Challenge:

Help Managers Develop Critical Leadership Skills

To achieve aggressive business goals, a diverse global business needed to design and implement an integrated leadership development program for all levels of management, from potential supervisors through executives.

Solution:

Implement Multi-Level Leadership Development Program

To address the company’s leadership needs, the Chatfield Group first developed and rolled out an assessment tool that evaluated and categorized employees using the skills, knowledge, and key competencies required by job function and level. Chatfield consultants then developed a new leadership development curriculum for the company using a combination of custom material as well as content purchased from vendors.

Once the new leadership development curriculum was in place, Chatfield consultants closely tracked employee participation to provide continuous feedback to executives and department heads.

Tags: Leadership Development — Employee Surveys — Assessments

Challenge:

Share Business-Critical Insights with 200+ Global Locations

A large multinational corporation needed to do a better job of disseminating key insights and information stemming from key bi-monthly business review meetings with employees at more than 200 remote locations around the world.

Solution:

Record, Edit, Produce & Distribute Meeting Content

To capture and disseminate critical business insights from the company’s bi-monthly business-review meetings, the Chatfield Group recommended the following approach:

• Technology: Evaluate, select, and purchase a coordinated set of technology tools to record proceedings; tools included video cameras and accessories as well as post-production software


• Production Training: Assemble and train a dedicated team responsible for pre-production videotaping, post-production editing, and multiplatform content delivery


• Presentation Training: Train executives and presenters on camera presence, video etiquette, on-camera movement and presentation skills

After accepting the Chatfield Group recommendations for capturing and disseminating business-review meeting insights, the company put together a well-equipped team to achieve its communications objectives. Once its tools and training were in place, the company began to distribute PowerPoint presentations highlighting the results of its business review meetings with its more than 200 locations worldwide via DVD and web broadcasting. The presentations featured photography and animation as well as smartphone technology.

Tags: Global HR — Training — Process Improvement — Technology

Challenge:

Improve Pool of General Manager Candidates

A large manufacturing company was struggling to fill its GM ranks because it lacked clear insights about the key competencies needed to succeed in the position as well as a talent management approach to increase the number of qualified internal candidates.

Solution:

Launch Targeted Effort to Identify and Develop Internal GM Candidates

To help the company expand its pool of qualified GM candidates, the Chatfield Group made three key recommendations: first, conduct “need-and-gap” analyses of internal talent; second, expand the use of employee self-assessments; and third, identify the key core competencies necessary for success as a general manager at the company.

After gaining company buy-in for these recommendations, Chatfield consultants worked with the company’s senior leaders, department heads, and current General Managers to identify the skills, knowledge, and key competencies required to succeed in the GM role. Then the Chatfield Group compared the company’s GM needs against the skill sets of internal GM candidates as identified through employee self-assessments and observations from senior leaders.

After identifying the key competencies needed for general managers, and assessing the relative strengths of its internal candidates, the Chatfield Group designed a series of integrated training workshops and hands-on work assignments to strengthen the abilities of its GM prospects. In addition, Chatfield consultants developed a system of on-going curriculum support to ensure sustained training success.

Tags: Succession Planning — Custom Surveys — Coaching — Training — Assessments

Challenge:

Update Paid-Time-Off Policy

A leading Chicago not-for-profit was concerned that its paid-time-off (PTO) policy was failing to meet employee expectations. It needed help addressing the problem in order to compete effectively for talent in a highly competitive metro market.

Solution:

Conduct Customized Survey Assessing Paid-Time-Off-Policies of Peer Organizations

To improve its paid-time-off programs, the NFP needed to know how members of its peer group were handling paid-time-off benefits. To gain this insight, The Chatfield Group conducted a tailored survey to assess the paid-time-off policies of regional cultural organizations and private industry. The engagement included survey design and administration as well as the analysis of survey findings and the reporting of survey results.

In particular, the survey looked at how organizations handle holidays, vacations, personal days and sick pay as well as short- and long-term disability, bereavement pay and leaves of absence.

Tags: Time-Off Benefits — Custom Surveys

Challenge:

Strengthen Performance Management Across Business Units

A Fortune 100 packaging company serving industrial and consumer markets needed to address performance management issues following the merger of several packaging units.

Solution:

Training Workshops Focusing on Performance Review Process & Communications Skills

The Chatfield Group developed and facilitated management training workshops at multiple U.S. locations of the packaging company, focusing on performance management basics and the core communications skills needed to manage performance.

With feedback from the sessions, The Chatfield Group teamed with the client’s HR staff to create an improved performance management system for the merged businesses.

Tags: Performance Reviews — Management Development — Process Improvement — Training

Challenge:

Train Process Improvement Staff

The HR department of a large, rapidly growing packaging company needed to quickly develop and deliver a comprehensive training program for the company’s process improvement staff.

Solution:

Design & Implement Process Improvement Training Program

Working closely with the firm’s HR group, The Chatfield Group developed a comprehensive training program for the packaging company’s process improvement teams that included team building blocks and both facilitator and TQM training.

Despite tight time constraints, The Chatfield Group achieved rapid delivery of the comprehensive training program to the firm’s process improvement teams.

Tags: Process Improvement — Training — Lean — Teamwork — Train-the-Trainer

Challenge:

Improve Retention and Strengthen Brand

A top-tier accounting & consulting firm needed to gather data on a wide range of employee perceptions as part of an organization-wide effort to change the firm’s culture.

Solution:

Design Surveys for Employee & Alumni Groups

To facilitate culture change, The Chatfield Group designed an all-employee survey to gather data on a wide range of employee perceptions. The project included survey design, administration, feedback reporting and focus groups. The attitudinal data gathered provided the basis for cultural change.

In addition, The Chatfield Group developed a customized alumni survey to gather exit information from former employees to strengthen management awareness of the need for culture change.

Tags: Culture — Employee Retention — Custom Surveys — Focus Groups — Exit Interviews

Challenge:

Retain Key Talent while Building Bench Strength

Historically, turnover was largely a non-issue for the regional branch of a prestigious federal agency employing nearly 500 scientists, engineers, economists and other highly skilled professionals. Today, however, the agency faces major talent shortages due to an aging workforce.

Solution:

Develop Customized HR Planning Process to Address Recruitment & Retention

To address the prospect of significant staff shortages in the future, The Chatfield Group developed a customized HR Planning Process designed to strengthen the agency’s recruitment and retention efforts.

The project included development of a customized competency model, management training, and training of a facilitation team to implement an organization-wide talent-assessment process.

Tags: Employee Retention — Training — Train-the-Trainer — Leadership Development — Competency Models — Management Development — Workforce Planning — Succession Planning

Challenge:

Quickly Expand Recruiting Capabilities

A rapidly growing telecommunications company faced an immediate need for on-site recruiting assistance to meet aggressive staffing goals and to fill weekly training sessions to capacity. It found itself short-handed in the recruiting area when an internal recruiter had to take an unexpected leave of absence.

Solution:

Customized Training Incorporating Core Competencies

The Chatfield Group provided an on-site recruiting expert to source candidates while limiting the use of contingency firms. Our recruiter phone-screened and interviewed candidates, consulted with hiring managers, and checked references.

Key Benefits: All slots were filled with high-caliber employees, peak-season service requirements were met, and retention of new hires improved by 50% compared with the prior hiring period.

Tags: Recruiting — Training — Interviewing

Challenge:

Broaden Talent Pool

A large consulting firm faced intense competition for the top-caliber hires it needed to preserve its position as a premier consultancy. Internal development and peer-group hiring alone were failing to fill the hiring pipeline.

The firm needed to reach out to candidates from industry. It also needed a reliable method for assessing capabilities needed to be implemented fast.

Solution:

Train Hiring Managers with Competency-Based Selection & Assessment Model

In a series of three-day workshops, The Chatfield Group taught the consulting firm’s U.S.-based hiring managers how to evaluate candidates using a sophisticated competency-based assessment model.

The Chatfield Group assembled a team of experts in assessment, training and competency-based selection processes to conduct the workshops, which included behavioral interviewing techniques and practice interviews as well as videotaped feedback.

Tags: Recruiting — Training — Interviewing — Assessments — Competency Models

Challenge:

Develop HR Tools for Local Managers

A national retailing organization needed to develop a set of HR tools to help local managers deal more effectively with performance-related people issues.

Solution:

Performance-Based Total Rewards Toolkit

The Chatfield Group developed a performance management framework to enable local managers of the national retailer to assess their reward and recognition options and implement cash bonus or incentive programs. The toolkit discusses two key aspects of performance management: first, aligning activities to ensure that goals are consistently and efficiently being met, and second, helping people develop their skills and capabilities and satisfy their own work-related needs while they are, at the same time, contributing to the health and profitability of the business.

The toolkit covers a wide range of topics – from understanding your employees and the importance of employee feedback to the motivational aspects of performance management. It provides sample job descriptions, interviewing techniques, performance reviews and performance improvement plans. It includes tools to keep employees focused on meeting goals and job expectations. And it outlines how developing SMART goals – i.e. ones that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timebound – can motivate employees to achieve high performance. Click here to learn more about SMART Goals.

In terms of retail-specific content, the toolkit covers performance management and the retail experience, achieving a competitive edge through customer service, and creating the optimum shopping experience for retail customers.

Tags: Performance Reviews — Incentive Plans — SMART Goals — Training — Pay for Performance — Job Descriptions — Interviewing — Customer Service

Challenge:

Improve Employee Orientation

A major, multinational corporation created from the merger of two key competitors needed a fresh, more sophisticated approach to New Hire orientation. At its inception, the company’s New Hire orientation and employee onboarding processes were dated, cumbersome and labor intensive.

Solution:

Streamline New Hire Orientation & Launch Comprehensive Onboarding Program

To revitalize and strengthen employee orientation, The Chatfield Group recommended a multi-step action plan:

• Streamline New Hire Enrollment – To provide managers with greater hiring flexibility, facilitate a “when you’re ready” start date rather than restricting managers with fixed hiring dates. Once a job offer has been accepted, send a Welcome e-mail to New Hires along with a summary of employee benefits and a website link to your annual report.
• Create New Employee Webpage – By providing New Hires with access to an onboarding website, new employees can download payroll and benefits forms so they can complete paperwork in advance or electronically. They can also gain online access to orientation presentations, your employee handbook, and other corporate, product and marketing information.
• Develop a Formal, 90-Day Onboarding Program – Onboarding is a comprehensive process designed to help new employees feel comfortable in their new work environments and become productive more quickly. The two primary objectives of an onboarding program are to 1) help new employees learn about their new organization, its culture, its customers, and the specific jobs to be performed and 2) provide supporting relationships and learning events to reinforce an employee’s decision to join the organization. In many cases, the onboarding process begins when an offer of employment is accepted and continues through the time when an employee feels “at home” and productive in a new work environment. Conclude your formal onboarding program with 90-day follow-up and review.
• Involve Hiring Managers, HR & Peer Mentors in Onboarding Process – Onboarding involves three primary players: the Hiring Manager, who takes the lead in providing the New Hire with a positive introduction to the department and the organization; Human Resources, which works with hiring managers to select peer mentors and provides program development, consultation and administration, as needed; and Peer Mentors, who perform a variety of supportive tasks to help the New Hire feel welcome and productive.
• Develop Personalized Launch for New Hires at Corporate HQ – To provide New Hires with a solid welcome to your organization, develop a comprehensive orientation program that delivers high motivational value and ensures a smooth transition to other components of your onboarding program. Feature live presentations by company leaders, if possible, and put presentation materials on your company intranet so they can be updated, archived, and accessed conveniently by presenters and other employees. Use your welcome to heighten employee appreciation for your mission, values, primary markets and key products as well as your approach to Research & Development, people development and the like. By doing so, you can generate excitement about your company, reinforce company values, reinforce an employee’s decision to join the company, and strengthen organizational relationships with new employees.
• Build a Department Orientation Template – Develop a standardized approach to departmental orientations to ensure that employees receive a solid introduction to the company and their primary operating unit. Help create customized departmental websites with checklists and guides for New Hires, hiring managers, peer mentors and administrative assistants.
• Create a Manager’s Guide to New Employee Onboarding – To optimize the success of your onboarding efforts, develop a manager’s guide to employee onboarding at your organization. Such a guide will help Hiring Managers provide a consistently high-quality orientation to their respective departments as well as monitor New Hire progress. In terms of content, consider including (1) a template for the New Hire’s first day on the job as well as an outline of activities and milestones for the New Hire’s first week, first month, and first 90 days with the organization; (2) training & development (T&D) activities scheduled to take place in the department during the New Hire’s early months of employment; and (3) questions to consider during the New Hire’s critical first 90 days of employment.
• Provide Ongoing Developmental Opportunities – To be effective long-term, an onboarding program should include a variety of continuing education opportunities for New Hires. These can range from all-employee “Lunch & Learns” and focused workshops to webinars and other types of online learning opportunities offered on a flexible basis.

Tags: New Hire Onboarding — Global HR — Websites — Employee Handbook — Employee Engagement — Training

Challenge:

Eliminate High Employee Turnover

A mid-sized technology company experiencing high turnover among its employees needed to address its turnover issues.

Solution:

Use Focus Groups to Identify Reasons for High Turnover and Generate Ideas for Improvement

To determine the root causes for the company’s high turnover, The Chatfield Group conducted a series of focus groups at the firm’s primary operating facilities. The lack of a clear chain of command and poor communications were identified as key concerns. So, too, were the needs to improve employee orientation and to provide training and development opportunities for both managers and employees. After analyzing staff feedback, The Chatfield Group teamed with company management to implement the following six-step plan to correct organizational deficiencies:

• Step 1: Expand Management Ranks – To clarify reporting relationships and improve functional management, the company created a layer of departmental management. Under the company’s revised organizational structure, Department Managers take the lead in communicating with employees on a day-to-day basis, in coaching employees on performance, and developing employee capabilities.
• Step 2: Launch Onboarding Program for New Hires – To increase retention of new employees, the company developed an onboarding program designed to make New Hires feel comfortable and productive in their new work environments from Day One. Hiring Managers developed an Onboarding Plan for each New Hire to address practical concerns of both the new employee and the Hiring Manager. Topics included 1) key people for the New Hire to know; 2) tools of the trade, such as computer log-ins and directory structures, file-naming conventions and reference materials; 3) a review of job basics, including the New Hire’s job description; 4) a “starter” assignment in which the new employee works independently to quickly add value with minimal supervision. To check on New Hire progress, Hiring Managers and HR schedule formal reviews with New Hires after they have been with the company for 90 days.
• Step 3: Strengthen Corporate Communications – A number of focus-group participants expressed the need for more frequent communications from the company. To address this issue, the company launched a company intranet designed to share lessons learned, project updates, job descriptions, job titles and contact information. It developed additional forums for discussion. And it began conducting exit interviews with departing employees to continue gathering feedback about the factors underlying its employee turnover challenges.
• Step 4: Improve Benefit Communications – In response to focus-group feedback about the need for a better understanding of employee benefits, the company benchmarked its current benefit plans with industry standards. During benefit-enrollment periods, it met with employees in small groups to provide them with an overview of company benefits and announce benefit changes. In addition to strengthening some benefit options, the company also began providing vacation accrual information on employee paychecks.
• Step 5: Introduce Performance Appraisal System – To provide greater clarity with regard to performance expectations, the company introduced a performance appraisal system that includes goal-setting, ongoing performance feedback, employee development and coaching. Training managers on setting goals and providing feedback was given high priority.
• Step 6: Provide Training & Development Opportunities – Many employee suggestions focused on the need for better management training. In response, the company developed a multifaceted T&D program that included Quarterly Workshops for Managers covering topics such as Maintaining a Strong Customer Focus, Interviewing Skills for Managers, and Coaching for High Performance. To build its management pipeline, the company introduced a Leadership Development Program. And to respond to employees’ thirst for learning opportunities, the company launched a series of “Lunch ‘n’ Learn” seminars for all employees.

Tags: Employee Retention — Focus Groups — New Hire Onboarding — Management Development — Job Descriptions — Performance Reviews — Interviewing — Coaching — Training — Employee Engagement

Challenge:

Strengthen Performance Management & Employee Retention

“Tier Two” accounting firm facing strong competition from its larger competitors for top talent needed to address significant retention issues in order to achieve its growth objectives.

Solution:

Customized Training Incorporating Core Competencies

The Chatfield Group developed and administered an all-employee survey and an exit interview process to gather data on the causes of turnover at the Tier Two accounting firm.

Based on our findings, we developed a competency model for development of employees at all levels, from new associate through partner, and a customized performance measurement process to provide direct performance feedback from managers, project leads, team members and clients.

Tags: Employee Retention — Exit Interviews — Employee Surveys — Competency Models — Performance Reviews — Metrics

Challenge:

Strengthen Executive Development

A Fortune 500 financial institution was seeking new ways to improve its leadership capabilities.

The Chatfield Group suggested that the firm leverage its performance appraisal process as a means to enhance management development opportunities for its executive team.

Solution:

Leverage 360-Feedback Process as Development Tool for Group Executives

Performance appraisal for top executives included a progressive, competency-based 360-feedback process administered by The Chatfield Group as well as executive coaching.

The Chatfield Group worked with the firm’s Human Resources group to apply insights gained from the 360-feedback process to strengthen the firm’s executive development program.

Tags: Leadership Development — 360-Feedback — Performance Reviews — Management Development

Challenge:

Develop Competitive, Performance-Oriented Compensation

Growth-oriented “Tier Two” accounting firm needed to realign its compensation programs in order to compete more effectively with its larger competitors.

Firm management was seeking a more competitive and equitable compensation system that would tie associate and staff pay ranges to performance goals.

Solution:

Market-Based Compensation Structure

The Chatfield Group developed a market-based compensation structure for the accounting firm that was equitable as well as both flexible and competitive in the administration of pay.

Project deliverables included the market analysis of all positions, development of new pay structures, a cost-analysis program implementation, development of pay administration guidelines for managers, and communication of program changes to managers and employees.

Tags: Pay for Performance — Market Studies — Job Descriptions

Challenge:

Attain Aggressive Performance Goals

A global commercial finance company with more than $20 billion in assets needed help attaining aggressive performance goals.

The client sought to attain top quartile ROE for each of its five core businesses as well as A/A+ bond ratings and a 15% overall ROE.

Solution:

Leverage Training, Coaching & 360-Feedback Programs

The Chatfield Group developed and implemented a performance management training program that included goal-setting, coaching and feedback, and performance appraisal modules as well as a customized online 360-feedback review process.

Tags: Goal-Setting — Training — Coaching — Performance Reviews — 360-Feedback

Challenge:

Link Performance Management System to Business Objectives

A privately held manufacturer of audio electronics for professional and commercial applications needed a competency-based performance management system that would connect strongly with the company’s business objectives.

Solution:

Back-to-Basics Goal-Setting & Performance Management Process

The Chatfield Group teamed with the company’s HR staff to develop a “back-to-basics” goal-setting and performance management process that satisfied managers and employees alike with its simplicity and helped to modernize the business.

Tags: Goal-Setting — Performance Reviews — Competency Models

Challenge:

Support Business Ramp-Up with Just-in-Time Custom Training

A global shipping leader with an expanding US presence needed help building a training curriculum to address the development needs of its employees, managers and new hires. The company was searching for a cost-effective means to help employees develop core leadership skills, starting with an introduction to its new performance management process.

After assessing its training & development options, the company elected to develop customized workshops incorporating the company’s philosophy and core competencies. Although the company’s expert training staff would facilitate the workshops, the company lacked the time to develop the workshops internally.

Solution:

Customized Training Incorporating Core Competencies

The company selected the Chatfield Group to partner with its Director of Training to develop a comprehensive training curriculum designed to meet the development needs of the firm’s US employees over a three-year period.

Innovative, turn-key workshops are the primary delivery vehicle for the new training and development curriculum, which can be adapted, as needed, to address changing business requirements. The workshops – which were designed to reinforce core competencies and build essential leadership and management skills – incorporate design flexibility as well as customized branding and design.

Topics covered in the new training & development curriculum include Performance Management, Behavioral Interviewing, Basics of Management & Leadership, Career Development, Emotional Intelligence, Conflict Management, and Essential Communications Skills.

Tags: Training — Corporate University — Curriculum Development — Leadership Development — Performance Reviews — Competency Models — Management Development — Interviewing — Career Development — EQ - Emotional Intelligence — Conflict Management