Organizational Development

Solutions In Action Case Studies

We discuss five short case studies, where TMG partners with organizations according to need matching the best resources to the desired outcome. TMG has the flexibility to configure Project Teams from our team of subject matter experts, consultants, coaches, trainers, and facilitators so that each area of expertise essential to the outcome is applied.​

Case 1: Building Organizational Capacity

Structure, People, Process, Change

Situation/Issue 1:

A government contractor has grown from $100M to $300M in revenue over the past two years. The organization is positioned with its proven business model, acquired business units, and current market conditions (bio-defense, INS, FAA, etc) to reach its newly crafted strategic plan i.e. grow from $300M to $1B over next four years. Although the business model will continue to be viable, organizational capacity i.e. people, processes, organization cannot support goal achievement. The President questions whether the current executive talent is the “right” talent for goal achievement.

TMG Approach:

Partnering with the President and his leadership team, TMG provides team coaching and facilitation, individual coaching, consulting, and data to support the growth process. TMG presents benchmarking/organizational profiles of organizations that have successfully and unsuccessfully managed comparable growth and change for leadership team consideration. From these models and through TMG’s organizational assessment process, executives identify organizational competencies and organizational capacity needs essential to goal achievement.

TMG experts partner with organizational leadership team to design processes, systems, structures, and measures to support competency and organizational capacity development. Executive Coaches work individually and en team with the President, leadership team members and the next management level to implement the people, process, and organizational adjustments within and across divisions that build the necessary organizational capacity. Change is managed through TMG’s Institutional Change Model. The leadership team changed out members, added external and promoted executive expertise, and improved its strategic capacity by its own measure. Goals were met.

Situation/Issue 2:

The organization has again raised the bar on its revenue objectives and is implementing a new business strategy based on changing market conditions and organizational capacity that has been built and continues to be developed through the on-going process TMG partnered with them to implement.

TMG Approach:

TMG facilitated planning sessions for the new business strategy roll-out and continues to facilitate the executive team’s strategy sessions toward consistent strategy implementation and streamlined change. TMG consultants facilitated Implementation Teams that were responsible for executing critical tactics for strategy implementation. It also gathered, analyzed, and feedback data/recommendations regarding organizational values and employee perceptions throughout the change process. Again, goals were met. The organization was successfully sold per plan.

Case 2: Building Management Capacity

Leadership Development for Succession Management and Change

Situation/issue:

A prominent industry association was undergoing change in that at least 40% of its top leadership team including its Executive Director was retiring from the organization when, at the same time, an adjustment in course and organizational direction needed to be affected dictated by change in government administrations. New and different competencies needed to be developed within its leadership team and at feeder levels of the organization in order to meet succession and course adjustment requirements.

TMG Approach:

TMG took a multi-pronged approach over time:

  1. TMG partnered with organizational leadership to determine the most critical management development needs. Over a two year timeframe, managers’ capabilities were developed in these critical areas: leading and managing in the new millennium, essential coaching skills, managing change, negotiating, managing performance, making powerful presentations, persuasion and influence, business writing, and leading effective meetings as a partial list.
  2. The next step for the organization in partnership with TMG was to tackle its top leadership development issues through a Succession Management process that identifies and develops organizational-specific leadership competencies i.e. establishes an organization-specific leadership success profile develops a customized 360 degree instrument that assesses leadership competencies and implements a developmental process for each leader that includes blended development strategies such as courses, executive coaching, project/team assignments, etc.
  3. This competency gap assessment and development process was cascaded to the next levels down in the organization to develop organizational feeder levels for succession. Development plans were created and strategies implemented for developing leadership at multiple organizational levels.

The organization has successfully navigated and continues to successfully navigate the tough waters of politics, succession/leadership development/management and change.

Case 3: Succession Management, Assimilation, and Culture Change

Organizational Structure Change, Customer-Service Orientation

Situation/Issue 1:

A federal entity conducted a workforce study that led this entity to plan for a major exodus of staff and institutional knowledge over a five year planning horizon due to the number of employees eligible for retirement. A plan was implemented whereby between 80-160 new employees would be hired over a 2 year period. With these new employees came new and different leadership/management expectations and a culture clash.

TMG Approach:

TMG assessed culture, leadership, and management needs through interviews and focus groups with a representative sample of the population. Recommendations made to the leadership team included: 

  1. leadership/management development for all supervisors/managers designed around an action learning model to achieve learning application and behavior change immediately 
  2. problem-solving sessions for the leadership team combined with a content overview of each management/leadership development module so that leadership team members could reinforce learning application and behavior change 
  3. upgrading and refinement of an existing mentoring program to facilitate new employee assimilation and culture change

These recommendations were implemented with results beyond objectives set for the process. Leaders reported at the end of the first round of the leadership/management development process that they were confident in making decisions/taking action, solving organizational issues, collaborating at all organizational levels and with new and existing employees, etc.

The Leadership Team reported fewer cultural, employee relations, and assimilation issues. The leadership team requested facilitated sessions be continued for their team as well as the managers/supervisors who participated in the leadership/management development process in order to continue the growth and change process in a positive and time-urgent way.

Situation/Issue 2:

More change was spawned by the merger and decentralization of two existing departments within this organization. Current employees would be merged with employees from other organizational departments and with employees new to the organization. Employees would be housed with internal customers with the need to form teams quickly, understand how to coach and delegate in different leadership situations, consult, have a customer-focus, influence, collaborate, etc. A competency model was created for the employees of this new department. Merger Leaders requested TMG to recommend how the leadership/management training process could be modified to facilitate the merger and effective implementation of new processes and approaches.

TMG Approach:

TMG gathered data, reviewed the competency model, set objectives with the merger leaders and recommended that seven modules be added to the existing leadership/management development process to facilitate the merger and develop required competencies. The modules added were: 

  1. Organizational Roles and Competencies 
  2. Myers Briggs Type Inventory and Team Development 
  3. Situational Leadership 
  4. Consulting Skills 
  5. Customer-Focus Orientation 
  6. Influencing and Negotiating 
  7. Change Management

This process was successfully implemented. TMG continues to build capacity with this organization by partnering in implementing its mentoring process and an assimilation process for a critical job category within the organization.

Case 4: Building Relationships and Partnerships

Situation/Issue:

A large government contractor changed its business relationship approach. High level technical employees were expected to build relationships and partnerships at the highest level of state governments. Emotional Intelligence competencies required in the new role did not come naturally to most of the high level technical employees targeted to the new role. How could these employees be assessed in regard to competency gaps and the gaps filled in a timely and effective manner?

TMG Approach:

TMG developed a Success Profile (competency model) for the new role through data gathering processes that included interviews, focus groups, and gathering best practices. The Success Profile was reviewed and approved by the client. TMG designed and fully customized a series of simulations each of which addressed, provided practice in and assessment of a new role competency group. Each simulation was followed by reflection, assessment, and feedback. Each participant also completed and received results of an assessment instrument that reflected the Success Profile.

As a result of having a realistic experience of the new role requirements through the simulation, feedback, and competency gap assessment, some participants were assessed as fully ready to enter the new role others were passed through to the new role with coaching assistance others assessed themselves as not suited to the new role and removed themselves from this role staying in more appropriate roles for their competency and comfort levels.

This successful strategy change and implementation resulted in growth of this division to the largest and most productive within this organization.

Case 5: Maximizing Performance

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Situation/Issue:

As the result of an employee survey, a telecommunications firm identified issues with its performance management process. The issues were not in the design of the performance management tool or cycle but in the perception of its implementation by managers i.e. effectively setting goals, providing feedback and coaching, holding effective performance planning and assessment discussions. This organization set a goal of training 500 managers within a 3 month period.

TMG Approach

TMG gathered necessary information regarding the performance management process, issues identified by the employee survey, goals the organization planned to reach by training 500 managers and designed a fully customized training program for its 500 managers. TMG also designed and delivered a fully customized train-the-trainer process for trainers in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Organizational trainers proceeded to train 500 managers within the goal timeframe to rave reviews from attendees including the President of the organization.

Subsequent employee surveys revealed the success of the process and remaining challenges in regard to maximizing performance. The organization is currently implementing a global leadership development process with a pathway for each management level within the organization that will take maximizing performance to the next level.