The best way to understand the work we do and the way we do it is to speak to some of our clients and we would be pleased to organise this for you. The next best option is to read the sample client stories that follow:
| Building a Global Organisation from a Promoter Managed Start up |
This 7 year old e-publishing company was on the threshold of tremendous growth but was also facing difficulty in attracting, developing and retaining people. The founders of this organisation invited totus to partner with them and support them in this journey of growth.
totus has worked with this client for 4 years over 5 engagements.
In the first phase, we designed a customer oriented structure and helped the company transition towards the new structure. We backed this up with staffing strategies and policies, compensation systems, work force management policies and the design of a performance management system thus laying the foundation for HR in the organisation. A high point of this phase was the support in setting up of a dedicated e-publishing training school that helped address once and for all, the difficulty in sourcing skilled manpower for front line jobs.
In the next phase of the engagement, we helped the company take HR to the next level through the design of development initiatives, variable pay plans and employee engagement initiatives.
This organisation has today grown to a 1000 member size and is on the threshold of becoming a successful Indian multinational. The unique value that totus brought to the table was a deep understanding of the client’s need together with the ability to conceptualise the right initiatives and closely partner with the founders in its implementation. Part of the engagement involved working with the founders as their Executive Coach to help them re-align their leadership styles and orientations to meet the needs of the organisation.
| Supporting the CEO in managing Organisational Change |
An organisation in the field of developing, producing and marketing a wide range of conventional and UV printing inks on a global basis was undergoing change from being a small local entrepreneurial company to becoming part of an MNC that was also acquiring other smaller companies in the country. totus was invited in an advisory role to the CEO to help manage the change process.
totus was involved in the audit of HR systems and processes and alignment of HR to business, providing implementation support to all major HR initiatives like Performance Management, Pay and Rewards cycle, Development cycle, formal communication and feedback systems.
Most importantly, a totus Principal Consultant played the role of a Coach and sounding board to the CEO for advice on matters that required a country specific approach. The global performance management system was adapted to meet the local needs. totus worked with the management team to develop a formal communication mechanism which proved to be a useful tool for communication of various acquisitions which were happening in the organisation.
The CEO felt supported in the change process since he could check and validate his actions.
| Finding Common Ground – Top Leadership |
The CEO of one of India’s leading international banks, a part of a fortune 500 global giant approached totus to help him mobilise his team and rally them around the new business strategy that had been evolved for the bank. Given that he and some of his management team members had moved into the roles recently, there was a need to build collaboration within the team and get them to commit to the new strategy.
While the sponsor’s expectation was a workshop to achieve the objective, totus was of the view that for any such change and future oriented workshop to succeed, significant amount of preparatory work had to happen, much before the workshop.
The Principal Consultants of totus worked with the leadership team over a six week period to jointly evolve the agenda and image of the preferred future. The summary data and the proposed design was shared with the team and their agreement was obtained. The preparatory work also included a leadership team 360 degree survey.
With preparation of such a robust nature, participants came to the workshop with a high level of ownership for both the design and the outcomes. This led to the team enthusiastically sharing the CEO’s future strategy.
The offshore development center of a global technology major managed by one of India’s leading IT Services companies, approached totus with a request to support their re-missioning exercise. The offshore development center was guided by a mission document, which had been crafted a few years ago. Given the changing business context in the industry, there was a need to create a new mission document that would guide the organization through the next leap of growth.
Given the culture, the leaders were keen on evolving the mission in ‘as inclusive a manner’ as possible. Using some of the principles of appreciative enquiry we designed an interview protocol which was used to discover the success of the past, the dream of the future and the wishes the employees had. To support the re-missioning event, teams also engaged in a significant amount of preparatory work in terms of data collection, analysis and so on.
With a community of over fifty participants, the re-missioning event was characterised by high energy and enthusiasm. While there was an animated debate, the mission that was finally evolved was completely owned by all present. The mission was highly appreciated by all stakeholders and seen as most appropriate for the future.
Supporting the CEI in a crucial leadership intervention
A recently founded company in the media space realised that its original business model was significantly impacted by the economic downturn and was faced with an inevitable task of reinventing its future. While reinvesting in the future, the CEO wanted to do it in an inclusive manner so that the team stayed committed to the new direction. The CEO invited totus to support him in this very crucial leadership intervention.
totus recognised that searching for a new preferred future would require that the Organisation discovers its strength, its passion and its economic engine. Using a very appreciative process, totus had a conversation with the entire management team and helped arrive at the first level of consensus. totus also got the leadership team members to do a fair amount of structured thinking around the market opportunities, the Organisation capabilities, value proposition and so on.
The team was able to come to terms with its disappointments and challenges and commit to a new direction, a new Organisation Design as well as a new set of strategies. Most importantly, the entire leadership team was committed of those outcomes.
|
