HDA

Executive Coaching – Chemical Manufacturing

Business Context    

The client was a major chemicals manufacturer based in Europe and with a large UK presence, mainly on the south coast. HDA was asked to be part of a beauty parade selection for coaching the European MD and COO.

This was managed by the HR contact who drove the initial selection process. This itself caused some initial challenges as it restricted access to the MD and COO. Eventually HDA won the assignment to coach the COO.

The business context was that the European masters were putting pressure on the UK in terms of profitability and required a rapid turnaround in terms of results. The COO had been put in charge of this ‘turnaround project’.

The organisation was managed with an unusual combination of tight hierarchical reporting for mainstream business plus a loose matrix management construct for all project work.

The main goal for the COO was to help him optimise his effectiveness and visibility while performing both a line management and a project leadership role.

Business Issues

• The COO needed to rapidly develop his leadership skills in order to influence a team drawn from a matrix structure within which he had no direct authority

• The COO also needed help on creating a culture of mutual accountability and support within his own team of direct reports

• The relationship between the COO and the MD was one of ‘cosy collaboration’ and this seemed to be less than effective from a business results perspective

Business Value Obtained from Coaching

• Understanding his natural leadership style and building on those strengths and then introducing new ideas for influencing across a matrix structure gave the COO practical techniques to experiment with and feed back during the coaching assignment

• Rapid progress was made with the COO in helping create a new way of working with his team, based on open challenge and a better understanding of each others strengths

• Regular, structured business meetings were introduced with his boss, the MD, and these evolved to incorporate giving and taking of feedback on performance

Business Outcomes

• The COO and his team stabilised the falling UK results and although the ‘turnaround project’ was not complete by the end of the coaching assignment, the COO had received (and solicited) strong positive feedback on his contribution

• Moving out of his comfort zone the COO increased his visibility within the organisation and started to network more effectively and advocate his role and position within the wider business community.

For more information on any of the above or to understand how HDA can add value to your organisation through coaching,

Please contact Melissa Nealon, Client Partner & Project Manager – man@hda.co.uk / 0207 484 5065