THE CHALLENGE

Too many P&Ls, not enough collaboration

Our client, a multi-billion dollar manufacturing conglomerate, had acquired a portfolio of companies across a number of different industries. This left them with 52 subsidiaries, each led by a General Manager, most of whom had spent their entire career working for the company. Each GM was responsible for their own P&L, and they had a lot of autonomy and limited oversight.

All GMs reported to eight EVPs, who had the responsibility of driving collaboration for the organization. But, because the GM’s were left to do as they saw fit as long as they were profitable, most were only thinking about their own bottom lines, rather than the bigger picture operating environment of the company as a whole.

It was time for reorganization, and the senior-most leaders of the organization knew it.

THE SOLUTION

Sophisticated assessments to inform reorganization

The company had determined that, instead of 52 General Managers, they would give the eight Executive Vice Presidents budgetary authority over eight consolidated P&Ls. The role of General Manager would cease to exist, and in its place, there would be a new cadre of Vice Presidents.

It was a major undertaking, but a necessary one. Before they could begin, they had to determine which of the 60 leaders—the GMs and the current EVPs—had the attitude and aptitude for working within the new structure. Enter EDC.

The company had plenty of managers. What they needed were leaders who could work together toward a common goal. So we built an assessment process that would evaluate their leaders on seven core constructs—Leadership, Management, Judgement, Communication, Stress Management, Motivation, and Interpersonal Style.

EDC’s Multi-Rater, Multi-Method Approach to Assessment

• Deep dive assessment interviews. Conversations revolve around three core questions. What was the situation? How did you respond to it? What happened as a result?

• A series of in-depth surveys. Assessees share their perspective, self-evaluation, and experience in their own words.

• 360-degree evaluations. We ask direct reports, peers, and supervisors for feedback on the assessee.

The multi-rater, multi-method approach identifies commonalities and areas of overlap that strengthen the assessment as a whole.

THE IMPACT

Twelve incredible leaders and a decade of impact

600 interviews. 60 assessment reports. One big announcement about restructuring. Of the original 52 General Managers, only 12 remained. Some were let go. Others chose to leave. The 12 who continued on had high marks across all seven constructs. They were leaders who also knew how to be part of an integrated team, and they had the willingness and capacity to adapt to their new role.

As for the eight EVPs, they all stayed on. But with the new responsibility of managing a fully integrated platform, the pressure was really on to perform. And perform they did. Though our engagement only lasted 90 days, the CEO and CHRO still credit EDC with making a lasting impact on the organization nearly a decade later.

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