Simply put, organizational development is optimizing the talent and performance of your people and your organization. It flows from a clear articulation of your business strategy.  With that foundation, your people, business units, plans and programs must be aligned with your strategy and organizational goals.  True organizational alignment leads to improved corporate performance and productivity.

Developing a new strategy or business process is one thing; implementing it successfully is another.  Organizations must introduce change to stay healthy, but change can be so disruptive that it tears organizations apart - unless that change is effectively managed.

Our case studies below provide examples of how we can help.

Our capabilities include

• Group facilitation
• Executive coaching
• Programs to analyze and change business culture and values
• Team development and effectiveness
• A proven framework for organizational analysis and planning
• Analysis of organizational design and structure in light of business strategy
• Development of programs and processes to develop or renew organizational strength
• Development and delivery of training plans and programs tailored to organizational need
• Change management

Case study #1:  Building the management team

The issue:  The senior management “team” of this company, the Canadian subsidiary of a U.S. multi-national organization, was not functioning effectively. They were in the midst of the difficult integration of an acquired business -- a time when employees needed to see cohesive, unified leadership.  Previously, management’s primary goal had been to maximize shareholder value, emphasizing structure and systems, managing change from the top down.  The new executives from the acquired company operated differently, encouraging employee participation from the bottom up, motivating through commitment, and focusing on building long term organizational capability.

Employees’ faith in the ability of the new executive group to successfully manage the integration was failing, morale was suffering, and turnover increased.  The client was at risk of losing key talent needed to drive the profit expected from the acquisition.

The solution:  Smith Knox took the consolidated executive group through a number of exercises, using proven tools. We helped them to understand their differences in style and the impact these differences made to team functioning and their ability to manage change using a model that considers change’s six key dimensions.  They came to understand that their leadership model going forward could not be the old style, or that of the acquired company – a combination of the two leadership styles was required if they were to be successful.

With the team, we developed definitions and provided a behavioural picture of the consolidated leadership style using the six key change dimensions. 

The impact:  One of the eight senior executives found it impossible to work within the new leadership model and left the organization.  The executive recruited to replace him was recruited for her expertise and compatibility with the desired leadership style.  Led by a cohesive management team, the two businesses were successfully merged and met the performance expectations of the shareholder.

Case study #2:  Implementing a new delivery model for business services

The issue:  The business support functions of this organization were tired of hearing the same things: “We don’t know what you do that costs so much”; “We don’t know what our support services cost, we just pay for them”; “Because we pick up the tab, support services have no reason to contain costs”.  At the same time, the central support teams were continually asked to cut costs without reducing services or service levels.  The challenge to these support groups was to move to a new model of service delivery --

• increasing the degree of control client operational divisions had over type and level of services provided,

• improving the clients’ perception of the business value that the support functions provide, while

• not compromising the functions of control and compliance essential to good governance within the company.

The solution:  Smith Knox worked with the business support teams in Administration, Communications, Human Resources, Information Technology and Legal Services to develop a comprehensive list of the services they provided.  Working from the premise that there was a basic level of service required by all their clients, we broke the list into two categories:

• non-discretionary - those required by all business operations for reasons including legal requirements, reputational risk, financial reporting and information systems, and

• discretionary - those that could be provided at the discretion of the user of the service, adding value to the client’s operations.

Smith Knox helped the support groups break down the cost of their services and, using market comparisons, they negotiated agreements with their clients to provide these discretionary services to their clients on a contractual basis for a pre-defined term following an initial phase-in period.

The impact:  The organization now had a more efficient and effective utilization and service delivery model. It worked from a delivery perspective because the provision of services was based on market rates, and it worked from the client perspective because the users had control over how much service was provided.  The process also helped eliminate services with little value-add, clarify expectations and responsibilities, improved the understanding of the user groups of the value delivered by the support groups, and improved the support areas’ understanding of how their service delivery affected the end customer.

Case study #3:  Mentoring programs -- Building effective executives

The issue: The newly appointed CEO of a non-profit foundation needed help.  She had failed in her previous role by not managing communications to the public, the Board, and foundation staff effectively.  In addition, she had not stepped up to internal performance issues on a timely basis.

The solution:  Smith Knox provided coaching and mentored the new CEO on an ongoing basis for six months, providing support and guidance in her dealings with staff, Board and the organization's stakeholders.  We assisted in identifying opportunities for proactive problem solving, communication and in crafting messages.  We also supported her in developing the first staff operational planning session, and in subsequently setting measurable goals and objectives for the senior management team.

Following this Smith Knox professionals were available "as needed" to provide a safe sounding board for ideas and plans.  We assisted in the management of two tough performance reviews, resulting in the turn-around of one key staff member and the dismissal of a "round peg in a square hole".

The impact:  Twelve months' later, the new CEO has developed a confidence in her ability to perform in this role.  The Board is pleased with their choice of this CEO, and all signs point to success.

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Last modified September 5, 2007