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Leadership Advisory

Designing a global leadership program

“One of the participants in the last Global Leadership Program has already taken up a senior leadership role. We are on the right track to discovering and developing new talent. Accord Group has helped us to make sure that future Global Leadership Programs are equally effective.”

Marina Rubbrecht, Director Organisation & Leadership Development Europe

The business challenge:

Sappi wanted to design a Global Leadership Program to help high potentials develop leadership skills for their future roles. Such a program requires significant investments, so it is important to fully understand the needs of high potentials. A group of senior leaders from the global HR team found the orientation surveys that Accord Group applies to be a valuable source of people insights and chose it as the ‘core assessment methodology’ to screen participants for the coming Global Leadership Program.

Solution:

Accord Group organized assessment centers using Valpeo’s leader-to-context alignment methodology. This solution looks at broader context alignment factors by examining three orientations: complexity orientation, values orientation and behavioral orientation. Valpeo’s insights were used to create a tailor-made Global Leadership Program, focusing on corporate strategy, change and leadership. Different career paths were suggested for the participants, ranging from broader operational management roles to international roles at C-level.

Developing 140 management potentials

“Measuring potential is complicated. We contacted several of the big providers, but we did not feel their approaches would deliver the same results. Accord’s approach is unique because they look at talent, both now and in the future, from three complementary angles. This helped us understand what our future leadership could look like. We are looking to apply this approach further in the organization”

Geert Aelbrecht, Chief People Officer

The business challenge:

To future-proof its leadership, Besix Group needed to assess and develop the top 140 management potentials. Revealing current and future potential would allow defining realistic career paths, detecting retention risks, supporting mobility, and structuring development, succession and recruitment needs.

The solution:

Accord Group deployed the development centers using Valpeo’s leader-to-context alignment methodology, and provided new insights to HR. The talent model was developed aligned to Besix' growth ambitions and its culture. Besix can use the model to consider what development and leadership programs are needed, and to identify its recruitment needs. A tailored leadership program was designed to prepare potentials for their next role. Some candidates were promoted, others were given the opportunity to move to other locations or domains, where more suitable opportunities presented themselves.

Growing towards a shared identity and strategy

“The frameworks deployed by Accord Group make difficult organizational concepts such as ‘culture’ and ‘values’ tangible. Our leaders now find it easier to understand and accept the differences within FujiRebio, which help us work together within a shared strategy and identity.”

Christiaan De Wilde, CEO

The business challenge:

FujiRebio is a quickly evolving global organization in the health care sector and is led from Japan. In order to let European leaders reflect on their opportunities and challenges in a complex organization, Accord Group was contacted to provide leaders with new insights into the process of aligning with the Japanese HQ, the European affiliates, and other European leaders.

The solution:

Accord Group’s Development centers, applying a leader-to-context alignment methodology provided new insights by making abstract concepts such as complexity, values and culture tangible. Leaders were given the opportunity to reflect on their present and future contexts. They gained understanding of their own perspectives and how those differed from other perspectives at FujiRebio. Personal development plans set priorities to help each leader bring the new insights into practice. The increased understanding of the culture and values at FujiRebio, along with more acceptance of interpersonal differences, allowed members of the executive team to grow more quickly towards a shared identity and strategy.

Selection of a business unit manager

“Selecting the right candidate for a leadership role is highly impactful for the organization. Traditional assessment approaches mostly focus on predicting behavior. This leaves a lot of stones unturned. Companies looking for more thorough insights into the people they are hiring, developing or promoting, may find that the unique approach applied by Accord Group is what they are looking for.”

Martine Van Camp, HR Country Lead Belgium & Luxembourg

The business challenge:

Selecting the right manager for a business unit from several internal and external candidates with suitable experience, cultural fit, and ability to raise the level of the business unit in a continuously changing context. The complexity level for the role was set at ‘strategic management’, which means the person is comfortable anticipating on changes in the context, thereby going beyond merely operational management. This matched HP’s intentions to gradually move from a performance driven company culture to a culture that relied on more empowerment.

The solution:

Assessment centers using Valpeo’s leader-to-context alignment methodology. This solution looks at broader context alignment factors by examining three orientations: complexity orientation, values orientation and behavioural orientation. Each candidate completed the three online orientation surveys, followed by an interview and a development conversation with an accredited Accord Group partner. The process led to the selection of the most suitable candidate and helped spot new alternative career opportunities for other internal candidates.