CHALLENGE
Create process and platform for high performing executives who to make better “next job” decisions when they leave.Our client wanted to help executives that were leaving, for any reason, to make better choices for their next job. Part of the agenda was also to create an alumni program as past executives were often in a position at the new firms they joined to award work to our client (a large OFS firm).
APPROACH
Determine Who Had Left and Where They WentWe spent time reviewing where past executives had chosen to go. We also measured how long it took to make the change and what had prompted the reason to change in the first place. The “stories” we heard turned out to be crucial in the next step.
Determine How to Improve the Leaving ProcessFrom all input we designed an ideal outcomes process, what was required to make it work and how to leverage it into a sustainable alumni program. This proved to be quite time-consuming and required a strong HR commitment from our client which they provided.
Decide Level of Service EngagementtOnce we had designed an ideal process we cost/benefited the resources (money, time and people) to implement the solution. In high level discussions a stream lined project approach was chosen, a cost basis arrived and agreed to on a piloting basis.
The Magellan Difference
- Focusing on outcomes, better job choices, engagement in an alumni program and leaving as friend of firm were all nominated criteria for the program. Additionally, we were encouraged to implement a simple CRM to manage the executive’s search processes – independently. We also decided to survey past executives who had left over the last three years to inform our project and provide real data for what worked best and how to improve the “leaving” process.
RESULTS
Encouraging Engagement was a Huge Timing ConsiderationBy only engaging with executive that had already decided to leave our process was always in catch up mode and always pressed for time to be effective. We soon discovered that the time to start this process was 6 months before the executives were leaving. The more senior the more critical was the need for an “early warning system” to jump start our executives search process. This was an internal issue for our client related to succession planning and quickly became an issue internally.
Ultimately we provided the service on an as needed basis and the alumni program build was turned over to HR as a strategic initiative.
“Working the Magellan provided unique insights around succession plans, outplacement requirements and alumni program development. In the end our team found it productive to use an outside view to deal with all the issues around senior executives leaving the firm.”
