$1.5B High Tech Company, Florida

One of our clients needed to validate that the metrics it was tracking were the right ones, and they needed a way to “move the needle” on the main contributors of their targets and objectives. They had a lot of data, but not a lot of actionable information. In addition to information silos, there was lots of ‘reinventing the wheel’ in reporting and analysis. We started with the entire executive management team and, using our methodology, captured the key value drivers from the strategic view of each functional layer (marketing, sales, development, finance, and so on) and lined-up their value map with strategic objectives. Almost immediately, we noticed two concerns: none of the executive team articulated the strategy and strategic objectives the same way (not aligned), and fewer than 30% of the current KPIs had targets (not focused). This was everyone pulling in different directions and no one knowing when they got there!

Shortly after our first round of discovery sessions, our sponsor, the CFO, convened a rapid executive off-site to address the lack of strategy alignment, after which the company had a plan for everyone to row in the same direction. We saw that plan quickly and effectively communicated to the entire company, which allowed us to help them focus on the right metrics.

$6B Energy Company, Colorado

With much change in their industry and in their company, this 88-year old company needed to infuse new decision-making discipline and accountability into their field and headquarter operations.

We were brought in at the tail end of one of their first major Business Performance Management / Enterprise Planning initiatives to see if they could leverage the work done already and capitalize on the momentum. We quickly helped them develop a long-term Strategy Execution vision into which short-term process and technology initiatives could fit. This became, as they called it, their “North Star” of how they would manage the business.

We then began our 2-hour executive team interviews, using our broadsheets that put the business on one sheet of paper, and documented the true drivers of value from each functional perspective. When we consolidated all of the functional value maps we quickly saw the top 10 things that truly drove value at the company – and they were not what they expected!

With these new insights, the company was able to reduce the noise of over 300 KPIs (a two-inch binder circulated to managers monthly) to the top 10 drivers (with the appropriate drill-paths into the causal-drivers) delivered in more real-time.

The work that we did formed the foundation for how decisions get made in the business, all aligned with strategic objectives and baked-in accountability.

$1B Software Company, Silicon Valley

This is a client we have in the high-tech industry (4,000 employees) where we interviewed all of the top executives and senior leaders to determine what the most important drivers of value in the company were. We talked to the CEO, COO, EVP Sales, VP HR, and even the Chairman of the Board. We expected the consensus would be somewhere in profitable (sustainable) revenue growth, maximizing operating margins, or at least customer satisfaction. It turned out that the #1 driver of value was “Employee Skills.” Employees with advanced degrees, professional certifications, industry experience, etc., were THE key driver of value in the company: they made customers happy, they developed superior products, and they captured revenue.

Yet the company did not have one single measure around employee skills. They didn’t capture that information, they didn’t share it, report on it, or even plan for it in the budget.

This gap was enlightening for them. In order for them to make optimal use of their biggest asset, they had to build Employee Skills (and certifications) measures into their models, plans & forecasts, and management reporting and analysis processes and systems.

By the way, this wasn’t HR-centric involvement in the strategic planning process – every function, including Marketing, Sales, Development, and Operations, has a stake in “people as assets,” or at least in measuring and improving employee skills…to drive customer & stakeholder value.