SYNERGY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES MUMBAI INDIA orgn devp/hrd/salesforcesearch,consultancies

THE ISSUE: Our client company had experienced growth. riding on the wave of market opportunities since year 2000. They had grown sporadically and had now a serious business challenge TO SUSTAIN THE WHOLE GROWTH STORY AND RISE TO THE NEXT LEVEL . There was also a need to align the leadership to the new strategic intent i.e to be more entrepreneurial in moving into new diversifications. They needed assistance to enable the leaders on the top deck to embrace the changes, align to their new roles, and also to maintain engagement levels of their team members within the new strategic plan.

OUR RESPONSE: Our three day PATHFINDERS� strategy retreat made a review of the operations and problem areas; developed a clear vision statement; defined a core competency framework; did a tracking of the market & and developed a resurgent counter strategy for the 3 year span. We listed the strategic initiatives for the turnaround and drew up a new talent management plan.
As a yearlong contract to follow-up & close the gap between where their businesses needed to go and the ACTIONS required to take them there.we were guiding managers to understand their new roles and responsibilities, building capability through various training modules and enhancing employee engagement and review the gap between intent and action.

THE OUTCOMES: The organization adopted successfully our recommendations to pertaining to institutionalizing best practices internally, we set up mentoring support & job rotations; we fostered cross functional teams which helped in breaking silos. This has led to increased transparency, commitment and engagement within the organization besides a consolidation of the growth pattern and competitive strength

When our client company dramatically changed its business model, they sought to build future leaders who could energize the company’s new divisions and growth plans. .. WE ASKED THE VITAL QUESTION “…WHAT ARE THE ATTRIBUTES, CAPABILITIES AND BEHAVIORS EXPECTED OF FUTURE LEADERS?... Is the strength and readiness of your leadership ready to drive the business to new heights?” The business challenge was to develop a clear link between business goals and leaders’ development plans to increase and strengthen the future talent pool? The current leaders had proven loyalty but lacked the competency and potential needed for the future journey of the organisation. SMA’s proven solutions for helping entrepreneurial & family managed organizations build and continually feed a pipeline of talented, capable leaders made us the natural choice

OUR RESPONSE:

Working closely with the client, we overhauled the PMS (Performance Management System) to bring about better transparency in identifying high-potential/high performing individuals to take up higher leadership positions. We also interviewed executive management to discover the leadership needs of the organization Our aim was to nurture a select group and sharpen their leadership potential and readiness through a cutting edge leadership development program named THE FAST TRACK MANAGER ©

After screening and consultation with the directors; we chose 21 managers to participate in the pilot program. Most were functional experts with 10-15 years of tenure at the company.. From the start, the directors were involved, for ensuring participant buy-in and the overall success of the program. We used a broad set of tools and methods, to develop team leadership as well as individual leadership capabilities.

Further we had identified “action learning projects” which were a critical component of the program. Working through these projects for three to five months helped to ensure practical and better impact learning. We monitored progress on these projects as they provided active support and guidance in their roles as project sponsors and guides. Participants were then introduced to the concept of the “personal learning strategy” with a practical, step-by-step guide

The program wrapped up with participants presenting the directors, with specific, actionable recommendations generated through their group and individual action learning projects. As an immediate result, the directors created specific action committees to pursue the implementation of the recommendations.

We helped the company meet a KEY OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAM— BUILD INTO THE ORGANIZATION THOSE PROCESSES AND CAPABILITIES NEEDED TO SUSTAIN A CONTINUAL SUPPLY OF FUTURE LEADERS. The entire program spanned 8 months & the action learning projects approximately 7 completed to date, have led to substantial improvements for THE CLIENT in the areas of systems, processes, technology and people capabilities. The 21 participants of the program have now become the leaders for critical change management and cross- functional initiatives. We have after a two year span created a second batch of high flyers to provide the a talent reserve of second line leaders

SALESFORCE TURNAROUND: CLIENT CASE STUDY
BUSINESS CHALLENGE:

A pan India marketing company with a sales force of 1000 plus ,had been experiencing stagnant growth for some years, Declining market share in important segments in a growing market led them to ask “WHAT ARE OUR COMPETITORS DOING TO WIN A DISPROPORTIONATE VOLUME OF BUSINESS?” We diagnosed after the initial survey that the issue chiefly was an ad hoc sales management, weak leadership, unclear sales plans & processes & inadequate competency levels all over . Because this company was an industry leader for so many years, its tenured salespeople felt a sense of entitlement and had difficulty accepting the reality that they needed to change the way they sold. With middle performers making up majority of their sales team, we saw great potential to improve performance.

The company needed a breakthrough approach to spur change in the sales force . In order to leverage the best practices of their top performers, the Board of Directors in our client company was determined to create formal sales process that documented and defined the stages in the sales cycle. We began training its team on the key customer account process. During the first training sessions, the participants learned from real examples in their business and worked on real accounts in their funnel. Our 3 year turnaround campaign which included : assessment & revamp of sales strategies, training modules for sales managers ( 5graded levels); development of sales trainers to upgrade frontlines selling skills, major initiatives to overhaul Branch Management and people management systems (from end to end) inducting new Marketing Trainees and putting them through an yearlong grind

THE END RESULT :

A shift from a transaction selling and reactionary approach to an opportunity management mindset increased company's revenue more than three-fold in a span of 5 years. If there’s one constant that has taken hold since our intervention, it's the idea of CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT. We had documented best practices & the business process into a company specific manual and built the legacy of learning. Like any organization striving versus heightened customer expectations, the organization places a premium on creative ideas, individual achievement, efficient work processes, and documented workflow. We brought about not only a sales turnaround but a change of the work culture. Based on the positive outcomes of phase one the board of directors invited us to launch phase two.