Problem
A 1B USD automation business unit had missed its targets for the past five years, and during this time had gone through three Division Presidents. The past Presidents had been succession candidates from within the business unit and with the consistently poor results and turnover at the top the Business Unit Leadership Team was in complete disarray. To address these issues, the parent company decided that the next President would be an external hire. The new President opted to use The Rocket Model™ team solutions to turn his team and the business unit’s results around.
Solution
- The Business Unit Leadership Team the new President inherited consisted of 18 staff, all of whom reported directly to the President. The President knew this team was too big to be effective and had no idea who would be capable of driving the changes needed to turn the business around. He opted to hire Curphy Leadership Solutions to evaluate the talent on his team and improve teamwork:
- The 18 direct reports went through formal leadership assessments. These included resume reviews, structured interviews, personality and mental abilities assessments, 360-degree feedback, and Team Assessment Surveys (TASs). The data were used to determine each candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, ability to drive change, ability to take on more responsibilities, and whether they should be part of the new Business Unit Leadership Team.
- The new President used the leadership assessment results and restructured the Business Unit Leadership Team from 18 to 8 direct reports. None of the original 18 direct reports had what was needed for four of the new roles, and he opted to promote two N-2s and hire two outsiders to fill out his new leadership team.
- Once the new Business Unit Leadership Team was in place, the President did a two-day kick-off meeting to properly launch the team. The offsite dedicated time for the team to get aligned on the situation and business realities, articulate a North Star, set strategic priorities for the next year, establish an operating rhythm, set team norms, and know each other better.
- The team opted to do one-day monthly and two-day quarterly business reviews. These sessions combined taskwork (business results and challenges to achieving business objectives) and teamwork (how the Business Unit Leadership Team was working as a team and what it could do better.
- Extended Leadership Team (top 45 leaders) sessions were conducted twice a year to gain alignment on the North Star, strategic priorities, key objectives, do goal and project updates, and create a critical mass of change agents.
Outcome
- The TAS Team Effectiveness Score (TQ) for the Business Unit Leadership Team when the new President started was 12. A second TAS administered 18 months later had a TQ score of 65.
- Customer, financial, operational, quality, and engagement scores paralleled the TAS results.