Success Stories
Special Olympics New Zealand
Special Olympics New Zealand approached ChangeWorks to assist
them with a high level review of their organisation. Special
Olympics is experiencing significant growth in its athlete
numbers which puts pressure on funding and management roles and
structure.
Our plans suggested we needed NZ$3.8 million in the next
financial year to achieve our goals for the year. We were
struggling to raise half of that and our current financial year
operating costs were NZ$1.6 million. We were concerned we were
developing a top heavy organisation when we needed resources at
the front line supporting athletes and volunteers. We asked
SPARC for help. SPARC suggested we consider ChangeWorks. We knew
ChangeWorks had completed similar review work and were known for
their understanding of the issues that face the sporting and
not-for-profit sectors. They came to grips with our organisation
quickly, challenged our thinking and delivered the results we
were after. The return in the first year on our investment in
ChangeWorks will be at least 600% and the impact on our
effectiveness is greater than that.
The Outcome
We have implemented a new organisational structure where all
but two staff are directly working on school or community sport
issues with strengthened leadership and accountability for
distinct work. Our stakeholders and staff are commenting
regularly on the improvement. Funders are rewarding us.
We now have a clear focus on growing and supporting the core
Special Olympics community through schools, clubs, volunteers
and coaches and building a network of people who advocate and
support the unique quality of Special Olympics for athletes. At
the same time we have decreased the amount of money we need to
raise while also increasing our focus on raising funds. Our
attractiveness to funders has increased because we have removed
layers of "national office" overhead cost while increasing focus
on the people we serve.
The clear benefits in re-focusing our organisation have been:
- paying more attention to our core frontline activities
- huge cost savings - we are around 40% below the previous
year’s expenditure and spending less than one third of planned
expenditure while achieving plan outcomes. We are more
attractive to funders.
Working with ChangeWorks
The key insight from ChangeWorks during this organisational
change process was for us to organise around the community network
we serve rather than by programmes we offer or traditional
not-for-profit management roles. We also accepted that our CEO
needed to be our Chief Fundraising Officer as well as the leader of
our team. These insights were invaluable and it was based on the
fact that they knew our sector. We ended up asking ourselves why it
had taken us this long to work it out!
ChangeWorks were direct in their advice throughout and provided
huge value for us and we are extremely grateful for this.
David Rutherford
Chair
New Zealand Special Olympics
Porirua City Council
Having worked with ChangeWorks on several projects, Porirua City
Council contacted ChangeWorks to perform a Capability and
Resources Review, an annual refreshment Vision/Values programme.
I also worked with them as co-sponsor for a regional shared
services feasibility study for building compliance.
The Outcome
- Ability to relate to a diverse staff and get them involved
- Engaging us in the planning or project
- Free and frank advice – ‘telling it how it is’
- Clear and attainable capability planning
- Accurate and complete capability and resource review
- Values definition with a range of staff, supported by
clear goals and action planning
- Achieving the outcome with us
Working with ChangeWorks
We have always had excellent service from everyone we have
worked with from ChangeWorks. Over the years PCC has developed a
special relationship with Shona Mainwaring and find her
knowledge, expertise and ability to relate to all members of our
diverse staff to be invaluable. Shona has never failed to
deliver anything but a quality outcome for us and this is why
PCC has established an on-going rapport with ChangeWorks based
on confidence in the outstanding quality of results.
Don’t take our word….
“We have always been confident with the
knowledge that the outcome of the project ChangeWorks were
involved with us has been of the highest quality, rigorously
researched and used the most appropriate management
techniques or tools and delivered in a highly professional
manner with a personal touch.”
David Rolfe
Acting Chief Executive
Porirua City Council
Youth Hostel Association Leading for Change Programme
The Youth Hostel Association (NZ) approached ChangeWorks to
assist them with a transformational Leadership Development
Programme which would develop the leadership capability of their
senior managers in a planned and focussed way.
The Challenge
YHA needed to make a substantive commitment to their people’s
professional development and help support those who had
self-elected for transition from front line to senior management
positions. At the time there was an absence of any
organisational support or systems for those who wanted to
progress to higher leadership roles.
The Outcome
The clear benefits of the Leadership Development Programme have been:
- realising and better identifying true talent and leadership potential
- an investment in human capital with greater efficiency and productivity gains
- consistent behaviour that supported the wider change management process
- a deeper commitment from their people with no participant turnover
- a clear message to employees that the organisation was willing to commit and invest in their professional development
- leadership in action working on real work challenges that they could apply immediately
- leadership skills that developed them individually as people and for the organisation
- a significant improvement in organisational engagement, morale and culture
Working with ChangeWorks
“They worked hard to achieve the
outcomes we were seeking and were always very responsive to
our specific needs and requests. They worked in a
mutually-respectful and professional manner throughout and
their match of consultants to the differing participant
personalities was also invaluable. I would have no
hesitation in recommending them to peers and colleagues.”
Mark Wells
CEO
Youth Hostel Association NZ
Charities Commission
Charities Commission contracted ChangeWorks to help us
define our values and begin to embed them in to how we do
business.
We worked with Grant Herman who was an excellent
consultant. He is extremely professional, prompt, thorough,
and he has a good engaging facilitation style that matched
our culture.
Identifying an organisation’s values can be seen by some
managers as a "warm and fluffy" exercise. Grant conveyed to
our management the strategic importance and benefits of
values for our organisation and gained all staff’s "buy in"
in a professional, credible and low key way. Staff warmed to
Grant and felt comfortable participating in workshops.
The Outcome
The project involved a workshop with the senior
leadership team (SLT) and two staff workshops to identify a
set of values for the Commission and how these values would
be interpreted in the workplace. There was then a follow up
session with the SLT to refine the draft values, agree a
series of definitions and discuss how they would be embedded
in the organisation. The Commission then proceeded to use
the values as a means of aligning work practices, their
performance management system and role descriptions. The
Commission reported that the whole exercise had been a
success.
Working with ChangeWorks
Grant understood our needs, coached, rather than told,
and supported us professionally through the whole project.
Grant is a capable practitioner who remains understated. I
liked that.
ChangeWorks are very good OD consultants who are self
aware and competent. They are happy to pare back their
consultancy to fit budget and still be realistic about what
can be achieved within that budget. They used the
consultancy time well and did not overcharge for the
services we received.
ChangeWorks are practitioners, happy to defer to each
other’s strengths and work as a team, rather than promoting
their individual abilities. They stand for understated
professionalism.
Leanne Mackay
Human Resources
Charities Commission
Porirua City Council
For some time, I’d had in mind an organisation review for the
Council. Discussions with ChangeWorks helped me to formulate my
thinking in terms of how to go about such a review.
In particular, we were interested in breaking down our silos,
increasing interaction and communication, and improving our
overall leadership capability.
ChangeWorks’ philosophy attracted me initially; very in tune
with mine, in terms of engaging and involving staff in the
process. Their suggested approach to change – engage, involve,
empower - is very much participative, and their approach to how
we were doing business was thorough.
The Outcome
Around 1/3 of total Council staff self-nominated into focus
groups at the beginning of the organisation review, to assist
with drawing out the range of issues to be addressed as part of
the process. We were really pleased with the level of buy-in
early on.
This initial engagement process provided our management team
with a very clear idea of what was needed, and the
organisational review report and process provided us with an
agenda for action.
Prior to the review, the Council utilised clunky
systems/processes – this was frustrating and we knew that we
needed to become more efficient and effective as an
organisation. Working with ChangeWorks has helped us plan and
implement our move from being a product-based structure, to now
working as a group of functional workstreams.
Once we were clear about our strengths and what we needed to
do differently, we used their innovative "Circuit Breaker"
methodology, in order to "crunch" some strategic projects that
were well overdue.
In the past, Council has embarked on a number of projects
that have gone beyond desired time frames. As part of the
review, the "Circuit Breaker" model allowed us to complete two
major strategic projects within very short time frames, with
clear deliverables and excellent results. People are now working
much better cross-corporately, with senior managers having
increased involvement in the planning of major projects. This is
critical for the efficient running of Council, and for the
development of our city.
As well as several "mission critical" projects being
completed, using this Circuit Breaker approach has absolutely
developed leadership skills across Council – we now have a group
of champions as a result of using this methodology. By working
in cross corporate teams, we have benefited from the power of
collaboration of people working across teams.
In terms of the organisation review, these Circuit Breaker
projects have helped shift the culture across the Council. “One
Council, one team” is how we wish to operate now and into the
future.
Working with ChangeWorks
We worked with Grant, Shona and Phil on this project; they
each brought complementary strengths. Grant’s analytical,
innovative approach to organisation development was the building
block for the project’s infrastructure. Shona, with her keen
perception and facilitation skills, and strong focus on the
importance of people issues around culture of change, kept our
people well looked after. Phil brought his strong facilitation
and analytical skills to many phases of the project, along with
his preparedness to challenge and question.
Throughout this process, the ChangeWorks team worked very
closely with our people. We found them to be professional and
very insightful, and their advice was good. Their analytical and
innovative approach to organisation development, combined with
their strong facilitation and people skills, made them a
valuable partner as we worked through this important process.
Full marks to ChangeWorks with respect to their approach to
change.
Roger Blakeley
Chief Executive Officer
Porirua City Council
Senior Management Team – Performance Evaluation and Performance Management project
Our senior management team was lacking a meaningful
performance management system. We asked ChangeWorks to work with
us to come up with a robust performance management regime that
would provide us with good, meaningful feedback.
We particularly wanted to avoid the "tick the box" type
processes, rigid systems that were time consuming – often
creating additional work for managers. We wanted a process that
would deal with some quite entrenched behaviours and habits. We
also wanted a process that avoided discussions about
remuneration, promotion and bonuses and focussed on performance
feedback and performance development.
ChangeWorks designed a process specifically for our people –
it was very in tune with them. Using a competency based
approach, ChangeWorks collected qualitative feedback about each
senior manager which was distilled in to themes and fed back one
on one.
We met a little cynicism at the outset, however, as people
became more familiar with the process, the feedback was good –
people could see the benefit in it for them and they felt
engaged and valued.
People were able to discuss some, often fairly
sensitive/difficult matters, and a non-threatening environment
was evident, where the opportunity was taken to deliver bouquets
as well as brickbats. This is not something that has occurred in
the past, so it was a breakthrough for us.
The Outcome
We now have a meaningful process for performance feedback for
our senior management team. It’s a process people feel part of,
and one that will continue to deliver meaningful behavioural
change going forward.
Working with ChangeWorks
ChangeWorks worked with us in a focused, efficient and
productive manner. Having Shona conduct the interviews on my
behalf, provided a non-threatening environment where people
could be completely open and honest. Shona gained people’s
confidence and people felt they could trust her discretion
entirely – there were no connotations of criticising colleagues
behind their backs. The feedback gathered will feed into key
performance and personal objectives for the year ahead.
Throughout the project, Shona provided mentoring, assistance
with planning and discussion around strategy with individuals as
they worked through the feedback process. Her non threatening
style along with her maturity and knowledge enabled people to be
honest and frank.
To sum up, we gathered accurate, wide-ranging, relevant and
comprehensive feedback, from a variety of perspectives. There
were no "stains on the fence" throughout. People could say what
they found difficult and what bugged them – coaching was
available and we provided support for change through mentoring
and facilitation.
General Manager
Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC)
Working with ChangeWorks
We asked ChangeWorks to assist us in reviewing our organisation. There were three stages to this:
- Looking at how effective SPARC was in the way we operated, and identifying the best structure for us.
- Developing proposals for changing our structure and ways of working.
- Assisting us in deciding how to implement the changes.
We worked with two consultants, Phil Hartwick and Grant
Herman who brought different strengths to the review.
Phil’s analytical approach and facilitative style during the
diagnosis stage was very good. He developed the contribution of
key staff and worked well with the project team.
Grant had a robust, pragmatic and "real" approach to
implementation. It’s easy to get lost in process and detail, but
Grant achieved the right balance in his advice between keeping
up the momentum and ensuring that we observed our employment
obligations.
Phil and Grant were very adaptable in working with our
timetable challenges. They were responsive and willing to adapt
to meet our needs, while also ensuring there was no undue
“mucking around”.
The Outcomes
ChangeWorks provided us with a good diagnosis of the things
we had to work on. This involved the development of a new
organisational structure and ways of working, with the input of
our staff throughout the process. This was not a solution that
was imposed from outside or from the top.
Overall, the review helped us get clearer about our core
structures and business processes.
Nick Hill
Chief Executive
Sport and Recreation New Zealand
Other clients
Some organisations, particularly in the Government sector, do
not offer public endorsements. Although we cannot attribute
them, these comments were offered freely and in good faith by
other ChangeWorks clients.
- ...Shona, is “a professional”. She is someone who "knows her stuff" and is a "great facilitator"
- ….I just wanted to thank you for facilitating our workshop on Thursday Shona. I really enjoyed your facilitation style. The day was well run and people are feeling much more positive about
the road ahead …..The notes you provided are excellent
- … We have a large volume of work that we just need help
with at the moment. ChangeWorks have helped us to manage
putting some policies in place, implementation and
understanding of HR. At another time facilitation of a
difficult situation for a manager and staff member. Another
time it was staff training.
- A good result was achieved in the facilitation, the
training went well and the advice and support we are getting
at the moment is great.
- ChangeWorks have shown flexibility, experience and
understanding of the reality of organisations.
- They have been very helpful for us.…
- … I'm happy to provide a verbal reference for Shona any
time she wishes…
- …We have had very good service from ChangeWorks. We do
not provide endorsement. I am, however, happy to act as a
referee…
Contact
Changeworks to find out more, ph 04 472
0461