Some of Our Case Studies
Below are some of the many projects we have successfully delivered to our clients across a variety of industries and sectors.
HSBC
UK Commercial Bank Senior Leadership Team Development Programme
“The UK CMB leadership team held a series of strategy and team building meetings (4 in total) over a 6-month period, with the aim of taking a high level strategic direction into detailed execution plans, whilst enhancing team dynamics and understanding. Zircon assisted with the design of these workshops and was also the lead facilitator. Amanda Potter was the prime contact for both design and facilitation.
The 4 step process was extremely well designed and executed with a natural flow from one session to the next. Amanda took the time to research requirements with key stakeholders in advance of the sessions and was willing to challenge and suggest alternative approaches. This was done in a very constructive fashion.
Amanda’s facilitation was very good, she was assertive, probing and challenging when needed, whilst encouraging participation. Amanda has very strong listening and observation skills and provided very valuable but confidential feedback to the individuals involved in the meetings which acted as personal coaching to enhance their individual performance.
There were also action points from each of the meetings with regular calls post meeting to make sure action was taking place or to see if help was needed. Amanda is very good in this role with strong insight and good skills at delivering feedback – overall it was a great experience”.
Written by; Noel Quinn Group General Manager Regional Head of Commercial Banking, Asia-Pacific
PC World
Assessment Process Design
Zircon was invited by PC World to design a new selection process for their Customer Advisors. The aim was to design a valid and reliable selection methodology, which was also efficient and user friendly. The process designed included a competency based application form, an online psychometric numerical and verbal reasoning test, an online personality and emotional intelligence questionnaire and a competency based interview.
Helen Charles, HR Manager PC World reported the following:
“The selection process designed by Zircon has been very successful for our organisation. PC World Staples Corner recently needed to fill 14 Customer Advisor vacancies. After receiving the application forms the store invited 60 candidates to complete the online psychometric test and questionnaire. On the basis of these results, they invited 16 candidates in to interview. The Store successfully recruited 14 of those 16 interviewed which is an 88% success rate at interview.”
As a result of the success in PC World, Zircon Management Consulting Ltd is now a supplier to Wickes where Helen Smith (Nee Charles) is the Head of HR.
Alstom
Coaching
In 2007, Zircon were invited to work with Alstom, a world leader in transport and energy infrastructure. Zircon were invited by Alstom to conduct one to one in depth psychometric assessments for coaching and in depth- Executive Coaching over a three year period. During our time working with Alstom, we provided four Zircon coaches each working with two to three Alstom senior level Managers and Directors.
In addition, Zircon worked with Alstom to design and facilitate team development building on the work of the one to one coaching and psychometric assessment work. Zircon continue to support Alstom and we are now into a new era of career coaching within Alstom.
HSBC
A 2011 Case Study HSBC Insurance UK – Sales Development Function
There was a business requirement within HSBC Insurance UK to conduct a review of the organisational design of the Sales Development Function. HSBC Insurance UK and their HR function worked together on the design of the new structure and had a clear vision for the Target Operating Model (TOM). This vision was shared with Zircon during the briefing stage of the project and as a result there was an excellent understanding of roles and responsibilities both from HSBC’s and Zircon’s perspective. Zircon was hired to identify and design 2 new roles within the team, and then assess the potential and performance of the current sales force, in order to identify their suitability for the new roles.
Zircon provided a comprehensive proposal (including costs) which suggested a clear understanding of the Client’s requirements. Weekly conference calls for the Project Management team which were arranged and lead by Zircon, where meeting agendas and papers were circulated beforehand and minutes of meetings including responsibilities, actions and timescales were circulated afterwards. Throughout the process meetings were well planned, organised and structured to gain maximum output from the time available. This was especially important when Zircon facilitated key milestone events, such as the stakeholder engagement interviews and meetings, for buy in and commitment.
HSBC were seeking to establish a cost effective but reliable and valid assessment and development process using a range of tools the assessment. The assessment process included the use of psychometric evaluations, a potential interview, a 360 intervention and a validation interview. Honest assessment of the validity of the assessment exercises resulted in reducing the process and utilising some elements as a screen to further assist with containing costs. Zircon designed and executed a robust assessment process checking in at regularly intervals that their planned actions met the businesses needs and made timely amendments based upon feedback.
A total of 47 HSBC employees completed a variety of online psychometric questionnaires, were assessed by their managers and participated in a 4-hour assessment session for the new roles. The final selection decision meeting was excellent and Zircon facilitated a robust and challenging debate which resulted in all parties being happy with the overall decisions.
Results
Lloyd Glasgow has confirmed that since the implementation of the WBDM model there has been an average increase of 12% pure growth in sales across the network on Insurance products and a 21 % increase in value and 22% increase in volume on sales from coached individuals (by WBDM’s) compared to colleagues that have not been coached by a WBDM. It is hoped that via the expansion of WBDM’s (subject to a business case) further increases in value and volume of sales can be achieved.
Toni Atherton, HR Generalist, HSBC BANK PLC HBEU
Iron Mountain
Development
Since 2008 Zircon have been working with Iron Mountain to identify the talent in a key area of their organisation and develop that talent further through individual feedback sessions and follow-up team workshops.
We integrated information from 360 feedback as well as using psychometrics to identify personality preferences, management capabilities and cognitive capabilities. A Team of 7 Zircon consultants worked closely with individuals, sharing feedback from the various psychometrics and 360 and agreeing potential areas to focus on for development. During the one to one feedback sessions, we focused on highlighting individual strengths and how those strengths might be harnessed further, as well as discussing potential strategies to improve development areas and enable people to function more effectively when out of their comfort zone.
The workshops followed up on the individual feedback sessions and enabled people to share their feedback and discuss team approaches as well as individual ones. The purpose of the workshops was to improve team effectiveness and develop individual self awareness as well as awareness of others’ preferences and individual style.
The project was well received and successful, resulting in us working with another area of the business in a restructure and individual development planning exercise, which should be finished by mid 2010.
Sportingbet
Engagement
In 2009, Sportingbet the online gaming company invited Zircon to investigate and report on their level of employee engagement across the Sportingbet international businesses. Sportingbet plc is a British e-gaming operator traded on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market . Sportingbet operates local-focused sportsbooks, virtual games and casino sites, and the online poker cardroom, Paradise Poker. Overall, the company has over 2.5 million registered customers in 200 countries, who place over one million bets (casino, poker, sports and virtual games) per day.
Zircon conducted focus groups, senior level interviews, and remote worker interviews to identify the 10 critical drivers of employee engagement. These were then validated against the Towers Perrin, the Corporate Leadership Council, the CIPD and Mercer models of engagement. The drivers included:
• Leadership and Direction – providing a clear vision of what the organisation is striving to achieve and how it will get there
• Management Effectiveness – inspiring staff with the confidence and motivation to achieve their best
• Reward and Benefits – ensuring consistency and fairness in the way employee effort and hard work is rewarded
• Resources and Learning Opportunities – providing the environment, tools and knowledge for all staff to do their job well
• Customer Focus – ensuring customers are provided with the service they want and expect
• Organisational Commitment –having pride and belief in Sportingbet as the best place to work
• Inclusion – enabling staff to feel valued and trusted to input into the way the organisation works
• Communicating Information – developing and encouraging open communications & knowledge sharing across Sportingbet
• Fair Treatment – treating all staff with respect and encouraging them to feel valued
• Team Cohesion – creating a truly supportive environment and network for staff
A total of 525 Sportingbet employees were invited to complete the online 60 item Employee Engagement survey over a 2 week period. The results found that 69% of the work force are engaged and committed to Sportingbet. It has been shown that high performing companies tend to have engagement levels of 74% or more. We are now working with Sportingbet to devise action plans for driving the engagement level to 80% well beyond the 74% high performing companies benchmark.
