"The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what the man or woman is able to do that counts."
- Booker T. Washington
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Case Studies
While we are always aware of and working with all four of the critical components that determine organizational performance — people, organizational culture, business process and change — there is usually one factor that is the major driver for each project. Our case studies are categorized by this driving factor. The studies illustrate how Leap Strategies' synergistic approach is key to achieving success for our clients.
Case Studies:
Leadership
Executive Coaching 1
Executive Coaching 2
Organizational Culture
Business Process
Case Study: Leadership
Client: Mass manufacturer and internet retailer of luxury product
Presenting Business Challenge: Our client was receiving product quality complaints from their customers and too many product quality returns. They were also experiencing significant internal rework and waste. Productivity in the Production and Quality Departments was low, and employee turnover was high.
Leap Strategies Identified the Following Root Causes:
- Communication was poor. Staff did not receive the information required to make informed decisions and, therefore, no decisions were made
- Staff lacked purpose and accountability, and felt no ownership or pride in their work
- Product quality standards were not clearly defined
- The Production and Quality staff had conflicting goals and viewed each other as enemies
Leap Strategies' Solution: We provided the Production and Quality Departments with excellent leadership. We:
- Conducted interactive leadership and management training emphasizing communication, clear direction, true facilitative management, clarification of accountabilities, ownership and customer focus
- Provided individual and group coaching
- Defined department and staff accountabilities
We created an organizational culture that fosters collaboration and is focused on the customer. To do this we:
- Facilitated Production and Quality meetings that identified shared goals and accountabilities, and created product quality standards, training programs and quality inspection testing
Immediate Client Results:
- Understanding their leadership responsibilities and learning specific skills turned an uninvolved, under-performing workforce into a group of professionals who understood the importance of their jobs, asked questions, demanded answers, made decisions, felt pride and ownership, and focused on value for the customer. Several staff members grew into management positions.
- 100% elimination of major product quality customer returns
- 41% reduction in internal product quality rejections
- 50% reduction in internal waste
- 32% increase in productivity
- 45% reduction in employee turnover
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Case Study: Executive Coaching 1
Client: Manufacturer of mass market product
Coaching Candidate: High potential executive assistant. Young executive, early in her career, in first position of responsibility
Assessment Tools: Verbal 360° feedback from current and previous managers, peers and employees with whom she had significant interaction
Development Needs Identified:
- Taking ownership of responsibilities
- Work ethic
- Taking the extra step
- Work quality
Execution of Our Coaching Plan: We provided education, training and guidance addressing:
- Job versus career
- The meaning of ownership
- Verbal and written communication
- Project management
- Meeting facilitation
The sponsor, candidate and coach agreed upon the following measurable objectives:
- Successful completion of projects having progressively greater scope and of increasing importance to the organization
- Successful completion of projects requiring new and creative approaches
Results:
- Coaching candidate rose from executive assistant to manager's right-hand
- Management at all levels recognized her ability, ideas and quality of work and saw her as the "go to" person within her manager's scope of responsibility
- Her work was an important contributing factor to the success of her department
- She outgrew her position and rose to management level
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Case Study: Executive Coaching 2
Client: Wholesale and direct manufacturer of mass market and luxury product
Coaching Candidate: Seasoned senior leader who was not successful in current position
Assessment Tools: Verbal 360° feedback from manager (CEO), other executive committee members, direct and indirect reports
Development Needs Identified:
- Making decisions
- Being assertive about what he believes
- Demanding what he needs for the organization and himself to be successful
- Knowing how to execute - get things done
- Being candid and honest
Execution of Our Coaching Plan:
We provided education, training and guidance in the areas of:
- Communication
- Leadership
- Management
- Meeting facilitation
The CEO, candidate and coach agreed upon measurable objectives, including:
- The successful completion of specific projects
- A change in perception among his peers and reports
Results:
- The candidate made decisions and held his ground. He spoke directly and no longer hesitated to make appropriate demands of his manager and his peers.
- The candidate's improved performance revealed weaknesses in other areas of the company. This resulted in the creation of new objectives for change within the organization.
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Case Study: Organizational Culture
Client: Global component and finished goods manufacturer and retailer
Presenting Business Challenge: Customers were complaining about lack of responsiveness to their product needs and about trend product arriving late to market. Sales were flat.
Leap Strategies Identified the Following Root Causes: A culture that was counterproductive to the organization's goals. The primary forces that were negatively shaping their culture were:
- A fashion business that was manufacturing driven
- No end-to-end process consciousness and lack of focus on customer needs
- Conflicting division and department targets
- An evaluation and reward system that did not support the organization's goals
In addition, the product development process suffered from fractured communication, and unclear responsibility and accountabilities.
Leap Strategies Solution: We changed the parts of the organizational culture that negatively influenced performance. We:
- Defined the behavior the new culture needed to support, and created a cultural vision and a change management approach
- Educated senior management on their role in the new culture and the execution of successful change
- Designed support structures to maintain and grow the new culture and facilitated its implementation
We also facilitated the reengineering of the product development process. To do this we:
- Redefined the beginning and end of the process to reflect the needs of our client's business
- Conducted a benchmarking survey, redefined expectations and created process targets
- Provided process reengineering design training and facilitated the design of the new process
- Designed structures to monitor implementation and oversee maintenance and ongoing improvement
Immediate Client Results:
- Customers reported improved responsiveness.
- Divisions and departments shared knowledge and skills
- 57% increase in design output
- 82% reduction in trend product development cycle time, (concept to market introduction) from 13 weeks to 12 days
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Case Study: Business Process
Client: Rapidly growing manufacturer and retailer of luxury product
Presenting Business Challenge: Because of late deliveries and shipping errors, customers were canceling orders, returning product and issuing charge-backs, all amounting to millions of dollars.
Leap Strategies Identified the Following Root Causes: Existing business processes no longer met the growing demands of the business
- Lack of end-to-end process thinking meant departments did not work together and execution did not focus on the customer or the organization's goals
- Personnel lacked direction, focus and accountability
- Staff was frustrated, tired of not meeting goals, and felt things could never improve
Leap Strategies' Solution: We reengineered the client's order fulfillment process, including all workflow from receipt of the customer's order to the point at which the product reached the customer. We:
- Created order fulfillment process targets
- Facilitated Process Design Team meetings and design of a new order fulfillment process
- Created software logic, screen design and reporting to measure performance against targets
- Created user requirements for purchase of new technology
- Created job descriptions and clear accountabilities
We established a culture that is positive, open to change and drives focus and accountability. To do this we:
- Facilitated the creation of a Vision
- Designed and implemented a customized change management approach
- Met with all employees involved in the process and created buy-in to change
- Tied evaluations to process-supporting behavior and performance
Immediate Client Results:
- Specific personnel, who were designated for separation prior to their participation in Process Design Team meetings, became key contributors and important catalysts of change
- Staff became motivated. Targets and accountabilities were taken seriously, focus moved to process targets, results and the customer
- 39% reduction in order processing cycle time
- 61% reduction in production cycle time
- 48% reduction in the cost of shipping errors
- 80% reduction in the cost of merchandise returned due to late shipments
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