Case Study

Company Uses CommScan to Identify and Resolve Communication Issues

Russell Financial Services (not the actual company name) has always prided itself on recruiting the best and brightest employees, and looked specifically for individuals with a high energy level and a healthy competitive spirit. The investment services market is very competitive and it takes a special person to be successful at growing the business long term.

But, recently, things hadn't been going well. What began as a healthy competition between regions and among consultants was degenerating into a lack of teamwork and inter-group conflict. Communication was breaking down and the sense of trust that had once existed among employees and between employees and management was eroding. Consultants were getting increasingly territorial and the office grapevine was in overdrive, spreading erroneous, and sometimes malicious, gossip. For the first time in several years, the turnover rate was over 10% and the company missed its sales targets.

After discussing the situation, Jonathan, Russell's founder and CEO, and Cindy concluded that implementing CBL's employee assessment survey, CommScan, would help Russell gain insight into the causes of the company's malaise. From there, they could develop and implement a strategy to turn the situation around.

Jonathon encouraged all of the employees to complete the 20 minute on-line survey. Eighty-seven percent did.

The results identified three initial "hot spots":

1. Employees identified a lack of useful ongoing performance feedback; some also reported that their annual reviews were late and often full of surprises.
2. Meetings were seen as unproductive, often starting late, lacking organization, and with little or no follow-up on identified action items.
3. Conflicting demands and a lack of prioritization were resulting in employee stress and lack of productivity.

Russell decided to focus on these three areas, so CBL Associates conducted one-on-one interviews and two focus groups, one for managers and another for non-managers, to dig deeper into the causes, effects, and possible solutions to these issues. When the data was in and analyzed, CBL presented its findings and reviewed a number of possible solutions. After reviewing the findings, Russell Financial:

1. Had CBL deliver its workshop, "Performance Management: The Power of Feedback", for all managers and provide coaching for individual managers to help them improve their listening and feedback skills.
2. Participated in "Making Meetings Matter" training delivered by CBL to enhance their meeting management skills and enhance team productivity.
3. Hired CBL to facilitate priority-setting and conflict resolution at the management team level and help the team develop a communication strategy to inform all employees of organizational priorities and how to use the conflict-resolution process.

Today, life at Russell is vastly improved. Employee job satisfaction is increasing and turnover is down significantly. Employees and managers report feeling much more connected to corporate goals and objectives and report significantly greater productivity. All of these improvements are reflected in overall company performance - sales are back on track and are projected to keep climbing!