Strategic and Organizational Alignment Korn/Ferry consultants offer solutions for aligning structure, organization and talent with business strategy.
Leadership and Executive Development We offer powerful solutions for equipping leaders and optimizing leadership performance.
Talent and Performance Management Our consultants can help you establish and implement a scalable talent management foundation.
"Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of things brought together."
— Vincent Van Gogh
Strategic Alignment Strategic Alignment is the state of having organization-wide talent management systems, plans, processes, information, resources and actions aligned with organizational strategy.
Align talent and strategy Companies that integrate and align all components of their human resource architecture see a substantial increase in per – employee market value. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five alignment issues:
• Talent integration. All systems that touch human capital need to be integrated to improve overall impact.
• A common language. There is a common language used to describe business strategies, organizational capabilities and people capabilities or competencies.
• Talent/market value synergy. The value of human capital needs to be fully recognized and reflected in an organization's market value.
• Processes to execute on the strategy. The organization needs to be equipped to execute and sustain a business strategy.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"Today we are enhancing the leadership team and structure across the division to ensure we have the right organization to support our technology vision."
— Kevin Johnson (speaking of major organization redesign at Microsoft)
Organization Structure and Design Organization design refers to the decisions and procedures used to bring about changes in the organizational structure to make it more effective and efficient.
Build efficient organization structures Having an effective organization structure is critical to implementing your strategy. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five organization structure and design issues:
• Allocation of responsibilities. Organizational structure identifies the positions in an office, determines who manages departments and defines individual job roles.
• Response to external environment. An efficient organization design addresses and can respond to the external environment, including the competitive marketplace, industry trends, and other socio-economic factors.
• Organization productivity. Putting an effective organizational structure into place can increase productivity, improve operating costs and employee satisfaction.
• Rethinking roles. Successful organizations regularly rethink the roles that managers, departments and committees play and adjust their organization structure accordingly.
• Restructuring and reengineering. Organizations often need to be agile enough to change their organization structure and design as a result of downsizing or reengineering efforts, divestitures, or mergers and acquisitions.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"Of course the merger was a success. Neither company could have lost that much money on its own."
— Steve Case, Former Chairman, AOL/Time Warner
M&A and Post-merger Integration Mergers and acquisitions refer to the buying, selling, and combining of different companies that can provide rapid growth without having to create an additional business entity.
Address talent's role in M&As Successful mergers and acquisitions involve the coordinated integration of an organization's culture, strategy and people. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five M&A issues:
• Change readiness. Assessing your organization's capacity/capability for change.
• Strategic direction. Identifying and communicating strategic direction.
• Organization synergies. Maximizing acquired/acquiring company synergies (and minimizing differences.)
• Talent integration. Determining the behavioral, cultural, and experiential fit of acquired talent.
• Cultural integration. Mapping the culture and values of the two organizations – and integrating the culture and values in the newly formed organization.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"What we missed is the total integration of both companies to form one homogenous team. We made several approaches to acheive that but apparently the corporate culture and the way to run the business is different."
— Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
Culture Alignment Culture alignment is the process of building a corporate culture to achieve strategic goals.
Manage growth through culture alignment While many say that culture integration is based on "soft" rather than "hard" organization qualities, research supports that it is these "soft" qualities that can be credited with bottom line growth. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five cultural talent alignment issues:
• Trust. Current and future high potential leaders are looking for alignment between what an organization says it stands for and what it really stands for.
• Customer value proposition. Recent research suggests organizations look to customers for an objective definition of its culture.
• Attraction/Retention factors. Again, research puts an organization's corporate culture parallel to financial considerations in both attracting and retaining top talent.
• Diversity. Implementation of broad-based cultural diversity efforts has been shown to reflect an organization's true culture.
• Senior management support. Culture change efforts consistently fail without visible, unanimous senior management support. Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"We do not go to work only to earn an income, but to find meaning in our lives. What we do is a large part of what we are."
— Alan Ryan, Princeton Professor
Executive Compensation Executive compensation refers to external, objective advice that helps organizations align executive compensation with shareholder value, strategy and sound governance practices.
Align compensation with strategy Many factors can drive compensation change efforts, whether it is a change in strategy, a corporate transaction, or simply the need to re-align your compensation program as your business evolves over time. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these four executive compensation issues:
• Total compensation. Includes total compensation review, competitive pay assessment, incentive plan design, and equity plan design and share usage.
• Performance measurement. Includes measurement selection, goal setting, pay for performance alignment, and shareholder expectations analysis.
• Special pay arrangements. Includes employment contracts, severance and change-in-control programs, pay plans for corporate transactions (e.g. IPO, spin-off, M&A, etc.) and special retention programs.
• Board governance. Includes compensation committee advisor, board compensation review and design, proxy disclosure guidance, and compensation committee process review.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"Leadership is helping other people grow and succeed. Leadership is not just about you. It's about them."
— Jack Welch
Succession Planning Succession planning is a talent review process and subsequent plan designed to systematically identify, assess, develop, and retain high performing and high potential talent.
Build succession planning into your strategy Organizations today are asking who will lead the business in this new millennium as baby-boomers retire and CEO tenure shrinks to a median of five years. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five succession planning issues:
• Identify and develop high-potential talent early. For potential candidates to be ready to accede to CEO, serious development needs to start by age 30.
• Create a formal high-potential identification process. Building and implementing a succession plan depends on creating a formal, high potential identification process.
• Use a 9-cell development plan for each high potential. The 9-cell matrix is used to measure employees along two distinctive dimensions—performance and potential.
• Use learning agility as the measure of potential. Studies show the ability to learn from experience (learning agility) is how an individual demonstrates what high potential is.
• Identify the competencies high potentials need. Organizations use competency-based programs for a variety of applications including managing individual development, providing individual performance feedback, and assessing interview candidates and matching people to job competency requirements.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"Leadership means that a group, large or small, is willing to entrust authority to a person who has shown judgement, wisdom, personal appeal, and proven competence."
— Walt Disney
Competency Modeling Competency modeling includes the analysis and the process of identifying and documenting measurable human characteristics in terms of skills, knowledge, abilities, values, interests and personality.
Align competency models with strategy Research shows that most organizations are involved in competency modeling in some form or another as part of their HRM efforts. Unfortunately, many of the companies assume a one-size-fits-all philosophy in their approach to building a competency-modeling program. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five competency drivers:
• Best-in-class assessments. The best competency models are based on assessments of top individual performers and top performing organizations.
• Competitive-edge focus. Competency models that are aligned to an organization’s strategic vision are the most effective.
• High-speed implementation. Competency model structures need to be adaptable and fast and easy to implement.
• Scalable. Effective competency models need to address the needs of all levels and areas of an organization.
• Management supported. Integrating competency models in organizations requires the support of senior management and an organization’s top performers.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
“People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn't make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.”
— Mary Kay Ash
High-potential Engagement High-potential development, management and engagement is an approach organizations use to identify and retain their high-potential talent and accelerate high-potential competency development.
Build high-potential management into your strategy While engaging all employees is important, engaging high potentials is even more important. Companies concerned with maximizing ROI are investing most of their engagement resources in high potentials. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five high-potential engagement issues:
• Challenge. Research shows that high potentials possess a quicker trigger to quit the company if they are not fully engaged.
• Trust and respect in top management. Employees who trust organizational leadership reciprocate in the form of loyalty, support, pride, and identification with the organization.
• Palpable talent management. Best practice organizations use HR to streamline the engagement process, remove barriers, and make sure there is consistency in implementation.
• Personal impact. Recent research shows that high potentials need to know they are having a personal impact on the organization and its direction.
• Positive people treatment. Organizations who take a proactive, strategic, and dynamic approach to employee engagement are in a better position to retain high potentials.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"Leadership means that a group, large or small, is willing to entrust authority to a person who has shown judgment, wisdom, personal appeal, and proven competence."
— Walt Disney
Leadership Development Leadership development programs provide leadership development to groups of key people by integrating assessment, development and coaching into a single talent development process.
Develop your organization's leaders Studies show that investments in leadership development improve bottom-line performance, attract and retain talent, drive a performance culture, and increase organizational agility. Korn/Ferry consultants provide customized offerings that address three leadership development program issues:
• Customized programs. A typical program includes assessment, development and coaching for groups of 6-30 at a time, individual leadership assessment and ongoing coaching, and a final plan that integrates learning from the program with other leadership learning experiences.
• Research-based approach. Effective leadership development programs follow a basic framework that includes awareness, commitment, practice, and accountability.
• Personal and interpersonal leadership development. The most valuable programs after a unique, sophisticated curriculum focused on personal and interpersonal leadership development rather than typical content or skill-intensive leadership programs.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
“If you really got the right people, and you’ve got them working together as a team, whether it’s in business, whether it’s in science, whether it’s in politics, you can make a big difference.”
— Steve Case
Senior Team/Board Effectiveness Senior team/board effectiveness refers to the group dynamics, governance, performance, transparency and overall effectiveness of leadership teams and boards of directors.
Increase team functioning at all levels Being effective at all levels — with individual, team or board issues — requires a degree of efficiency and effectiveness few teams or boards possess. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five senior team/board effectiveness issues:
• A common mindset. The senior team/board forms a common mindset about what needs to be accomplished.
• Integrity and trust. Executives trust each other to do what is right for the team and for each other.
• Skills. Each member of the team/board possesses the skills to get the job done.
• Teaming and task skills. The team is able to operate efficiently and effectively as a team and understands how to come together to get the job done.
• Support. The organization’s C-suite needs to support the team/board, and the team/board leader needs to be well-matched to support the team. Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"Leadership means that a group, large or small, is willing to entrust authority to a person who has shown judgment, wisdom, personal appeal, and proven competence."
— Walt Disney
Enterprise Learning Enterprise learning provides challenging and stimulating experiences that help participants think through strategic issues and leadership challenges, broaden their perspectives, and learn to improve personal, team and organizational performance.
Educate to meet organization challenges Education and development are vital to job satisfaction and retention. In difficult times, leadership education is especially critical for executives looking to meet the organization’s challenges. Korn/Ferry consultants offer customized enterprise learning solutions to address four executive education issues:
• Customized not off-the-shelf. Each enterprise learning and leadership needs to meet the current needs and vision of an organization.
• Goals and objectives identified. Professionals work with clients’ key stakeholders to identify the goals and objectives for the initiative.
• Competencies selected. Organizations collaborate to identify the competencies that need to be developed.
• Creating a road map and program materials. After developing a high-level road map, consultants work with organizations to create program materials, pilot and revise the program, roll it out, and evaluate and measure results.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
"What's really driving the boom in coaching, is this: as we move from 30 miles an hour to 70 to 120 to 180...the whole game changes, and a lot of people are trying to keep up, and learn how not to fall off."
— John Kotter, Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School
Executive Coaching Executive development and coaching are all of the activities that are aimed at the development of the top 5-10 percent of leaders in an organization to build the skills and competencies they need to optimize personal, team, and organizational impact.
Develop leaders from the inside out Executive development is the key to unlocking system changes within an organization. Korn/Ferry consultants can help in these executive development and coaching areas:
• Accelerated development coaching. Builds strategic leadership competencies and builds organization bench strength.
• Enterprise leadership coaching. Integrates persona, team and strategic leadership objectives for enterprise leaders.
• Transition coaching. Accelerates performance into critical positions following promotion or rotation.
• Reinforcement coaching. Implements and individualizes education content, performance plans, or situation-specific topics to make learning stick.
• Cohort and team coaching. Forges business partnership and performance development capabilities for teams and other cohorts, when common development goals rise. Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
Paikea: Why doesn't he want me? Porourangi: He's just looking for something that doesn't exist anymore. Paikea: A new leader? They exist.
— Whale Rider, 2002
Executive Onboarding Onboarding is the process of integrating or assimilating a new leader or a newly promoted leader into an organization or role.
Increase time to productivity with onboarding Studies show there are two key performance indicators to measure successful onboarding: Time to productivity, and engagement and retention.
The typical onboarding process includes the initial orientation process in addition to the ensuing three-to-six months. Korn/Ferry consultants can help address these five executive onboarding issues:
• Shortening the productivity curve. Most leaders are fully functional at around six months on the job. Offering new leaders a comprehensive, structured onboarding program can reduce that time by as much as two months.
• Reduce turnover. Structured onboarding programs have been found to substantially reduce turnover rates in new leaders.
• Increase leader engagement. Onboarding programs that include a socialization element are more successful than programs that disregard this important element.
• Satisfaction with the onboarding process. An onboarding process that evolves over six months or more has been shown to be more effective.
• New leader derailment. Building a measurement tool into the onboarding process can help leaders build momentum during the critical first six months.
Contact Korn/Ferry to found out how our unique range of products and services can help with your executive onboarding efforts.
