Business
Issue: New Purchasing manager in complex industry
was not living up to the expectations of the hiring manager, even
though the past history of the manager had been excellent.
Approach
Used: Interviewed both the hiring manager and the
new manager, identified the gaps in performance expectations and the
specific action plans of the new manager, and coached the new manager
in changing his techniques in interfacing with the hiring manager.
Results:
Purchasing Manager is now considered one of the top two managers on
site at his level, and has reduced late purchases by over 80%, in
addition to building an organization that is now cited as the best
organization within the business.
Business
Issue: New General Manager of a large home improvement
family owned business had no prior management experience, but the
second generation owners had asked him to lead the business due to
his drive and proven interpersonal skills.
Approach
Used: Began with an interview to ascertain the key
leadership gaps, and scheduled weekly one-on-one visits to close the
gaps.
Results:
The General Manager became highly effective as a result of detailed
training in the use of Outlook, a Palm Pilot, and follow-up techniques.
He was able to remove a member of his support staff that should have
been removed years before. He then implemented a department manager
incentive compensation system that would highly reward the managers
for profitable growth. He then implemented significant inventory reduction
techniques in 3 of the 5 departments – Furniture, Carpet, and
Building Supplies.
Business
Issue: The president of a large industrial business
had lost faith in the Sourcing Director, a person that the president
had hired within the past six months. The president asked Flow Consulting
for references for a replacement.
Approach
Used: Flow Consulting reminded the president that
he was responsible for the success of his hires. In addition, Flow
Consulting implemented a coaching plan with two aspects. The first
aspect was to coach the Sourcing Director in specific ways to interact
with the president based on the president’s style. The second
aspect was to work with the Sourcing Director and her peers to change
the perception of the Sourcing Director while she augmented the staffing
of her organization.
Results:
Within three months, the president became convinced that the Sourcing
Director had an effective long-term strategy and was well along the
way to implementing the strategy. The peers of the Sourcing Director
were allowed to interview key additions to the staff, and to help
shape the long term strategy of the Sourcing Director. The staff unified
to work with the Sourcing Director to implement a sourcing plan that
dramatically improved the performance of the business.
