Our Target Business Oceans
"Organizations on the move"

In a sailing journey, the biggest challenges are most of the time quickly changing weather conditions as well as contexts or rough, hazardous, unknown waters. 

When heading for a targeted destination, most of our clients are organizations finding themselves in a specific moving business, organizational or transformational context, which complicates their task to reach the final desired business harbor. In such circumstances. they often end up needing assistance. 

 

By analogy, we are therefore referring to such contexts in this website as “Our Business Oceans”, or "Your Seven Seas".

We have outlined here 7 types of business situations for which we have been helping out clients and related samples of assignments performed for them in those specific contexts. 

Our value proposition is therefore today primarily (though not exclusively) focusing on target organizations in similar “moving” contexts.

An Odyssey through the 7 Seas

Mergers & Acquisitions

  • Data room, divestitures, letter of intention.  Organize and prepare all documentation for a due diligence, risk assessment about critical HR issues. 
  • Legal employment modifications, deep structural & cultural integration initiatives. 
  • Harmonization of organizational structures, processes and policies & cultural change management.

Management Resource Shortage

  • Transitioning role ad interim, temporary replacement for a senior HR position, in order to guarantee business continuity.
  • Coaching of a new incumbent in an HR role, in order to facilitate a smooth integration into the role.

Process Optimization

  • Ambitious business growth objectives involving time/volume-critical operations, requiring a very rapid growth in human capital (e.g. fast track hiring processes).
  • Communication culture upgrade (meeting effectiveness, structured communication, feedback & conflict management).
  • Lean initiatives (cost control, headcount reduction, economies of scale...)
  • Governance definition & alignment of processes. policies & practices.  
  • Implementation of a company-wide reporting & business impact analytics (KPI definition, benchmarking, scorecards, capacity models).

Regulatory & Compliance

  • Need for internal control mechanisms, Risk Management & Auditing (standardization,  integrated systems, back ups, best practices sharing, self-auditing, Servicing 360°assessments, SLA's redefinition... ).
  • Regulatory, compliance and reporting obligations tightening (e.g. Legal. tax, social, ISO, SOX... ).

Restructuring

  • Centralization at HQ level of operational business processes formerly owned by the local field, leading to drastic changes in job accountabilities at local & HQ levels.
  • Creation of Hubs or sub-regional structures on top of local ones (e.g. Benelux, Iberia, Scandinavia).
  • Transformation of internal reporting lines model (e.g. change from mono-functional/local to matrixed multi-functional/international reporting).
  • Creation of shared service centers or shutting down of an operation/business entity (talent redeployment, training, redundancy... ).

Start-up & Geographical Expansion

  • Company start-up (local administrative set up of the new entity, e.g. social security registration, VAT & company registration, notary deed, payroll. employment contracts... ).
  • Geographical expansion (start operations in new country, hiring supporting the growth, integration of local practices... )
  • Set up of the HR function (e.g. mid-sized country operations reaching the critical threshold requiring a stand-alone local HR function).

Strategic Review

  • New company target operating  model (e.g. change of targeted client segments, diversification of client service offering,  new niche product... ).
  • New executive talent development strategy (e.g. focus on internal global mobility, build clear career paths including "Tour of Duty" competency and experience-driven milestones).  
  • New Reward strategy (e.g. from discretionary to pay for performance approach, align incentives to business strategies achievements, from fixed to flexible, from STI to LTI... ).