
value/benefit per
project $250,000+
In
Year 2 benefits grew to
US$84.3M benefits
and has continued to grow since that time with commensurate behavioral
change particularly focused on data based decision-making, and
continuous improvement as part of the corporate culture.
"We
were moving toward changes and challenges never explored before.
Without Destra's help, we couldn't identify what needed to be done. They
gave us a valuable roadmap to aid in
corporate transition and
self-management." —Management
executive from a natural
resources company
Natural
Resources, Agriculture and Environment Business Case
In
the utilities
industry, deregulation has resulted in a profound
cultural shift from
one of cautious incrementalism and public cost
charge backs to aggressive product development and customer focus. The
old virtual monopoly led to an entitlement mentality, which strangled
capital and human investment toward adopting a responsive,
customer-driven business model.
The
Challenges:
Lawyers
essentially controlled the
business under
the old regulation-driven system
Employees
experienced low morale, a
pervading sense
of powerlessness and skepticism about the new corporate
vision
Employees
were insulated from the
volatility of the
marketplace and thus did not recognize the need for quick change
The
Opportunities:
Create
mixed teams of officers and
managers to
engage the entire workforce in the new, responsive business model
Free
cash for innovation
Break
down functional walls and the
tyranny of
regulatory inertia
Refocus
an educated workforce to explore
ways to win business and satisfy customers on a daily basis
Infuse
the officer group with a style
of leadership
that captures the hearts and minds of employees
The
Outcomes:
Defined
five key initiatives for
operating
successfully in a deregulated environment and created separate teams to
spearhead each
Bureaucracy-busting
team eliminated
non-value-added
work
Cash
team delivered $20 million in
inventory
reductions
Product
team cleaned the corporate
pipeline, plus
established the toll gate process and kill criteria, in just four months
Energy
level increased enterprise-wide
as people
saw the impact of their ideas in action
"I
learned from Destra what it takes to be an effective leader through
clear examples and useful exercises. I was very impressed with their
approach." —Team leader
from a research
laboratory
Healthcare,
Biotechnology
and Pharmaceutical Business Case
The CEO of a major medical products corporation gave the edict: "grow
the pond" and "invent/become your competition in the service business
of your company." The division president committed to deliver $30
million in service revenue in 12 months in a previously all-product
company.
The
Challenges:
Company
had never started a project so fast
with such visible
commitments
Significant
cross-functional
collaboration was
required
President
conducted an "approval"
meeting in three
days, i.e. accelerated "go/no-go" decision
Team
accountable for delivering on
plan as
opposed to simply advising or recommending a plan was held
The
Opportunity:
To
identify a cross-section
of leaders
to develop
the business plan for a "new company" inside the division that would
launch and deliver services to the health care industry. Timeline:
three days to develop plan and present to president, six months to
execute, 12 months to generate revenue.
The
Outcomes:
Revenue
goals were met: Year-end
revenues were $32 million; Year two revenues were $60 million
Developed
the business plan and six-month action plan that was approved by
president
Business
team funded and launched the business within one week
Business
team became the showcase of best practice at the annual meeting of
corporate officers
GENERAL
ELECTRIC, a company of
hundreds and thousands of people spanning
the
globe and consisting of businesses ranging from light bulbs to jet
engines, is often held up as an example of one of the most admired,
profitable and innovative companies in the world. This recognition,
however, did not come without hard work. In fact, during the 1980s and
1990s, GE went through a revolution. Transforming from an
organization characterized by crippling bureaucracy, inconsistent
product quality and low productivity to one of customer focus, constant
innovation and consistent growth.
DESTRA
began working with GE in 1988 as part of
the consulting team of
academic and organizational leaders assisting CEO Jack Welch with this
transformation. Since that time we have provided consulting and
training services on corporate-wide initiatives to ten of its twelve
businesses. Specifically, within these businesses, we have participated
in the design and launch of initiatives targeting culture change
(WorkOut™), high potential leadership development (High
Potential
Leaders’ Facilitative Leadership Program), productivity and
quality (Continuous Improvement, Six Sigma, Customer Productivity) and
change acceleration (Change Acceleration Program).
Specific examples of Destra’s involvement with GE include:
Cross Company:
Worked with
the overall GE
consulting team to design and launch the Change Acceleration Process
Action Learning Program, a methodology to help the top 400 officers of
GE’s businesses lead the accelerated realization of strategic
business initiatives. This program was expanded to include
employees throughout the organization.
GE Capital:
Launched the
initial Six Sigma
training for transaction process improvement for eight of the GECC
businesses. Co-developed the Black Belt and Green Belt
curriculum
that integrated the technical tools with change leadership
skills.
GE Plastics:
Consulted with
V.P. of Quality
and staff to develop a division-wide strategy and implementation plan
for Quality. Designed and delivered senior management quality
conferences and developed an internal education
process including in-depth course materials and a
“Train-The-Trainer”. On a separate
project, helped
GE-P transform their sales force by designing and delivering a two year
program that aligned their commercial and product sales force more
closely to the “go to market” strategy,
benchmarking data
and customers feedback.
GE Corporate
Audit: Assessed
corporate audit
staff training needs and redesigned curriculum to meet them.
One
area identified for change was the new-hire program. A
projected
200% increase led to a complete redesign of the entry
program.
Program expanded from a “one shot” session to a
comprehensive curriculum focused on developing the core competencies
needed to shorten
ramp-up time for new hires to be productive in the field.
GE Nuclear:
Developed and
implemented a
company-wide continuous improvement program including leadership review
of team projects, training all 1,200 employees, launching over 50
process teams, developing a “Train-the-Trainer”
program for
internal facilitators and conducting “Town
Meetings” to
share information. At the end of three years commendable
results
and cost savings were achieved.
During
this time, the results that Destra and the
larger consulting team
achieved were documented in every
GE annual report and cited by Jack Welch and others as what drove the
company’s revolution. GE received numerous external honors
including the Most Change Adaptable Company in the US (Forbes), and in
No.1 company on the Fortune 500 and Most Admired Companies lists.
