Example client engagements

Our Point-of-View consulting style has enabled us to understand our clients on a deeper level for tangible transformation and improvement across their business

Click a case study below to read about projects that exemplify the diversity of our work and impacts we achieved

The owner of a growing PR firm was on the verge of burnout, ostensibly from excessive administration around managing his employees and tracking metrics with clients. Through our engagement process, we found that the root issue was organizational in nature—not administrative. The owner was not delegating work efficiently, and by having a completely flat organizational structure, it caused too many employee and client issues to come directly across his desk. The owner had expressed a desire to develop and retain his team for the long-term.

Solution:

We identified key senior staff who were ready to take on additional responsibilities, eventually giving them both people management responsibilities of junior staff and also more formal client and business development responsibilities to take workload off of the owner. We implemented clearer project roles and responsibilities around the new org structure so that expectations - and job growth opportunities - were more visible to the whole team. Lastly, we sourced a third-party payroll and HR administration partner, then helped transition the client to that service as a final tool to help clear the owner’s plate so he could focus more time on developing his business and mentoring staff.

After starting a project with a Fortune 500 executive, a number of the company’s internal resources suddenly became focused on a new project under the same executive. When we approached him about prioritizing these projects, the executive was quite surprised to hear of this other project’s existence. There was work consuming the time of almost 75 people under him… and he didn’t even know the project was occurring. The executive asked Brian to help investigate how this happened and how to prevent it from happening in the future.

Solution:

Brian’s first insight was that the executive spoke differently to other executives than he did to lower management—interestingly, he was clear and directive with those close to him, while appearing more in a “listening-mode” with more junior staff. Listening skill is great to have in an executive, but since he spoke more sparingly with junior staff, they mistook that to mean that anything he said was a directive. Second, Brian observed that the company was quite hierarchical and that managers appeared reticent to ask questions of more senior leaders, especially to this executive whom they revered. The combination of these two factors thus had led a group of managers to believe that the executive initiated this other project, when in fact, he was just speaking ideas aloud. Brian advised the executive on how to use his same directive vernacular when speaking with all employees companywide so that it was clear when they should engage on a project versus when he was simply ideating to spark others’ creativity.

A large financial services firm requested our expertise on the design of compensation structures for client-facing employees in the firm’s branches and call centers. Because client assets and firm financials were intimately tied to the way the company wanted to incentivize its employees, we were able to review many dimensions of the firm’s operations. Our fresh perspective on this data enabled us to identify a serious client attrition issue which the firm had not noticed. The firm was so focused on acquiring new clients—and was so successful in that regard—that it had not yet realized it was losing existing clients… and significant revenue.

Solution:

We presented a detailed analysis of where the client attrition was occurring and its financial magnitude. Highlighting this critical issue enabled the firm to revisit its marketing strategy and refocus employee training to include techniques for managing both new and existing client business development simultaneously. We advised the client on how to capture responsibilities appropriately in each job role within the firm, then we designed base pay and sales incentive programs that aligned with the revised business strategy. In addition to providing clear job definition and compensation tools to attract and motivate talent at the firm, we helped stem revenue bleed by identifying the client attrition issue before it got worse.

We were referred to a group of proprietors who were seeking advice on having an employee stock plan as part of the new corporation they were forming together. From our initial consultation, it became clear that there were a number of key decisions that had not yet been made, not only with regards to employment, but also regarding foundations of the corporation itself. The founders did not realize that the proposed economic consideration for their shares was disproportionate to the percentage ownership they wanted to each end up with, and had not considered related founder stock ownership issues like vesting, valuation, and provisions for termination and change of control.

Solution:

In consultation with professional legal and tax counsel on these matters, we provided a landscape of information that led to decision points for them to make about how they structured their business together. We also discussed the implications of having employees participate in ownership through equity programs, including whether different types of equity tools would effectively attract and retain talent in their particular business situation. We infused our counsel, as we always do, with a broader view of how rewards—compensation, benefits, time off, etc.—and cultural elements work in concert to create the “employer of choice” workplace they desired.

A well-known technology company with offices in 12 countries was experiencing rapid growth—and new competition for talent. Prior to engaging us, the client had a single compensation philosophy that they tried to apply in all of the global locations. Because they were frequently losing top candidates to other companies, their regional recruiters were frustrated by the constraints of this one system. We were brought in to problem-solve why their compensation packages were not attracting candidates to accept offers.

Solution:

From our POV, we immediately saw that the company was applying only its product competitors as its talent competitors when, in actuality, certain specialized regional offices (e.g. Sales) had a much broader competitive talent pool. Once we were able to distinguish the true labor competitors, we discovered that the standard pay philosophy was insufficient in certain countries. We enhanced certain pay philosophy elements for those locations, helping the client better attract talent in each area. Then, we created distinct pay structures under a common global job grading system to support each country with unique competitive factors for compensation.

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