Strategic Consulting
Strategic Consulting
Time for bold and informed decisions
Financial services company
Our Client is a small but dynamic company employing 60 staff in the Czech Republic. Their strategy had been set by their Austrian parent company some years ago but changes in the Czech business environment, increasing client expectations and internal operating necessities led the local MD to consider a new approach to growth and profitability. In early 2009, Alpha was commissioned to apply its One Page Strategy process to the company and to monitor the implementation process. The MD arranged for the Top Team of 12 staff to take part in the development of the strategy and implementation plan; all staff were informed about the programme and also involved in the process to some extent.
Key points of the strategy development included:
Customer Survey carried out through one-to-one interviews by Alpha. The results showed that our Client had an excellent reputation for value and service, with an outstanding level of attention to customer needs. There was some concern that this might be rather too time-consuming and cover all customers, large and small, with the same benefits.
Staff Survey was completed anonymously through an e-mail questionnaire to all staff and then summarised by Alpha. The results showed that HR issues were not always being satisfied and that the turnover of new staff was too high.
Three one-day workshops covering Key Issues and Options, Vision, Goals and Targets and Action Plans. The workshops were held at intervals of 4 to 6 weeks; in between, individuals from the Top Team led specific projects with their own staff covering the core business processes.
A short summary of the results includes
- An Ambition to grow into a ‘top three’ company in their sector and to substantially increase revenue and profitability within four years
- A Vision of what the company would look and behave like at that time
- Clear individual business goals and numeric targets for core systems such as ‘winning business’, ‘developing new services’, ‘customer service’, ‘organisation and HR’, ‘IT and systems’ and ‘direction and management’
- Implementation plans with timescales and responsibilities defined, a financial model demonstrating benefits as implementation proceeds and a monitoring and control system for implementation progress
Apart from the quality, clarity and achievability of the strategy itself, other benefits included relationship building, stretching of Top Team thinking, persuasion and presentation skills development, involvement of the whole organisation in different ways and, most importantly, commitment to delivering the strategy for the benefit of owners, customers, staff and partners. The strategy was not ‘handed down’; it is the creation of the company itself.
Download PDF document
)
Strategy & vision