CASE STUDY
The beauty and personal care division of a global packaging company increased sales by aligning the leadership team, establishing operating mechanisms, and establishing accountability
The interim president of the beauty and personal care division of a global packaging company engaged Brimstone to build an aligned and high-performing team of motivated leaders who could not only implement the strategic plan but also lead and transform the division. In the six months since the president of the division had left, market pressures had mounted across the organization. These pressures combined with the leadership transition had brought to the surface critical issues including a lack of role clarity, little to no trust amongst the leadership team, and the absence of operating mechanisms. The result was numerous obstacles that were impeding the operation and success of the division.
Consultants tend to go into an organization and say, ‘this is the answer.’ This approach doesn’t work. ‘The answer,’ typically sits on the shelf and change does not happen. Brimstone takes a different approach. Brimstone works with leaders and with organizations. The Brimstone process is built on engagement and on multi-level feedback. It truly involves the entire team. The result is lasting transformation.
Brimstone began by taking the division’s leadership team through Strategy and Leadership Team Alignment. Strategy and Leadership Team Alignment is Brimstone’s proven methodology to help organizations gain – and sustain – the coordination, collaboration, and clarity that deliver results. It is designed to align the leadership team by clarifying strategy, setting the stage for strategy implementation by engaging and aligning the organization, and to drive the leadership team to high performance.
Strategy and Leadership Team Alignment helped the leadership team within the division to increase trust, establish operating mechanisms, and to unify the group around a single strategic view of the division and its future. As part of Strategy and Leadership Team Alignment, Brimstone facilitated the process through which the leadership team worked together to create a Strategic Business Framework.
The Strategic Business Framework outlines objectives and measures and, more importantly, it prioritizes the strategic imperatives and outlines exactly what the team needs to do to succeed. The Strategic Business Framework ensures the entire team owns the strategy. The leadership team then went through Brimstone’s Business Acceleration Teams solution. Business Acceleration Teams address the most critical issues facing the organization while changing the way people work and by developing new leadership capabilities.
As part of Business Acceleration Teams, the team conducted an extensive calendar management exercise. The exercise focused on scheduling and prioritization. Through the work, it was clear that the team did not have enough days in the week to do everything they were trying to do.
Results
The division prioritized certain segments of the business. Within one year, sales in these segments grew by nine percent. This was driven by the radical improvement in the division’s alignment, trust, and team performance, as well as clarification of roles and establishment of ground rules and operating mechanisms.
The division reduced emphasis on less profitable segments of the business. These segments were later sold.
The results were also driven by the interim president taking ownership and being accountable. Through the PL program, it was clear that several people distinguished themselves and positioned themselves as high-potential, while in at least one case a leader considered to be high-potential was deemed not promotable. This was a significant learning for the company.
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