PERF RMANCE 04 - The Performance Portal - Ernst & Young

Advanced Solution Center
“ It is astonishing what we have
achieved in just one and a half days.”
Case study 2 — Rolling
out a global markets and
organizational strategy
The client, an international leader in
the professional services industry, had
developed a new strategy for one of its
business units. The challenge was to
involve the top 500 global managers and
motivate them to engage actively in the
implementation of the strategy, thereby
achieving a strong sense of momentum
around the transformation process.
To jump start the transformation process,
we designed a series of ASC events
around the globe to involve the 500
managers in the strategy rollout. The
events took place across Asia, Europe,
North and South America in parallel,
bringing together managers from different
business areas and support functions.
Working with a core team from the client’s
leadership, we developed the key messages
that needed to be communicated and
to where input and feedback from the
participants is required. With the help
of designers, we applied multi-sensory
learning techniques by creating, for each
strategic focus area, a visual expression
of the content. This made the content
much more memorable than if it had
been presented in a written format. By
doing this, we achieved several important
aspects. Firstly, it had the effect of making
the participants feel this was something
different right from the start. They were,
more willing to contribute and to be
involved. It also enabled complex issues
to be communicated in a memorable and
concise format. This approach and the
subsequent output also provided the basis
for an internal communications toolkit
which could be re-used to consistently carry
the message forward.
All the events were structured in three
successive parts. The first part was as
described above focusing on understanding
the strategy content with a short reflection
on personal implications. The second
part was about detailing certain aspects
of the strategy, defining implementation
requirements, and providing feedback to
the central strategy team. The third part
was about developing a transformation
roadmap at a corporate level and also at a
very personal level. In the second and third
part of the events, we used techniques that
enabled all participants to contribute to all
aspects of the strategy while focusing on
the parts that were most relevant to them.
At the same time, we made sure that, at
each event, a common view on every topic
was reached among participants. We also
aligned the content across the event series,
taking key insights from one event to enrich
the discussions on the following events.
After the event series, we consolidated
the results into one detailed document
for the central strategy team. It contained
the developed content on detailing and
operationalizing the strategy as well as the
transformation road map. The documented
results formed the basis for the next stages
of the transformation process.
In total, the event series achieved a
number of fundamental objectives. All
500 participants gained a common
understanding of the new strategy,
provided valuable input for the rollout
(detailing and operationalizing) of the
strategy and its implementation, as well
as creating personal action plans for
everyone’s individual contribution to the
transformation process. It enabled the
central strategy team to refine the strategy,
taking into account a more detailed
regional and functional perspective,
as well as setting up a transformation
team and providing them with concrete
and actionable tasks to turn strategy
into reality.
The key benefits achieved from the ASC
events included:
• Complete and consistent communication
of the new strategy at a global level in a
very short timescale
• Actionable and attainable strategy,
thoroughly challenged by all regions and
all business areas, including regional
and functional specific requirements
• Great momentum for change
which enabled swift and decisive
follow-up actions based on the event
series’ outcomes
Summary
The Advance Solution Center
methodology is versatile and can be
applied to a wide range of situations.
It is particularly valuable when you
need the input and agreement of many
stakeholders and time is a crucial factor.
When it is important that you have
your whole team on board and truly
committed to a common goal, and you
need tangible and actionable outcomes,
that is when you want to use the
Advanced Solution Center.
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