How we work.

Returning to stability after a merger

A well-known financial services provider was ready to acquire a longtime business partner. But the merger was the easy part - they needed a plan for how their newly formed team would divide the workload and create value, and they needed it ASAP.

We worked closely with the teams to clarify the company’s strengths, ambitions, and vision. Then we co-created a holistic operating model, including structuring the legal entity, defining a compensation framework, and creating a rebranding campaign.

New teams were established along with detailed definitions of roles and responsibilities, and new collaboration mechanisms were put in place so

communication could flow smoothly. And because everyone had a hand in bringing the new operating model to life, there was plenty of engagement and momentum. With the merger complete, the company hit the ground running.

Turning high growth ambition into reality

A direct insurer knew what it wanted – to expand into multinational policies, a new global business segment. What they didn't know was how to make it happen.

Our initial analysis showed that they didn't yet have the necessary talent, the global reach, or the systems in place to grow. We began by translating their aspirations into a clear and actionable strategy. Next we defined their value proposition along with a scalable and holistic operating model to enable growth. We considered the impact on structure, process, technology, and people.

And throughout the project, we brought teams in on the process to ensure they stayed active and engaged. Because inviting employees to take part in creating their own future is a great way to foster success.

Becoming a more customer-centric organization

Like most of its peers, the Finance unit of this Global Insurance company was organized along functional expertise. However new digital opportunities also lead to new client service expectations and more complex interdependencies between actuarial, accounting and controlling units. It was time to refocus the company around these expectations.

Our client was looking for new ways of working to help them drive an improved end-to-end service to its customers. We began by organizing pilot teams and introducing them to Business Agility principles. Then we translated Agile processes into the finance context, and worked together to address the mindset changes needed to successfully activate these new processes.

Finally, we scaled the pilots into truly cross-functional financial reporting teams to drive the transition forward, enabling them to deliver end-to-end solutions in the new digital age.

Changing culture to increase performance

Climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation. It was all adding up to reduced performance for our client, a global financial service provider. They needed to rebuild company culture around performance in the new world.

We dove in, analyzing day-to-day performance enablers and blockers, and getting a feel for which parts of the existing culture needed to be protected, and which parts needed to change. Based on those insights, we formulated four focus areas that drive performance culture throughout the organization.

When planning for sustainable change to increase performance, we think about actions in three different dimensions: individual employees, environment, and leadership. We formed action groups across the organization leveraging motivated individuals to drive change initiatives from the bottom up for the individual employee and environment dimensions. Then, together with the leadership team, we worked on key leadership behaviors linked to moments that matter – those that have the biggest impact on performance in the four focus areas.

We tracked our success by defining clear outcomes and then measuring perceived behavioral changes and the impact on business performance.

Driving sustainability through the right organizational setup

While trying to execute their ambitious sustainability strategy, our client, a global insurer, realized that the sustainability targets and activities of the different business units were not aligned to achieve the overarching strategy.

We collaborated with the business units to develop a coherent vision for sustainability that everyone in the organization could rally behind. Then we helped the teams to re-define their targets and find new ways to contribute.

But defining the vision is only the first step. Afterwards, we analyze the organizational structures and find the right operating model to bring the new vision to life. In addition, we worked with leadership, empowering them to show their teams the way forward to become a more sustainable organization.