How Business Added Management Layers…
But lost agility to close deals.
Case study - System stressing stage
CEO Frustrated with Deal Closures Taking Too Long
Are You Dealing With:
- Lost revenue arising from friction between functions?
- Energy focused on blaming others, rather than fixing own functional issues first?
- Too many management layers with not enough clarity on levels of responsibility?
Client Challenge:
The MD had built a highly successful financial services business, with roughly 100 employees across 8 functions & 4 layers of management.
A great salesman, he knew there was plenty more market deals to be done but was frustrated functions weren’t collaborating, deal quality was struggling & productivity had slowed down. He wanted to bring back that deal agility they used to have.
He was particularly irritated with the Legal team creating a bottleneck to closing deals. The MD just wanted it sorted, NOW!
Upon digging, it became clear that the business had added management layers without redesigning accountability. Each layer was working 1-2 levels below their pay grade.
This irritated the core leadership team, as the gap between leadership expectations and management delivery widened. The organisational system no longer worked, while management costs had soared.
Our solution:
- Clarified decision authority, accountability & expectations across all 4 layers of management via customised Role Dimensions™ framework
- Upskilled management capability in recruiting & developing talent
- Helped Head of Legal build a legal capacity model & headcount, to be able to support expected deal pipeline
- Supported Head of Legal to build business case to support required resourcing levels
Case Study Outcomes
- Managers took ownership for the operational & people outcomes expected of their level
- Senior management stopped operating at junior levels & increased strategic support to leadership
- Legal function’s business plan was approved & changes implemented
- Profits nearly doubled, allowing acquisition of another company
Are functions within your business working at odds with each other?
Is that friction slowing productivity & results? Or stopping the business moving to the next stage of growth?
If misalignment of functions & management layers is causing commercial losses, you’ve outgrown your current operational model.
The first step is recognising which friction points are damaging your business.
“Investing in our Role Dimensions™ framework helped us understand who should be doing what.
This helped us ensure management consistency at each level.”
Supporting Your Business Through Each Stage of Growth
If you recognise a need for external support, to help you & your team scale your current or next stage of business growth, take the first step & book your 30-min call.