Schools Leading the Way

A large urban school district lacked leadership, employee engagement, and public trust. Part of the problem; 26 different performance evaluation forms which were neither relevant to the employee's work, nor helpful in holding people accountable. With a new superintendent and strong executive leadership, PDG was engaged to create an effective, efficient evaluation system & tools that support successful schools, individuals and departments, and enhance best professional practices system-wide. PDG's highly collaborative approach allowed the District to adopt a set of core competencies which cut across ALL jobs and we designed a methodology to engage managers & employees in selecting relevant position-specific competencies that would ensure that people are focused on the right things. In addition, we were able to form and facilitate a 'joint task-force' with the Teacher's Union and Management to create a performance management and evaluation system that everyone could support for ratification at the next bargaining agreement. In less than six months the school district had a new Performance Management system that provided clarity of goals and performance standards, created a much higher degree of accountability for both managers and employees, and established a much higher degree of transparency and feedback.

Going from Good to Great often requires a little help along the way

This growing, publicly-traded company had a solid track record of sales and product innovation but in order to double their growth (from $50 million to $100 million) they needed everyone on the leadership team to act as one team. PDG worked directly with the CEO to develop a leadership team off-site. We helped balance the business strategic planning with building more trust, communication and collaboration among the leadership team. Based on our unique measurement methods this group reported an increase in the clarity of their priorities by 33.5% and a 25.8% increase in their ability to hold each other accountable as a result of our work with them. This team knew each other better and left the offsite ready to execute their plan together as a team.

New Managers Gain Confidence and Improve Employee Satisfaction with Leadership Webinar Series

This leading provider of automotive marketing services specializes in helping dealers and manufacturers increase their retailing effectiveness by providing digital marketing solutions such as rich-media display ads, search, and other services. When the company added more than 350 new first time manager jobs within a single year, they needed an effective, easy to roll out leadership training program that would accomplish the goal without absorbing too much of their new managers' valuable time. Instead of taking their managers out of action for a series of 8-hour classroom training sessions, they chose the NetSpeed Leadership Webinar Series, which provides a 90-minute interactive online learning experience that includes a variety of media and follow-up activities. More than just a cognitive experience, the Leadership Webinar Series combines best practices leadership training content delivered in manageable chunks, with lots of dialog and practical follow-up. The succinct material, interesting delivery and pragmatic follow-up with portable tools like the pocket guide was one of the reasons the leadership training program worked so well. With NetSpeed's post-session resources, the learning is quickly and easily refreshed. The head of HR believes the program helped new managers feel more confident in their new roles and better supported by the organization. "The first time manager is the weakest link. Thirty percent of new managers don't make it because it's the hardest job, which is why this kind of supervisory skills training program is so important, " Also of note; "In a recent survey, employee satisfaction with management turned up significantly better than expected. This is a direct reflection of the education. We're sure that this leadership webinar series is contributing to our success."

Leadership University Leads to Competitive Advantage

This organization was considered the "Disneyland of places to work" and that wasn't a good thing. It meant you could just show up, sit around and chat with others but nothing really needed to be accomplished. One underlying cause of the problem was the need to focus on leadership development and increased accountability. PDG worked with the organization to create and facilitate their "Leadership University" - a highly respected three-year development program for high-potential employees. We graduated 20 leaders from the program and ultimately the COO stated that the sale of the business to a larger multi-national corporation was partially the result of the work/results of the leadership university.

Growing Companies Need to Grow the Talents of their People

This fast-paced, hip technology company is one of the 'top 25 fastest growing private companies' in the NW. They realized they have a lot of talented people who had a lot of pent-up frustration that the company was taking more than it was giving back to them. It was time to invest in some development. We were hired to help them create a development program that would be well-received with a skeptical audience and could be repeated by internal trainers/facilitators in the future. After a needs assessment, we designed and delivered a series of professional and managerial development that improved communication, collaboration, courage, and teamwork. Later we provided train-the-trainer certification so the company could deliver its own training.

From Fragmented to Aligned

This engineering organization has great products and services, great people with a high degree of pride in what they do. The problem was that every division acted like its own disparate company. Arguments over shared resources were a common problem. Trust was low and competition with each other was high. After a brief assessment we recommended a 'management roundtable' approach to bring the key leaders together on a regular basis to discuss business issues, learn some new skills, and share ideas about how the divisions could cooperate rather than compete. At first the division leaders didn't see the value and had a hard time finding the time to meet monthly. After one or two sessions they found it so valuable, that other demands for their time were scheduled around it. At the end of six months the CEO was so pleased with the changes and progress, that the 'manager's roundtable' was continued indefinitely.

Tug of War

The board of directors was tired of the CEO and CFO getting in each other's way and creating confusion and turf wars among employees. We were hired to 'find the fix' - determine who should stay or go. We conducted 360-degree assessments and interviews in order to fully assess the situation and met with both parties individually at first to gather their perspectives. We discovered they both wanted the best for the company - they just had different (and strong) opinions about how to execute. After some coaching and support to get them talking, they were able to appreciate the different perspectives each of them brought to the table. We clarified the roles and level of authority that went with each role. Ultimately both were able to stay with the company. The board of directors was satisfied that they could work together and the company's growth increased exponentially as a result.

Are Leaders Born or Made?

This is the most basic and most often-asked question about leadership. Psychology Today published a study in march 2009 and said "to cut to the chase, the answer is: 'mostly made.' The best estimates offered by research is that leadership is about one-third born and two-thirds made. The job of leading an organization, a military unit, or a nation, and doing so effectively, is fantastically complex. To expect that a person would be born with all of the tools needed to lead just doesn't make sense based on what we know about the complexity of social groups and processes." We have been helping coach, mold, develop, and shape emerging leaders for more than 25 years. Our leadership development works because it's pragmatic, based in the real-world, and helps the leader hone their self-awareness and skills.

Minding the Gap – finding the right solution for your leaders

A local research organization realized there was a gap in their ability to effectively develop their leaders. Many employees had been with the organization for years, were highly educated in their field but had never learned the key elements of high performance leadership. PDG was engaged to participate in a "think tank" to generate ideas and options for a leadership development curriculum customized to meet the specific needs of the organization. Following the discovery process, PDG worked with the OD team to design specific curriculum content and instructional design. PDG was then contracted to deliver several of the modules with a specific focus on performance management. Recognizing the many elements of successful Performance Management within the organization, the training program brought together key leaders for a highly-designed and customized session focused on setting expectations, coaching, feedback and organizational factors that can derail employees.

Competent Leaders Know What’s Expected

This fast growing high-tech company had crossed the chasm from 'start-up' to high-growth and needed to redesign its performance appraisal system and create a set of competencies for its leadership/management classification in order to grow more effectively as well as better recognize and reward the right people and the right results. We conducted focus groups, one-on-one interviews and examined existing performance-related tools & practices. By forming and facilitating a 'design team' of internal stakeholders, we created a set of behaviorally descriptive competencies which were readily adopted throughout the organization. In addition we worked closely with the HR team and Executive sponsors to revise the performance review tools - creating an assessment & development planning tool to support the integration of the new model and increase the effectiveness of leadership development. The "Leadership Excellence Model" was born and supported the organization in hiring, developing, promoting, and rewarding the things that matter most for organizational success and created a process for greater alignment with organizational priorities.

Going from Good to Great

PDG was hired to conduct an independent assessment of this 80-year-old, privately-held business. Employment tenure was impressively long but employee satisfaction and engagement were lackluster. Company performance was lagging the competition in an industry where the 'little guy' was being swallowed by a few industry giants. After conducting the assessment and working with the Executive Management Team, we engaged employees in focus groups together with management to actively participate in problem-solving. Later, because of a decided 'lack of leadership at all levels' it was decided to create an internal "Leadership University" whereby select individuals developed managerial, communication, and leadership skills. The Leadership University restored pride in the company and its mission, increased optimism for winning in a fiercely competitive industry, produced highly confident and competent leaders and managers, and ultimately company performance improved.

Aligning the HR Function for Optimal Performance

Alignment of people, process and structure are key to an organization's success. And a critical player in ensuring that alignment is the HR department. When the HR strategies, policies, practices and messages align with organizational goals and culture, GREAT things can happen. Following a significant leadership change within a local community bank, Performance Dimensions Group was hired to support the existing HR function of the organization. Goals for the work included review of existing policies and practices, including performance management, to ensure that the new management and leadership culture was accurately reflected and supported within the organization. In addition to providing behind-the-scenes senior HR "bench strength", together with the existing team, the organization adopted policies and internal practices that effectively aligned with organizational goals while improving internal customer service.

Continuous Improvement is a mindset more than a tool-kit or one-time event

Leadership of this large grant making organization recognized that projected endowment growth would significantly impact infrastructure and required changes to the culture of the organization as well as the core business process of grant-making. We were engaged to work on Organizational Effectiveness (OE) including (but not limited to) Grant-Making Process Reengineering (BPR) - guiding all five (5) Program divisions within the organization to analyze and improve their business processes including reducing ownership transfers, maximizing value-added activities, and shortening cycle times. The OE work resulted in significant enhancement, standardization and scalability of the grant lifecycle process which assisted the IT Group in developing technology solutions based upon the information requirements of the process. Structural changes and cultural norms were enhanced as a result of the continuous improvement work and our methods.

Going from $50m to $100m requires good strategy and even better execution

This growing, publicly-traded company had a solid track record of sales and product innovation but in order to double their growth (from $50 million to $100 million) they needed everyone on the leadership team to act as one team. PDG worked directly with the CEO to develop a leadership team off-site. We helped balance the business strategic planning with building more trust, communication and collaboration among the leadership team. Based on our unique measurement methods this group reported an increase in the clarity of their priorities by 33.5% and a 25.8% increase in their ability to hold each other accountable as a result of our work with them. This team knew each other better and left the offsite ready to execute their plan together as a team.

Restoring Pride in the Public Sector

This public agency was under a great degree of scrutiny and had lost public trust in its ability to safely and effectively perform a critical public service. Our Organizational Effectiveness team went to work on restoring pride within the organization. We documented and improved business processes, installed project management tools and skills within the organization, and established a culture of leadership, cooperation, and accountability. In just 18 months this organization went from embattled to reassured and capable.

Discovering and Defining Core Values

Values define the group beliefs, and rules that control the management of an organization. It represents the institutional philosophy and the support to the cultural organization. The main objective of corporate values is to have a framework of reference that inspire and guide the life of the organization. One of our greatest successes was helping to restore pride in a public-sector agency which had lost public confidence and was in turmoil. A small (but highly impactful) part of the complex work we did with this agency included facilitating and guiding a group of key stakeholders through the process of refreshing the mission and values of the organization. The new set of values were more relevant, accurately reflected deeply held beliefs within the organization, and became a source of pride and accountability.

Aligning People, Process and Structure

As one of the fastest growing, non-profit organizations in the healthcare sector, this client required a thorough AND rapid analysis of the organization before it grew out of alignment. The organization's structure, processes, and roles were quickly moving toward being sub-optimal. We worked with this organization to assess their current structure, processes, and people against the planned growth over the next 5 years as well as look at potential succession for key roles. Our methods of engaging people across the organization allowed us to quickly identify & prioritize issues, develop practical solutions and deliver a roadmap that could be implemented with confidence. The client learned new insights about the organization giving them confidence to move forward with changes and improvements. Other leaders and physicians across the organization appreciated being involved in the process which reduced fear and lead to a high degree of buy-in for the proposed changes.

From Think Tank to Effective Leaders

A local research organization realized there was a gap in their ability to effectively develop their leaders. Many employees had been with the organization for years and were highly educated in their field but had never learned the key elements of high performance leadership. Lynda was engaged to participate in a "think tank" to generate ideas and options for a leadership development curriculum customized to meet the specific needs of the organization. Following the discovery process, Lynda worked with the OD team to design specific curriculum content and instructional design. Lynda was later contracted to deliver several of the modules with a specific focus on performance management. Recognizing the many elements of successful Performance Management within the organization, the training program brought together key leaders for a highly-designed and customized session focused on setting expectations, coaching, feedback and organizational factors that can derail employees.

Collaboration, Facilitation, and Executive Coaching:

This large, complex nonprofit organization projected significant growth over a three-year period for key programs which would significantly impact infrastructure as well as require cultural changes. PDG was engaged in a collaborative business partnership with another consulting firm because of our expertise in organizational effectiveness (OE) to complete an 18 month project. Our approach to the OE work was iterative, interactive, and integrated as we focused on cultural changes, process design, job analysis, and organization structure. We used a facilitative and consultative approach as we worked with Executive Management, Senior Management, and staff. A significant portion of our work focused on core business processes for five separate program groups. The OE work resulted in significant enhancement and reengineering of core business processes, more efficient organization design, and stronger and more effective collaboration within division teams.

Community Bank restructure for better and safer operations

A successful and growing bank for 35 years, experienced the 'perfect storm' in 2009 and found itself placed under an FDIC cease & desist order which required an assessment of Bank management, structure, and compensation practices for safe operations. While initially reluctant and resentful about this level of scrutiny, our D4 Process and professional consulting team was able to help Bank Executives and personnel become engaged and active participants in designing the future of their organization. The FDIC approved our recommendations without any adjustments but better yet, the executive team actually believed in the recommendations and felt confident they could execute them effectively. The acceptance of the organization design plan by the FDIC was simply a step in the process of putting the bank back on track.