Case Studies
Designing Agile Organization
A prominent fashion retail brand decided to pursue their vision by identifying enablers, one of which was organizational design. They felt it would enhance efficiency while developing careers. This, combined with a high attrition rate, prompted them to seek the expertise of Aarohana Consulting.
Aarohana engaged with the leadership team and a cross section of employees, identifying the challenges and opportunities for the business. It prioritised areas that can be resolved through organisation design. The sessions helped define the tools necessary for the intervention. Data was collected to determine efficiency levels. Data on spans and levels helped identify possible “fat” in the organisation.
The process started with defining the design principles to address the project objective. Futuristic roles were created to overcome current challenges and execute the strategy. Opportunity was created to infuse and grow critical competencies of design and planning. Departmental objective statements were jointly defined by departmental leaders and RACI charts created to drive clarity of accountability. Detailed role charters were defined which besides job accountabilities the success factors were also identified. Job clusters were identified, and possible career paths defined for critical roles within the organisation.
Within a year, the impact became evident through a 30% revenue increase. Clarity provided through role charters resulted in attrition falling. These changes fostered long-term thinking in alignment with the organization’s strategy.
Enhancing Team Effectiveness: Leadership Retreats
A new head of business assumed office at a global automobile company with the goal of creating effective leadership teams to enhance collaboration. This prompted them to engage Aarohana Consulting to design and deliver leadership retreats for functional and business teams.
Aarohana initiated the discovery process, revealing stable teams where individuals had worked together for decades. They were highly experienced functional experts but struggled in dealing with matrix structures. The teams were great at managing crisis but had limited strategic orientation.
The discovery process revealed that despite working together, they never knew each other well. Aarohana tackled this by conducting a storytelling exercise and guided facilitation which encourgaed participants to unmask themselves and reveal their true selves. This was followed by a self-assessment of the team’s effectiveness to understand the areas they wanted to improve in. Through the process of “cultural effectiveness”, dialogues were fostered among individuals who relied on each other. Games like Prisoner’s Dilemma helped prioritize the team’s goals over individual wins.
Ultimately, eleven retreats were conducted, fostering deeper connections among team members, and sensitizing them to the need for collective victory over individual priorities. Their journey towards becoming an effective team continues.
Bridging Gaps: Strengthening HR Business Partnering Capabilities
A leading electrical company faced challenges with low engagement levels and high attrition rates. Acknowledging the need for crucial interventions, the board and HR head realised the need to enhance the capabilities of the HR team to spearhead these initiatives. Consequently, they engaged the expertise of Aarohana Consulting to design and implement the interventions.
The HRBP development started with looking inside and identifying and overcoming individual fears. This was later used along with their conflict management styles to evaluate their approach towards driving change and dealing with business leaders. In subsequent sessions, they delved into the art of linking business challenges to HR initiatives, mastering the intricacies of stakeholder management, and refining their skills in designing business-led interventions.
The teams addressed a couple of significant business challenges, such as field force stability and enhancing blue-collar worker capabilities to improve the quality of the products, resulting in significant shifts in the business matrix.
Overall, the process improved the capabilities of HRBPs by fostering unique skills like big picture thinking, business problem solutioning and executing with empathy.
Inner Compass- Cultivating Leadership Excellence
The Inner Compass program was a transformative leadership journey, for mid-level managers. Through a comprehensive and immersive approach, participants were equipped with vital skills and tools to enhance their leadership capabilities.
The program commenced with an exploration of the Layers of Self, delving into the depths of thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and values. Engaging in various activities, participants gained a profound understanding of their automatic thought patterns and embarked on an exploration of the Navrasas, the nine human emotions. This journey facilitated the development of emotional intelligence. Participants further delved into the four cores of trust and acquired conflict resolution techniques. Emphasis was placed on goal-setting, execution excellence, and fostering a culture of accountability. Leaders were encouraged to reflect on their personal growth, creating a leadership vision guiding their actions. The program also fostered the development of a positive team culture where trust, transparency, and open communication thrived.
Through this nine-month journey, participants got a deeper understanding of their strengths, limitations, and how it is impacting them. A safe environment was created where individuals could expose their vulnerabilities. Practical skills on goal-setting, providing and receiving feedback and execution excellence helped them drive performance in their teams.
The Inner Compass program acted as a catalyst for leadership transformation. Significant shifts were observed in participants as they could overcome their fears and limitations. Now they continue to navigate their leadership journey through their own inner compass.
The discovery process revealed that despite working together, they never knew each other well. Aarohana tackled this by conducting a storytelling exercise and guided facilitation which encourgaed participants to unmask themselves and reveal their true selves. This was followed by a self-assessment of the team’s effectiveness to understand the areas they wanted to improve in. Through the process of “cultural effectiveness”, dialogues were fostered among individuals who relied on each other. Games like Prisoner’s Dilemma helped prioritize the team’s goals over individual wins.
Ultimately, eleven retreats were conducted, fostering deeper connections among team members, and sensitizing them to the need for collective victory over individual priorities. Their journey towards becoming an effective team continues.
Driving Generational Transition through Value Cascade
An Indian pharmaceutical company with global operations wanted to redefine their values in the backdrop of a generational transition. They identified the new values in line with their employer brand and wanted a partner to help them cascade it across the organisation.
Through discussion with the leadership team, Aarohana understood the cultural tenets of the company, the features of the existing values, which were firmly entrenched, and also the future aspirations of managing a global workforce. It conducted Value Experience Workshops to identify areas where the values can get manifested. Through a facilitative approach with a cross section of the employees the definition of each value was expanded to make them comprehendible to all.
The Leadership Walk the Talk workshop helped leaders identify how they can live and champion the values. The team worked with the HR function to integrate the values into various HR processes to make them come alive. Finally internal trainers were developed, and sessions designed to cascade the values to all employees.
The intervention helped turn a leaf in the journey of the organisation as it was undergoing a generational change. It also helped communicate the cultural priorities of the new leader.