Site Map Imprint HOME

Case Studies


MANAGEMENT AUDIT FOR A GLOBAL LEADER IN THE INSURANCE SECTOR


Situation Analysis


The client was undergoing a major acquisition in a country where it had previously operated through an affiliated company. Neumann International partnered with the client and ascertained that support was needed to align the previously affiliated company with the acquired company and integrate the management teams.


Action


The management audit was conducted with 124 executives and senior managers of fifteen economic entities. These economic entities were located in three different countries, organized in three groups of companies and under the authority of a holding company.

Fourteen Neumann International consultants in 4 different countries provided consultation on this project. The assignment began just two weeks after the acquisition was made public and was completed within one month of the first discussion with the client.

A strategic interviewing model was developed to suit the high level of uncertainty that existed for the corporation and for the management team.


Result


Neumann International provided the client with a complete set of human resources strategies for the new Management Committee. The management audit revealed that the newly acquired company had an unofficial decision making network which was internally more credible than the official management committee. This was highlighted to the client and aided the client in putting together new decision making and approval structures. The corporate drivers and values were explored and reviewed and a full report provided to the client aiding communication plans during the early stages of the new acquired company’s integration. All individual evaluation reports were provided to the manager in charge of the career management of executives and senior managers at group level to assist with future development plans. A full debriefing was provided to the newly appointed CEO and strategies provided for allocation of resources and team building plans.

After three months, Neumann International came back into the company for a post implementation review and had an additional meeting with each participant.

Each participant was provided with coaching and Neumann International assessed and evaluated how participants evolved during the three month period of post-merger process. Neumann International then reported issues that had arisen, highlighting certain high risk situations and proposed, to the executives in charge of the post-merger and integration process, corrective actions either at individual level or at corporate level.




MANAGEMENT EVALUATION FOR A LEADING EUROPEAN GROUP OF COMPANIES IN THE SERVICES SECTOR


Situation Analysis


A leading services client wanted to better match the skill set of the top management team in various locations with a new business model to realign the management structure in order to reflect the strategic objectives of the group.


Action


Neumann International developed and implemented a program of evaluation of all managers of all affiliated companies of the group.

The evaluation took place with 400 executives and senior managers of the entities, located in 25 different cities.

Neumann International teamed with the newly appointed General Manager of the group who decided to start, with the help of a newly appointed Human Resources Director, a proactive career management policy in order to address a critical situation due to an out-of-date pyramid structure of the management bodies.

Twelve Neumann International consultants were dedicated to the project under the supervision of two Neumann International project leaders.


Result


Neumann International:

  • provided the General Manager with a complete set of individual appraisals including strategic considerations on an individual and team level for management development requirements
  • developed career planning strategies for the management team for the short, medium and long term
  • provided proposals and solutions for aligning the management structure
  • transferred the ownership of the outputs to the HR Director giving him the chance to update the reporting on a regular basis
  • provided the individual evaluations to the regional management to support them in managing the organisation’s talent.



MANAGEMENT AUDIT FOR A EUROPEAN WORLDWIDE LEADER IN THE DISTRIBUTION INDUSTRY


Situation Analysis


Neumann International was contracted to conduct a management audit of companies who were previous competitors of a distribution industry client, recently acquired by the client. The client’s objective was to understand how to move forward with human resources management of the executive and senior management population.


Action


Management audit was conducted by the local team of Neumann International consultants and by Neumann International consultants from the same nationality as the client. Over 55 executives and senior managers of the 4 business units located in 3 different cities were evaluated.

Neumann International consultants conducted in-depth interviews on individual profiles and organizational issues with the client representatives within a very tight timeframe and in a complex cultural setting.

Neumann International completed the project within six weeks and at the end of the process presented individual and global group reports and recommendations as well as organization structure and staffing proposals to the board.


Result


Neumann International delivered to the Integration Manager detailed individual reports for each of the participants evidencing their respective SWOT profile according to the corporate senior management competencies and behavioural model. These reports also contained recommendations for each individual (future positioning, contribution potential during the integration phase, contribution potential in the medium term and conditions of success) as well as management development suggestions to help the individuals meet corporate expectations. Additionally, Neumann International provided qualitative comments on the management of each of the involved structures.

Following the success of the management audit and a strong partnership with the client, the local client representative, the newly appointed General Manager, recently contracted Neumann International to provide additional Executive Consulting services. Neumann International benchmarked the organization’s management committee against local market practices. Utilising market contacts Neumann International investigated the Management Committee structure, task definition, profile of individual Management Committee members and provided a comprehensive summary of “best practice” Management Committee structuring and recommendations for actions to achieve the optimal Management Committee structure.


MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT PROJECT FOR SOFTWARE INDUSTRY COMPANY


Situation Analysis


The recently appointed Human Resources Director for the Southern European Region (France, Italy, Spain) of an IT company needed to assess competences, skills and potential of managers at committee level in a context of organizational change.

The company was moving to a new matrix organization and market approach. Internal employee surveys showed clear lack of management skills at committee level, especially with remote leadership.

Using cross-border consulting expertise, Neumann International partnered with the client to ensure the senior management team had the right people, in the right positions, to support the new company business vision.


Action


Alongside the General Manager and Southern European Human Resource Managers, Neumann International established “10 key criteria” for assessing leaders in the company, taking into account the new strategy and prior work on numerous management audit exercises. Neumann International also identified key messages, around the company’s strategic priorities, to be shared with senior management during the assessment sessions.

The program involved assessing twelve senior managers and was undertaken by three senior Neumann International consultants in France, Italy and Spain. They used a combination of interview techniques as well as structured on-line competency assessment tools including numerical and verbal reasoning tests and personality and customer contact questionnaires. Individuals were benchmarked against ‘best-in-class’ executive peers in the market.

Each assessment report focused on the individual’s fit with the new skill-sets and behaviours required to achieve the company’s strategic objectives. Neumann International also debriefed and provided feedback to all those assessed.


Result


One month after starting the process, Neumann International presented findings and provided an overview of the major areas for development of the company’s senior management team. This program helped all participants understand the company’s new vision and gain awareness of key individual management competencies to develop.

In addition, the programme allowed each senior manager to analyse their own behaviours with the support and confidentiality of external human resource professionals.