Strategies Used with Tango's Clients

Situation #1

This company is a credential verification organization. As a spin-off organization from a major healthcare provider, their service is to ensure physicians' credentials are in order and valid. The results are provided to various insurance companies and healthcare providers. The company is only four years old and is funded by venture capital. They are nearly a paperless company using state of the art computer technology to produce their product, resulting in a point and click environment for the front line workers. Turnover is high, policies change quickly, top-down management exists and there is a low trust work environment. Mid-managers feel the squeeze: lots of responsibility and little authority. A new COO has just arrived on the scene and wants to make lots of changes.

Strategy/Goals

1. Change perception of management.
2. Assist management in stabilizing the workforce.
3. Assist management in-house training program rollout.
4. Train and consult with mid-managers on building an inclusive, fun and stimulating work environment.

Actions

1. Conduct employee focus groups.
2. Conducted innovative and fun on-going management training for operations staff.
   • Mission/Values
   • Creating a new and inclusive corporate culture
   • Team building
   • A new look at incentive programs
3. Create an understanding of strategic planning; create one for each team and implement it.
4. Provide executive and management coaching.
5. Conduct weekly phone coaching sessions with various teams.
6. Teach managers to research and explore other company strategies.

Results

1. COO has a viable and effective strategy for changing culture and improving production.
2. Employee feedback groups and project teams are in progress.
3. A much more fun and creative work environment, which is employee-driven, has taken place.
4. Emerging management skill development in mid-management is occurring.
5. Greater involvement throughout the company from all levels of staff is beginning to take place.
6. Some senior managers have left, some of whom were asked to leave.
7. Emerging sense of trust and power to change the environment is happening, especially with frontline personnel.

Situation #2

This next company is very similar to the previous one. The major differences are the funding levels and a large New York City company owns this organization. This company is a small part of the corporate pie, a bit of a stepchild. The CEO is young with no strong management strategies and is overworked and stressed. Turnover is very high and mid-managers are young with no prior management experience. The parent company keeps threatening to sell the company or move it in-house. Production is low and quality is poor. At the same time, volume is growing and the company has tripled in size.

Strategy/Goals

1. Stabilize workforce and reduce turnover.
2. Focus on supporting CEO.
3. Develop and implement a strategic plan for development of a more "senior" management team.
4. Develop a quality assurance program.
5. Involve employees in solving day-to-day problems.
6. Implement a mid-management and frontline training program.
7. Create a positive, innovative and fun corporate culture.
8. Develop and implement infrastructure changes.

Actions

1. Conducted a fun and interactive communication in the workplace training to establish a relationship with training resistant employees.
2. Implemented company wide focus groups.
3. Posted focus group results and conducted small group sessions to discuss results.
4. Elected a frontline "Change Team."
5. Provided training and coaching of "Change Team."
6. Assisted CEO in identifying key management positions to be added.
7. Restructured management responsibilities with CEO.
8. Assisted CEO in developing more consistent policies and procedures.
9. Increased management visibility and interaction with all levels of employees; implemented "management by walking around, listening and taking the time to talk."
10. Coached individual employees on career strategies.
11. Life planning for all employees.
12. Reviewed and assisted management in developing and implementing new incentive programs.

Results

1. Dramatically reduced employee turnover.
2. First time the company became profitable and the first time it exceeded production goals.
3. A new and stable "senior" management team was established with greater loyalty to CEO and the company.
4. Former managers carved out new positions within the company by matching skills and interests with company needs. This was done with little turnover and increased satisfaction.
5. The Change Team was created, implemented and, after a while, disbanded as it was no longer needed.
6. CEO hired me for private executive coaching.
7. CEO was very successful and was recruited by a similar but larger company and received a sizable salary increase, signing bonus and stock options.

Situation #3

This situation is from the non-profit side. The work done was with a University Affiliated Program (UAP) that is federally funded to change existing state and local systems in the northeast. The work with this group has carried on for the last five years. Tango's responsibility has been to assist them in working with local rehabilitation providers to move from segregated, semi-institutional services to community-based services. These activities are resulting in people receiving services, gaining more power and control over their life and the services they receive. Most of the services the UAP focused on were employment services. Each year, two-provider organizations have been selected for systems change and Tango has conducted management training and executive level consultation. All of these organizations are statewide organizations that have national affiliations.

Strategy/Goals

1. Work with change resistant, under trained and underpaid staff to accept changes.
2. Work with the UAP staff and other national consultants to effect a unique strategic plan for change for each organization.
3. Develop collaborative relationships with other service providers and other community organizations.
4. Increase community presence and develop relationships with potential employers.
5. Assist in developing effective organizational branding strategies and marketing plan.
6. Train management staff on the networked organization and new management strategies.
7. Assist staff in overcoming their fear of technology and change.
8. Conduct informative meetings with other customer groups such as funders, parents of those receiving services and staff not involved in training.
9. Connect provider agencies with best practices in rehabilitation services.
10. Conduct modified life planning with all management staff participating in training.

Actions

1. Set up and coordinated with national consultants and UAP staff to develop training and consultation plan.
2. Conducted innovative and fun on-going management training for operations staff.
   • Mission/Values
   • Creating a new and inclusive corporate culture
   • Team Building
   • A new look at incentive programs
   • Best practices in rehabilitation services
3. Met with managers and executives for individual consultation and coaching.

Results

1. Participants enthusiastically embraced change and began to take significant risks.
2. Participants completed life plans.
3. Participants attended national conferences on best practices in rehabilitation services.
4. Infrastructure changes took place; several facilities closed down within nine months others scheduled to close in next year. Each provider organization experienced significant change in service provision.
5. People receiving services from agencies see major differences in quality of life, living arrangements and employment resulting, in higher income and greater community inclusion.
6. Became model sites for the rest of the state and was recognized as an international model for change in the field of rehabilitation services and community employment.
7. They keep calling for more training and consultation each year!