Here are some examples of the work we have done for some of our clients. Each engagement was designed to match a unique strategic challenge. Yet, there was a common process to the design of the change effort that included leadership planning and alignment, system engagement, implementation and sustaining momentum.
Inova Health System. Inova is the largest healthcare system in Northern Virginia. The goal of its leadership is to introduce major operational and cultural changes that will affect all of its 16,000 employees and more than 1 million patients each year. The DTA team recently provided training and coaching to a team of internal consultants in the Whole-Scale® Change method which has now been adopted for all change efforts within the organization from the introduction of electronic medical records to changes in systems and behaviors designed to optimize what is called the “Inova Patient Experience”. Response from senior leadership has been enthusiastic.
Florida Education Association. How do you bridge a 30-year chasm of conflict between two competing unions that merged only in order to survive? After the merger of two rival Florida education unions was in danger of collapse, DTA was asked to help unite the two very different cultures, heal old wounds and reconcile polarized philosophies of doing business. DTA consultants worked with a group of 65 key leaders representing both sides to address underlying conflicts and fundamental organizational issues that had proved intractable in the past. As a result of DTA’s work, the merger process succeeded with integration into a single culture and a new streamlined structure. Since then, FEA continues to be successful having shifted from an internal to an external focus to be an advocate for public education.
Best Friends Animal Society. When Al and Mary were asked to work with Best Friends in Kanab, Utah, the organization was experiencing both great success and great chaos. The organization had grown from just 20 dedicated animal welfare advocates to more than 300 employees and a $30 million revenue stream from more than 150,000 small donors. There was no formal strategy or formal management structure. The challenge was to build a professional organization without losing the values that had made the organization great. Over a period of time, the DTA team worked to build organizational effectiveness while still “keeping the flame alive”. Today, the original founders have retired after successfully passing the baton to a new, younger generation of leaders. Both the new and the original leaders credit the DTA team with guiding them through this transition.
Covenant HomeCare. When the new president of HomeCare, part of the Covenant Healthcare system in eastern Tennessee, learned that expenses where targeted to exceed budget by $1.5 million she believed she could save the organization by reducing expenses and not cutting people or the quality of patient care and she need to do it fast. She turned to her team of internal consultant to ask for help and they called DTA. In the period of nine month the employees of HomeCare had identified seven key processes, mapped the current process, design a new less expense ones and implement the new processes, which by the end of the year had brought them to a breakeven point. Using the Whole-Scale® approach allowed them to work in microcosm teams made up folks from all levels and disciplines thereby increasing individual knowledge of the whole organization, which led to the second goal she had at the start of the initiative – to change the culture from one of only a few people at the top have all the information to everyone having all the information they needed to do good work.
Presbyterian Villages of Michigan. Since 1945, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan (PVM) has been a leader in quality senior living and services. Today, PVM serves more than 3,000 seniors of all faiths and economic means in 24 Villages throughout the state of Michigan. When the DTA team began working with the PVM leadership, they were looking for a way to unify the culture across its many locations, each of which had its own local culture and independent board. Over a period of time, the DTA team convened working meetings of leaders, staff and residents to create a unified strategy and culture that stressed a common mission and goals. Management at PVM is now much more participatory and conflicts between local and corporate functions have been minimized.
Corning, Inc. After a long and successful 20-years of working periodically with various divisions of Corning, the Corning Global Finance Division’s leadership requested DTA’s support in transforming their bi-annual Global Finance conference into a high-engagement, informational and real time work session to accelerate the multi-faceted transformational change they had launched. The changes involved implementing new structures and new technologies. The first 350 person meeting was in the spring of 2006 and it was so successful that when we were all together again in 2008 they celebrated faster progress than anticipated and identified best practices from the new processes and what to focus on in order to continue accelerating the technology implementations. In the process they realized the enormous value in bringing together managers from around the world on a regular basis to look at where they’ve been, where they are and where they are going in the support of the business units. DTA has been invited back every two years as consultants to the conference planning teams and Whole-Scale® has become a way of life in the Global Finance Division.
Other clients include:
