Value for the Client Company and its Stockholders

1. Revenue

Our engagements have proven that our effective and efficient change leadership will get your company to the revenue goals of the change initiative much more quickly … increasing total revenue and cash flow. Changes that are implemented on time allow projected revenue increases from the “business case for change” to become actuals.

In addition, our “high-involvement” change methodologies give employees the opportunity to make economic improvements as they go, frequently besting business case projections. If there is money to be made in your company’s change maneuver, Holland & Davis consultants will work with your employees to find every dollar. 

• One of our consultant teams working with a client change team just found an extra $10M of earnings that was unanticipated by management.  And one of our CEO clients said that our change work had put more than a $1B on their bottom line (and to think, we were charging by the hour).

2. Costs

Our engagements have proven that costs go down with effective and efficient change … because there will be careful design of the change, as well as fewer miss-steps and false starts. Our methodologies and experienced consultants allow changes to be made on target, on time, and on budget … decreasing implementation costs and virtually eliminating “unforeseen cost overruns.”

Our project management-savvy consultants will provide you with both the discipline and methods to keep a change cost budget. This tool is proven to keep costs under control. We enable status briefings to management to have valid progress and cost measures so that senior management can feel “in control of the change.”

• Since we do not use hordes of our consultants but instead use client teams to do the majority of the change work, the total consulting costs associated with actual client results are considerably lower with HDI (in most cases, we believe more than 50% lower). In addition, final implementation costs to the client are considerably lower because the clients have been working inside the projects from the beginning, saving the client the considerable time and expense of “selling an outside consultant’s report to the organization.”

3. Time

Our clients attest that Holland & Davis’ effective and efficient change leadership and methodologies save time … because of better organization and scheduling of the change with fewer miss-steps and false starts.

We know that one of the toughest obstacles to change is getting buy-in from the troops. Our change methodologies plan for implementation from the get go … and we use in-depth involvement techniques and tools to ensure that employees are designing and implementing changes that they “own and support.”

• One of our consulting teams was just engaged to be “third consultants” into a project that was over time and over budget. Our team has caught the project up to schedule and is setting the pace for the technologists on the project. 

4. Risk Management

We frequently see companies back away from change because they fear the risks of change.  Our clients take on those opportunities and confirm that H&D’s effective and efficient change leadership allows them to identify, constantly check the status, and mitigate risks both to the organization and the change initiative.

Our risk management templates allow us to identity risk areas well in advance in order to put effective risk mitigation measures into place. We use “concurrent action reviews” (cars) to learn your company’s unique lessons as the project goes along … no waiting until the end of a project to do “lessons learned.”

• We recently completed a peer review on one of our own projects and spotted two key risks that had been seen but undervalued. The change team was able to get the support it needed to protect against those risks.

5. Development

Our clients demonstrate that H&D effective and efficient change becomes a positive learning experience for the company. H&D tools are left behind for the company’s use. The H&D side-by-side and arm-in-arm approaches in our engagements allow employees to experience how change is done.

While our typical consultant has worked in ten or more change projects, client employees frequently have not had the opportunity to be both a part of a change and a student of “how to do it” as the change progresses. Our consultants were selected because they are enjoy coaching and transferring what they know about change management to client employees.

• We recently completed a business readiness project for one of the big three energy trading organizations that was implementing energy trading and risk management software. Their staff played an important role along side our consultants, using our change management toolkit.  Now that staff has gone solo for subsequent system rollouts!

6. Confidence

Our clients validate that H&D effective and efficient change gives them the confidence to know that they can make the change happen … because they recognize that H&D has led change successfully many times before. Our guys “have been there, done that, and done it well.”

When our focused consultants enable your work teams or departments to make small and steady gains in your change initiative, confidence and momentum will build and performance will build with it.

• We recently helped a client by program managing the movement of their administrate operations from New Jersey to North Carolina. The relocation went so well from the beginning that managers in the client organization felt confident to make major and aggressive changes in work processes during the move. The relocation, by the way, was completed on target, on time, and under budget.
   

7. Morale

We frequently see companies back away from change opportunities because they fear a change “will run off good employees who don’t want to suffer through the change.”  Our clients verify that Holland & Davis’ effective and efficient change approach keeps hope and spirits up, leading to better chances of success, and feelings of employee pride.

Client employees consistently view H&D professionals as personally supportive and helpful to employees. It is a part of our job to make your company’s change initiative a positive, growing experience.

• We just conducted 19 interviews as a part of our “winding down” during a successful project. The theme of those responses was clear: “We had a long-standing problem on our hands, and we didn’t think it would ever get fixed. But it did get fixed, thanks to your focus, support and encouragement.”  “We did it!” they said.

Value for the Individuals Who Work with H&D

1. Your Revenue

Your personal revenue, (i.e., your “stock in the company”) goes up when H&D ensures that you and your change initiative are seen as business successes. We don’t claim credit for the success, you do! Our consultants are not in business to make your employees look bad or to compete with them.

Our consultants are not looking for a job in your company … they are there to do a change project well, helping your personal success, not trying to prove that they could do your job better than you can.

• One of our clients was heading a very successful change initiative (with our help) and just received a double promotion. He certainly gets credit for that, but we were riding shotgun and providing what turned out to be long hours and sage advice.
   

2. Your Costs

Stress, frustration, and an acid stomach frequently accompany change. Our job, using our senior consultants and proven methodologies, is to keep your personal costs as low as possible. It is our job to be in the “line of fire” when the nature of the change produces inevitable conflicts between departments and between employees.

Our job is to “sweat the many details of the change” while you ensure that your present job gets the attention it needs. Imagine us burning the midnight oil while you get ready for the next day. We haven’t lost a customer yet!

• Several of our clients have said, “There must be more to life than managing the myriad of frustrating details in a big change maneuver.” There is.  Managing the myriad is OUR life!

3. Personal Time

We protect your most valuable asset … your personal time. There will be little or no need for 80 hour weeks or “all nighters” when H&D uses its proven methodologies and senior people to lead your change initiative.

Our engagements prove you can have a “regular life” while a change is going on. You don’t “take the change home” and worry about tomorrow. Instead, we take your change home and plan tomorrow for you. And we are accustomed to doing that; after all, we signed up (volunteered!) to be real-time change consultants inside your organization.

• Our consultants have said to clients on more than one occasion, “You guys go home, we got the ball!”

4. Personal Risk Management

Your personal career and your ongoing working relationships with your co-workers are precious. You will not be at risk of damaging either with H&D senior consultants handling difficult change issues. We will assist in preventing/resolving conflict and leading the “tough conversations” … while making sure “the real business facts” are on the table.

We have all seen situations where an employee runs a career risk for calling a spade, a spade … for surfacing issues that may be politically unpopular … for “getting on some one else’s turf.” Our job as change consultants is to do what needs to be done without exposing you to unnecessary risks.

• How do you tell your boss that his plan has fatal flaws and can’t be done the way he specified? The answer is, “Very carefully.” We recently had the pleasure of leading that conversation and using data to make our point … which our client greatly appreciated.

5. Professional Development

We don’t know everything, but what we do know, we will share with you. Knowing “how to successfully lead change and how to be cool under fire” will give you a competence that will support every position you will attain during the rest of your work life.

Our consultants “teach and coach” as the change project goes along … and you will get the benefit of our years of experience. That experience, along with the tools we share, will give you a real advantage in dealing with the many organizational changes you have ahead of you in your career.

• A team of our change consultants completed a SAP business readiness project for a major energy company … and the project was named a “corporate best practice.” Our change customer subsequently received a new leadership position in charge of change management for the company. 

6. Confidence

Your confidence to make things happen will go up when you have a senior H&D consultant by your side who says, “I have done this before; I know what to do now; be cool; and we will make this happen together!”

We will show you what to do and how to do it to max your change success … and we will do it with a climate of calm and good spirits. We have done change before, many times, and have learned what works and what does not. Knowing that you are following proven methods, not winging it, will increase your confidence … and your performance.

• A leader of a client change team recently told us that the project to solve an “impossible problem” was going so well, she was ready to tackle the next impossible challenge!
  

7. Morale

We can’t promise a totally angst-free change, but we know you will feel better if we are a part of your change initiative. You don’t have to carry the ball alone. Besides, we like to do a very good job … and that usually translates to fun for both you and us.

Change at work can be a positive challenge and provide you with experiences that make you worth more to your firm. Building your “asset value” during a change project can be an inspiring experience … and our consultants will point you in the direction toward this at every available opportunity.

• A client in one of healthcare engagements just passed along a great compliment. “Thanks to you guys, I not only have new skills and a new perspective on change, I’m really excited to be working here!”