Case Studies

Challenge: Address the need of a Home Lending division to train hundreds of their employees in innovative career management and performance excellence methods and techniques.

Action: After assessing the training needs of senior management within this division of Home Lending, developed a training curriculum for VPs and other senior managers where they could employ these state-of-the-art techniques for themselves and also train their direct employees on these same methods.

Results: The initial training went so well that we were brought back to do training sessions over 5 consecutive quarters in different regions.  The curriculum included Performance Excellence strategies; Communication and Presentation skills; Strategic Networking techniques; Conflict Resolution methods and practice; and Generating Business-Based Value Through Initiative.… Read the rest

Challenge: Concern from senior management that a high potential associate may not get promoted to VP due to issues around communication capabilities.

 Action: Developed an action plan of Communication Training that included identifying the communication issues, expanding the associate’s knowledge of different communication styles, modifying the associate’s own communication style as the situation warrants, learning to use “positive language positioning” when engaged in difficult dialogues, and improving the associate’s ability to present new and innovative solutions to senior management.

Result: As a result of the Communication Training, both the associate and senior management reported significant strides made around the communication issues, culminating in a year-end ranking of “Exceeds Expectations” and promotion to VP.… Read the rest

Challenge: Work with a Business Banker (VP level) to increase the number of self-sourced new relationships with companies generating revenue in the $8 – $15 million range by at least one a month in the Mid-West.

Action: Developed a strategy to gain senior management’s endorsement of this initiative by explaining that the market segment existed and was underserved (businesses in the $20 – $30 million range were normally targeted) and that the bank had the bandwidth to meet their needs.  The key was engaging the relationship managers to leverage their own client base as sources of referrals for this new market.

Result: The relationship managers realized that there were enough of these small businesses in the region to tap into and that, by engaging their current client base, they could “self-source” these new clients, thereby further reducing concerns that they would be dipping into the same client pool.  Due to the shear number of these smaller businesses, the initiative lead to increased income from a continuous revenue stream.… Read the rest

Challenge: Work with a Vice President in Investment Banking Technology to obtain the “sponsors” necessary to get promoted to Executive Director.

Action: As this VP’s performance was not an issue, we developed a networking/relationship building strategy where members of senior management were identified who had been the beneficiaries of this VP’s value-generating initiatives/activities.  The plan included regular interaction with these senior managers as well as recognizing ways the VP could add ongoing value to them.

Result: By year-end, the VP garnered multiple senior management “sponsors” who endorsed his promotion to Executive Director.… Read the rest

Challenge: Work with 15 incoming “high potential” analysts in a Finance program, with the objective that they are positioned to become high performers.

Action: Develop tailored action plans for each analyst that focused on meeting performance goals, adding value through initiative, and building networking relationships with key influencers, among other objectives.

Result: After implementing the aforementioned action plans, as well as further enhancing each analyst’s strengths/skills, 85% of the analysts received a year-end ranking of “Exceeds Expectations”, the highest attainable rating in the organization.… Read the rest

Challenge: Address concerns about the flight and/or flight risk of attorneys and other high level employees leaving the Legal & Compliance and the Finance divisions who felt their career growth had stagnated.

Action: Partnered with Legal & Compliance and Finance divisions on a multi-regional training program to equip VP level employees to identify and position themselves for advancement opportunities.

Result: Positive feedback from both the training participants (VPs) and senior management was that as a result of the methods learned during the seminars, employees began to take more control of their career trajectory by identifying how their skills/strengths best correlated to the needs of the business, found new and innovative ways to add value beyond their job descriptions through initiative, and did a better job of partnering with management to identify the right promotional opportunities.… Read the rest

Challenge: Finding a way to increase visibility and growth opportunities for 8 high potential regional business bankers (VP level) who were part of a Leadership Development Program.

Action: Worked with each business banker by developing performance branding strategies that would put them in “line-of-sight” of senior management, with a particular focus on innovation through initiative (creating solutions to unmet business needs) and enhancing their communication capabilities when presenting to senior management.

Result: All business bankers who participated in the coaching sessions were promoted to the next level and received “Exceeds Expectations” rankings at year-end.… Read the rest

Challenge: The Technology & Operations division of an Investment Bank needed to meet a new mandate of excelling at setting and meeting objectives at the VP level.

Action: Partnered with Technology & Operations to create a highly tailored training on how to most effectively set objectives as it relates to the core values/needs of the business.  Particular focus was made on how these VPs could do a better job of developing employees and positioning them for career growth, a factor that would be used to evaluate said VPs at year-end appraisal time.

Result: The pilot training session was so successful that it was expanded to weekly or bi-weekly training sessions over the course of a few months, reaching a multitude of VPs across North America, Europe & Asia.  Consistent feedback was that the VPs were even better positioned to create and execute on development plans for their direct reports.… Read the rest