Initial situation
Our client, the owner of a mid-sized and family-run company with strong technologies spread across its Automotive and Industry divisions wanted to advance the core business by focused and innovative product development and constant expansion of international business. However, to achieve the goals associated with a strategic realignment management requirements changed. The competency model required changed given the need to square up to the influence of volatile markets and top management therefore defined the competencies relevant to the new strategy and set them out with our help.
Objective
A management development project was launched to establish which of the required executive competencies already existed within the management team with a view to mastering future challenges and which abilities needed to be developed. The insights from the Development Centers initiated were then used as the basis for deriving focused development measures at the individual and collective levels. Assumption: Only by developing skills within the leadership team that are relevant to the strategy and success the company will be able to stay on strategic course and achieve its corporate goals.
Methodology
- Devising a Development Center concept factoring the company's new expertise model
- Handling group and in part individual assessments in Germany, Tunisia, Romania, China and the United States involving a total of over 70 executives at various levels of the hierarchy
- Ascertaining the executives' individual and collective strengths and weaknesses and identifying in-company environmental factors that impact on the strategy and development
- Reporting on the insights gained to the board and the executives and issuing clear recommendations for action
- Conducting workshops to initiate over-arching change themes in the leadership team and providing personal coaching sessions
- Advising on placement issues in the international setting
Results
The findings gave the company's directors a clear view of current management strengths as regards the executive skills relevant to the strategy. The development measures identified at the personal and collective level strengthen the awareness among executives and the company directors of the need for organizational action. Additional measures such as coaching and collective workshops helped shore up the idea of change and move things forward. On the basis of the findings from the Development Center focused entrepreneurial decisions can be taken as regards the fields identified as requiring action.