CASE STUDY: MCCHRYSTAL GROUP SERVICES
Supporting a Global Healthcare Company as it Transitions from Crisis Mode to Sustained Growth
McChrystal was brought in by a Fortune 10 healthcare company to analyze their operational performance after they had completed an impressive internal transformation.
A few years before the engagement, the company had been on an unstable financial footing and in need of strong leadership to facilitate a turnaround. Through emphasis on operational performance, centralized decision-making, and the installation of new leadership, the company soon found itself not just in a stable financial position but growing rapidly.
Despite this turnaround, a feeling had set in among leaders that the business could not move effectively enough to meet their key performance metrics. In particular, their Net Promoter Scores were on the decline and customer service-related complaints were commonplace. Furthermore, the focus on short-term turnaround, frequent restructurings and changes at the leadership level had eroded relationships and undermined morale.
Having completed a remarkable turnaround over a matter of years, it was crucial for the company to understood their current state of operations so they could transition from recovery to growth.
Challenges
McChrystal assessed the company using our proprietary diagnostic tool, allowing for the following challenges to be identified.
Instability Driven by Frequent Changes Without Transparency
While all levels of the organization were optimistic about the company’s ability to drive change, leadership had become disconnected from their teams thanks to largescale turnover and continuously shifting priorities.
Gaps in Understanding of, Communication on, and Accountability for Strategy Execution
Without a clear strategic direction or methods to communicate key messages to the organization, leaders and teams alike were unsure of the company’s long-term objectives, and the strategies that would achieve them. Furthermore, teams did not believe that the processes and accountability were in place to ensure that strategies could be effectively executed.
Ineffective Collaboration and Coordination Between Teams
Despite tremendous resources at their disposal, the company’s various teams felt isolated from one another. A lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities, even among the senior-most executives, often created tension or led to redundant efforts.
Solutions
Build an Executive Team that is a Source of Stability
McChrystal established regular, recurring touchpoints for leaders to discuss the state of business, agree on strategic direction, and embed trust through the creation of informal networks. These touchpoints not only strengthened leaders as individuals but as a cohesive team.
We also delivered leadership training to change individual behaviors and, in aggregate, transform the business’s operational and cultural norms.
Define the Goals, Communicate the Plan, and Execute Intentionally
Through a series of strategy workshops with the senior leadership team, McChrystal developed a clear and concise framework to serve as a single source of truth. This framework captured the organization’s long-term objectives and helped to align teams and resources to the efforts that will achieve those goals.
Unlock Value by Identifying Where and How to Collaborate
McChrystal analyzed the company’s existing meetings – their content, attendance and scheduling – to identify where improvements could be made. Using this analysis, we developed a clear framework of regular meetings, including unambiguous roles and responsibilities for all attendees. Once this new communications framework was developed, we then trained leaders on how to better execute the meetings.
Impact
Leaders Empowered to Take rapid and Effective Action
The leadership team was brought together as a coherent, problem-solving body for the first time. While the CEO had traditionally made most decisions himself, following our engagement he started to delegate more and empower the rest of the leadership team to make the decisions in their respective areas. This greatly increased the speed of decision-making.
Acceleration of Strategic Planning Process and Resource Alignment
The strategy workshops disseminated information lower down the organization, ensuring that everyone understood the what, why, and how behind all strategic plans.
Clarity of Operational Efficiency and Decision-Making Authority
With clarity over the decision-making process, as well as decision ownership, conflicts and questions were resolved quickly and effectively. As a result, people had more time to focus on their strategic priorities because they weren’t having to revisit decisions again and again.