Case Study: A Panoramic Snapshot of Talent for Restructuring

Client Challenge

A national specialty restaurant company set a business goal to improve store performance by restructuring. They called on BHI for help with planning and implementation. Designed to leverage market resources, communications, and operational best practices, the realignment strategy would consolidate support groups for both company and franchise operations.

Restructuring presented challenges because the dynamics of managing operations support within the franchisee arena differ remarkably from those of company operations support. The competencies which lead to success in the company operations support group don't necessarily guarantee success in the franchise operations support group and vice versa. For example, the role of leaders in franchise store operations support requires a higher level of skill in relationship management to lead through influence. The role within company store operations support requires more directive leadership with the ability to enforce standards. Who among the current operational leaders had the strongest potential for success in the new consolidated role?

Solution

Example Panoramic View
of a BHI Talent Review

Click the image to see an enlarged version.

Partnering with the restaurant company, BHI provided a comprehensive, consistent, and common-language talent assessment of 150 key operations leaders within five weeks without interrupting day-to-day operations. A Talent Review Dashboard was prepared on each individual and included:

Ratings of 14 leadership competencies aligned with company performance objectives
Narrative report outlining key strengths and developmental needs
Fit-For-Position graph for each of the roles in the new structure

Results

In one afternoon during a meeting of the top executive team, BHI presented a powerfully vivid picture of where the company stood regarding operational talent for restructuring. The Talent Review Dashboards and the comprehensive review process put a clear focus on the leadership competencies needed to drive business results, enabling decisions about restructuring to be made with more precision and confidence.

Talent levels by individual, team, and entire regions could quickly be reviewed resulting in more targeted relocation, promotion, and role-change decisions
Specific recruiting strategies could be identified to close exposed gaps in management talent
A common language was generated to nurture a culture centered on the identified leadership competencies