Case Studies – Leadership Development

Client: Professional Service Provider, specialising in the provision of engineering and management services especially to the Defence industry.

Project Summary:

• Customised executive leadership development

The Challenges:

• The executives were of long tenure, were technically and academically strong but were relatively immature at successfully applying leadership principles
• Internal satisfaction surveys indicated that senior leadership performance was the greatest organisational gap and opportunity
• The executives aspired to grow the business aggressively over the next 5 years
• Recognised that a high performing leadership team was critical to facilitate success in the next growth phase

Solutions:

• Individual Leadership Self Awareness Measurement and Feedback (using Human Synergistics Tools)
• Facilitation of Team Awareness and Team Charter Workshops
• Development of Personal Leadership Development Plan for each Executive
• Ongoing One on One Leadership Coaching
• Deep dive workshops targeting accelerated competence building in high priority gaps

Outcomes:

• Executives recognise and claim the importance of their organisational leadership roles
• ELT have hard discussions and call each other on poor leadership choices
• ELT meetings conclude with SMART actions and improve accountability
• High priority organisational gaps were addressed with pragmatic solutions. Areas that EPRAKT assisted included Governance, Strategy Development and Execution, Building Trust, Change Management, Organisational Communication and Decision-Making Processes, Business Clarity of Objectives, Behavioural Safety and Having Hard Conversations
• Executives coach their teams on their leadership learnings

Sales Manager sign

Client: Regionally Based Equipment Supplier ”

Project Objective: Attraction, selection, and induction of a new Sales Manager

Project Summary:

• Owner/ manager had acted as Sales Manager from business inception and was now looking to step back from this responsibility to focus on business development and corporate governance
• The Sales Team comprised a centralised call centre and geographically dispersed sales representatives in each state of Australia
• The business’s sales processes were relatively immature, and the owner/ manager recognised the need to build rigour in their approach, particularly in pipeline management and setting of selling prices
• A CRM had recently been installed
• Recruitment policy was to select based on attitude and competency rather than industry experience
• EPRAKT’s scope of work was to facilitate attraction, selection and then plan appointee induction

The Challenges:

• Only a few applications had been received from traditional job advertising, assumed to be a combination of a tight labour market, the regional location image and low business brand recognition
• Applicants to-date had not demonstrated appropriate customer centric attitude or competencies

Solutions:

• Upgraded existing position description to better capture near-term and mid-term job goals, nature of internal and external relationships and an ideal candidate description
• Enhanced existing job marketing collateral highlighting the positive business culture, regional location advantages, role autonomy, and scope for personal growth
• Developed a written brief, sought input from short-listed recruitment agencies and then selected and managed selected agency
• Developed selection process including format of interviews, aptitude testing, role plays and referee interview guides. Facilitated all candidate interactions providing independent feedback. 

Outcomes:

• Outstanding candidate was identified, offer was made and accepted
• First 90-day induction programme developed and facilitated
• Appointee received “above expectations” 6- and 12-month performance reviews
• Business used the acquired recruitment methodology to complete other recruitment tasks

Client: National Industrial Products Distributor

Project Objective: Attraction and selection of sales personnel

Project Summary:

• With sustained business growth being achieved and forecast to continue, additional sales resources were required
• The business was seeking both in-the-field Business Development Managers and in-the-field Customer Service Managers
• To maintain an existing strong customer focus culture, recruitment was based on attitude and competency rather than industry experience
• EPRAKT’s scope of work was to facilitate both attraction and selection

Problem:

• A tight labour market had led to few applications via traditional methods
• None of the applicants to-date had demonstrated appropriate customer centric attitude or competencies
• Business brand name recognition was low outside the immediate industry

Solutions:

• Developed role profiles including position descriptions, near-term and mid-term job goals, nature of internal and external relationships and an ideal candidate description
• Completed a written brief and obtained input from selected short-listed recruitment agencies on how they would approach the task
• Selected and managed an agency
• Developed selection strategies including first and second interview guides, and for short-listed candidates, developed role plays and referee interview guides
• Facilitated all candidate interactions and provided independent feedback on each candidate

Outcomes:

• Outstanding candidates were identified, had offers made and accepted positions
• All appointments completed probation and received “glowing” 6- and 12-month performance reviews

 

Client: Manufacturer of Innovative Mining Products

Project Objective: Recruitment and Induction of Senior Manager

Project Summary:

• Recruit new sales manager
• Change management for transition of existing manager
• EPRAKT’s scope of work was to successfully transition new sales manager into organisation

The Challenges:

• Under performing long term Sales Manager
• Culture of avoiding addressing under performance
• Dynamic market causing deficiencies in “old way of working”

Solutions:

• Professional interviewing of “short-listed” candidates
• Development of selection criteria
• Recommendation of preferred candidate
• Performance management plan for successful candidate
• Change management plan for existing sales manager
• 100 Day Plan developed
• Business risks mitigation plan
• Coaching of new sales manager for following six months

Outcomes:

• Sales manager successfully integrated into business
• Sales results trended up month-on-month from 10% below to 15% over plan within 6 months
• New innovative product successfully launched into new markets
• Organisational symbol changes made to modernise culture and employee engagement
• New sales processes and governance meetings implemented for sales team