Categories
Change and Transformation
“The Beacon Group’s program proved to be a transformational experience for our staff, and has created a new, more open culture of creativity and collaboration that has given The Globe and Mail a marked and measurable competitive advantage.” — Phillip Crawley
“The Beacon Group’s thought provoking curriculum utilizes best practice tools and interactive media for evaluation, assessment and overall learning. It has helped us raise the bar on our calibre of talent.” — Ernst Lieb
“The Beacon Group was able to handle our 360 reviews across 9 offices in a manner that brought significant value to our partners, the firm and ultimately our clients.” — Judson Whiteside
“The human capital programs provided by The Beacon Group are best in class.” — Tye Burt
“The Beacon Group acted as a strategic partner and was instrumental in helping us raise the bar on candid dialogue and team performance.” — Robert Courteau
“The Beacon Group approaches very serious and difficult topics in an accessible and insightful way.” — Eric Siegel
“We engaged The Beacon Group when we needed to bring two cultures together after our first major international acquisition: the evidence of their success lies in both the subsequent growth in our business and our presence in more than twelve countries on five continents.” — Rupert Duchesne
“The Beacon Group excels in facilitating open & candid dialogue that has fostered superior team performance.” — Mary Ellen Carlyle
“Top-level thought leadership, combined with practical, cost-effective solutions—that’s the real value the Beacon Group team brings to bear on Foresters talent challenges.” — Suanne Nielsen
“The Beacon Group delivered cutting edge perspectives on many human capital topics that were tailored and customized to our company in a way that we could not have obtained at more generic, cookie-cutter advising shops.” — Doug Lord
“Doug Williamson and his team were of invaluable assistance in helping our organization navigate through a completely new strategic planning process and emerge with a three year plan resoundingly endorsed by our Board. Doug’s global perspectives and ability to drive consensus was an integral part of our success.” — Don Forgeron
“The Global HR & Communications senior team engaged the Beacon Group in shepherding us through a unique strategic planning process that involved an outside-in view of our current and future workforce and how this aligns to our business strategy. Thanks to Doug and his team it was a thought provoking process that sharpened our strategic thinking and, in the end, made our strategy stronger.” — Sylvia Chrominska
“The Beacon Group’s customized and personalized approach fit our needs perfectly. From the initial self-discovery phase all the way to recommending solutions, the work they have done has been consistently world-class. They combine strong analytics with a wealth of real world experience. They are focused, targeted and are experts at taking theoretic concepts and making them real. We look forward to working with Doug and his team as we continue to elevate our business and improve our internal performance.” — Don Romano
“I have had the pleasure of working with The Beacon Group and Doug Williamson for several years across several organizations and have always been impressed with their professionalism, work ethic and customer orientation. Doug's own highly energetic and highly customized approach to the specific needs of our business and our leadership team sets him apart from other strategic facilitators and objective "thought provokers" I have experienced. I am always grateful and impressed by the tangible results his interventions tend to produce.” — Lloyd A. Perlmutter
“The big contribution was The Beacon Group challenged our culture and our comfort level. We then arrived at a clear plan of concise deliverables that we needed to execute to move forward on our vision.” — Tony Ambler
“SKF approached The Beacon Group to develop our Talent Management program. The process implemented by Doug Williamson and his team was extremely important for us in determining how to execute the program on a clear, organized and systematic way. This was one of our most important projects that will enable us to ensure our sustainable growth.” — João Ricciarelli
“Through its sound and strategically practical business knowledge and experience The Beacon Group has and continues to assist SCI in better understanding and enabling our organization to build engaged teams and leadership capability to help make our supply chain clients more competitive.” —John Ferguson |
Provocative PropositionsIn the hyperactive and challenging world in which we all live, it is becoming harder and harder for business leaders to find time to read, reflect and gain insight from the many valuable sources at our disposal. In "Provocative Propositions", The Beacon Group attempts to fill that void by offering our opinion, often rather pointed, on a wide array of issues we believe are relevant to leading a modern organization. The articles are catalogued into 12 categories so you can quickly and easily find a topic of particular interest. We then offer three easy steps under the heading "In Our Opinion" to help business leaders take action on the key themes. Simply click on the category and read away. Results-Oriented Cultures
Imagine what happens every day, in every business.
Let's say, for example, that after years and years of Research and Development, you’re finally ready to launch your new version of an MP3 player. Oh no - Creative Labs, Apple, and Microsoft have players out too! In another case, your people have come up with another great idea - Stow and go seating on your minivan. Oh no - Toyota just unveiled Split and Stow seating in their van! In yet another case, your new business strategy says the cool new way to sell bedding is to open a big box store in the suburbs. Oh no - Linens and Things, and Bed Bath and Beyond have been there for years! Bottom line? How on earth can an organization survive in today's business environment? To quote Randy Pennington from his book Results Rule: "In an environment where everyone is doing the same things, culture beats strategy every time." In business today, having fantastic products and world class delivery channels are simply the cost of entry. Yes, the critical differentiator is not your product, service offering, or "store" - it’s your people. In addition to developing new market leading products and services, your organization should be developing a results-oriented corporate culture. Getting Cultured Here's the next reality check, it’s your culture that matters more than your products. Your culture needs to be unique in order for you to do unique things for your customers. As much as you may want to be Southwest Airlines, Wal-Mart, or Harley-Davidson, sooner or later you will have to realize they spent years developing a culture that reflects their organization and its offerings. Now it’s your turn and there are no shortcuts. In 1982, Terrence Deal and Allan Kennedy identified the elements required to determine an organization's culture:
By studying these elements (or lack of these elements) in your organization, you can begin to develop an understanding of the "health" of your culture, and ultimately a strategy for creating the ultimate culture for your organization. Cult of Personality A results-oriented corporate culture is one where employees are not only committed to results, they actually achieve them - consistently. There is a high level of trust and alignment between employees at all levels, which results in a "we do what we say we will" attitude. The outcomes (better yet the result) of having a results-oriented culture can be found in superior innovation, effectiveness and efficiency. As well, once word spreads that your organization has one of these "coveted" cultures, another outcome is the ability to attract and retain top talent. Curing 3-D Vision Take a moment, take off your glasses, and give them a good wipe. How's that, better? Are you seeing the world in 3-D Vision? You are?! Then we might have another kind of problem. In order to have a truly focused, effective, results-oriented culture, the leader must have crystal clear vision. The problem is, too many leaders are plagued with 3-D vision. They DENY marketplace realities. They DISTORT the core performance metrics. They DELUDE themselves about their own personal responsibility for achieving only moderate results. In order to be a truly effective leader, you must continually search for and acknowledge the truth. In Our Opinion Developing a Results-Oriented Culture Believe it, Say it - Once you understand your current reality, and determine where the organization is headed - shout it out loud. Ensure that everyone, at every level, knows your plan, and can choose to buy into your way of doing things. Say it, Do it - Actions speak louder than words. Get out into your organization, deep into your organization (you know, down to the front lines) and be seen "living" the new culture. Do it, Lead it- High performance, results-oriented cultures are few and far between. There is a high likelihood that this may be the first time your employees have been involved in one. Therefore, your job is to teach your employees how to conduct themselves in the new culture. Lead it, Reward it- Jack Welch says "You get the behaviour that you reward". Once you see signs of people truly "living" the culture, find a way of rewarding them, to reinforce their behaviour. Don’t think of it as a bribe, more a "perk" for membership. **Our Monthly Rant Check the Connection** Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher was known for his willingness to load bags on to his planes and greet customers. Wal-Mart executives spend hours in their stores every week. When was the last time you actually "worked" on your own front lines. No, touring a store or branch doesn’t count. No, talking to the Call Centre manager in their office doesn’t count. This is a serious question. When was the last time you sold one of your products? When was the last time you talked to a customer on the phone - the first time they call in? Take time - every week - to get out into your organization, don the uniform, and conduct business and interact with your employees. As a leader, how can it be possible to effectively lead your organization, and truly understand the culture at the front lines, if you’re never there? |
|
About Us | Services | Press Room | Resources | Subscribe Home | Blog | Contact Us | Site Map |
|
