Destra Consulting Group, LLC - Client Testimonials

Telstra Corporation (Australia) — Australia’s largest Telecommunications Company with 36,000 employees and A$21 billion annual revenue

Ziggy Switkowski, Chief Executive Officer “We have implemented a number of change programs in the last 10 years or so, but this is the one that is most embedded. The use of Six Sigma tools has helped drive cultural change, build alignment across the organization and has delivered productivity and customer service improvements from Day 1. Destra brought many of the conceptual and mechanical aspects you would expect from a partner in this type of engagement. What made Destra different is that they helped us work through issues to resolution, offered continuing feedback on the status of our improvement journey, helped us to stay motivated and enthusiastic, and expanded our internal capabilities by transferring their knowledge and methodologies well.”
John Stanhope, Chief Financial Officer “Destra’s style was such that we always felt that they were part of us, that we were one team. Additionally, the quality of their people was invaluable—they always gave us good advice on how to implement Six Sigma methodically, helped us translate complex topics into ones easy to understand, and brought lessons from other companies to make our efforts even more successful.”
David Moffatt, Group Managing Director, Consumer and Marketing "When looking for a partner to help us introduce Six Sigma, we sought providers at the world’s best practice. Destra was an outstanding choice because of their values, culture, experience, and the quality of leaders involved. They maintained our trust throughout the engagement. Destra stayed true to project’s purpose and objectives, gave honest feedback on the challenges and offered perspectives on how to handle them based on lessons from other companies. Throughout the assignment they focused first on what was in Telstra’s interest, rather than their own. Additionally, they had the passion to help us win. As a result, Six Sigma has made an enormous difference. It has helped us break down silos; get agreements around priority problems the company is facing; and help us get an increased focus on the customer."

Recent Telstra Corp. Operational Excellence Results (using DMAIC & Change Management):

Significant financial benefits.
Additional ROI included revenue impact from increased customer satisfaction.
3,500 employees have been trained to use some Operational Excellence methodology, while thousands of others have experienced core Destra tools like effective meeting planning, influencing stakeholders, making decisions in groups, etc.
An organization-wide cultural shift characterized by team based, data driven, continuous improvement and efficient decision making approaches to business issues.

BHP Billiton (global) — World’s largest Resources company with 35,000 employees in over 20 countries and US$25 billion annual revenue.

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 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 this had grown 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 everyday life.

Wyeth (USA) — A global leader in pharmaceuticals, consumer health care products, and animal health care products with annual sales of nearly US$17.4 billion (2004) and products sold in more than 140 countries.

Jeff Peris, Chief Learning Officer "In determining who to select to partner with us to design our next generation Executive Leadership Program we wanted a partner who could bring creativity, great enthusiasm for the mission, a track record of outstanding achievement, and individuals who had considerable experience in the " tools " that we wanted to embed throughout the organization. We wanted the key partner(s) to be flexible, able to push back at our thoughts ( independent thinkers) and who we could rely on to deliver a quality program ( design, development) in the required time frame. The other key criteria was to select members of our team that could help facilitate the roll out of this global program and have credibility, and gain the trust and confidence of the senior leadership participants. I am pleased to say Destra has met each of our requirements. It has been a truly pleasant, beneficial, and cooperative partnership."

CQG Inc. (USA) — A supplier of data and market analysis to futures traders in over 56 countries globally from its international office network.

Josef Shroeter, President “We chose to work with Destra because, as an OD consulting firm, Destra stands apart by creating practical solutions that help me, a leader, drive a business result, rather than just providing our company with training. We had a serious problem with our ability to execute, and Destra helped us to create superior change management and facilitative leadership in our execution strategies. The most important aspect of the engagement was the way Destra partnered with us to set clear expectations – the success of the project was largely due to the fact that we were given a clear understanding and validation of the work required.”

Summit Bank (USA) — A U.S. bank with US$30.6 annual sales and 132 employees.

Bank Executive "Destra prides themselves on transferring skills to the client. Besides, they are fun to work with—real people who like being part of something greater than themselves."

BREED Technologies, Inc. (global) — (now Key Safety Systems, Inc., part of Key Automotive Group - US$1.7 billion revenue and 14,000 employees) An automotive industry leader in the design and production of airbags, seatbelts, steering wheels and fully integrated safety systems.

Kola Phillips, Sr. Vice President, Worldwide Quality Systems “Destra has done an outstanding job as our launch coach. Their training materials and teaching techniques are very effective and highly commendable.”

Adams 12 School District (USA) — A Colorado school district with 34,000 students in 46 schools.

Jim Christensen, Superintendent “As a school superintendent of 30,000 students, I have found Destra to be the most effective consulting organization I have worked with in my career. To meet our personal needs and challenges, Destra provided customized strategies and helped us deploy them to improve our systems.”