Developing brand-aligned sustainability roadmap to engage employees

Keywords
Consulting industry, sustainability, SDG:s, strategy creation

Challenge
A management team within consulting industry sought to understand what concrete actions they could take to respond to increasing sustainability opportunities and requirements coming from employees. The company wanted to develop an approach to sustainability, that would help retain employees and increase attraction of new talent. Sustainability was deeply embedded into the company’s mission and organizational identity, and the management team wanted to create a brand-aligned framework for developing and prioritizing among sustainability actions.

Solution
Leading a project team of three, and we conducted a thorough analysis of the company's brand, mission, and strategic priorities to understand the firm’s organizational identity. Leveraging UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guiding framework, we conducted workshops and facilitated discussions with employees and the leadership to identify SDGs that would align with the company's organizational identity. We conducted a current state analysis on the chosen SDG:s and held employee workshops to define target states for chosen SDGs. This was instrumental in increasing engagement from this primary group of stakeholders. We then developed a three-year roadmap for the leadership team to guide prioritization and implementation of sustainability initiatives.

Result
The management team endorsed the roadmap, significantly enhancing their understanding of sustainability concepts and frameworks and how sustainability can add value to their brand and business operations. Employees were satisfied to see tangible action to be taken in alignment with their interests and values, promoting increased engagement. While the project concluded before implementation, it laid a solid foundation for future sustainability endeavors.

Improving strategic planning, operational execution and communication to increase transparency, engagement and goal-orientation

Keywords
Real Estate industry, operational planning, internal engagement, strategy formulation

Challenge
A global finance organization within the real estate industry was newly formed, with a new leadership team, operating model and an organization structure with more than 700 employees across the globe. Given the short history of the organization, the Global Head of the function sought to increase clarity and engagement around the organization’s purpose, identity and its strategic priorities, while increasing employee engagement that had dropped as a result of the reorganization and covid-restrictions.

Solution
As the Global Development Director, I spearheaded workshops and one-on-one discussions with the leadership team to craft the organization's purpose statement and strategic priorities. Clear objectives and KPIs were established, alongside the identification of key global projects and initiatives. This culminated in a comprehensive one-year operating plan, complete with project plans, resource allocation, and KPI tracking.

To ensure effective execution, we aligned management team members' goals with the operating plan and implemented a governance structure for all strategic initiatives. An Extended Leadership Group (ELG) was established to ensure transparency and broad managerial engagement in the strategic agenda and the operating plan. Internal communication was aligned to support the strategic and operational priorities, including quartertly townhalls, newsletters and rewards-programmes.

Result
The management team exceeded targets for over 90% of initiatives in the operating plan, while transparency and engagement improved at all levels of the organization. Transparency and accountability in the strategic priorities, their progress and expected outcomes increased towards global CFO and CEO on one hand, and towards managers and employees on the other. The management team’s ability to plan, steer and report on their areas of responsibility within the strategy increased, enabling more focused effective management team meetings. Employee engagement increased and internal communication became better anchored to the function’s strategic agenda.

Improving team performance of a controlling team

Keywords
Rental Services industry, team performance, collaboration, facilitation

Challenge
When a new CFO assumed leadership of a controlling team in the rental services industry, she noticed a lack of collaboration among team members. Working in silos, individual controllers struggled to see the benefits of teamwork in achieving collective success.

Solution
As part of Influence, a leading Swedish Management Consulting firm specializing in collective intelligence and team performance, I facilitated two overnight off-site sessions for the controllership team and the CFO together with a senior colleague. Through interactive discussions and immersive training sessions, we explored the capabilities of high-performing teams and trained on each of the capabilities in a relaxed environment.

Result
The team members developed stronger bonds, enhancing psychological safety and gaining a unified perspective on their team dynamics. Equipped with practical tools and techniques, they got empowered to continue honing their collective performance for sustained success.