Case Studies
Regional Chemical Company
Individual Leadership Skill Building
The Challenge:
Many companies come to Strong Point because a team of middle managers and/or senior leaders cannot effectively relate to each other, communicate with each other and members of the organization; set and reach goals, clarify expectations, handle and resolve conflicts or listen with empathy.
The Actions:
1. Assess Individual and Team Interpersonal Skills.
2. Teach and facilitate Strong Point leadership development curriculum to enhance and develop individual and team skills through a wide variety of personal relationship skill building activities.
3. Work with individuals and teams through regular ½ day, month-long, focused training sessions or customize leadership development programs focused on advancing needed skills in a particular cultural operating environment.
The Result:
1. Enhance and Improve Employee Satisfaction and Productivity numbers by 15% to 30%.
2. Create Unique, Common Cultural ways of working that instill consistent behaviors and results for soft skills such as setting goals, making decisions, negotiating effective outcomes from disparate parties and perspectives, and resolving conflicts in a common way.
3. Create Enterprise skill building programs that enable and allow leaders as well as staff and line professionals to practice and master leadership skills.
US Petro Chemical Company
Enterprise Leadership Development Program
The Challenge:
The Senior Gasoline, Benzine and Special Fuel Development Operations leadership of the Company was aging and retiring in groups that led to an ever-decreasing cycle of operational talent that was able to provide resource support for process operations. Frankly, the company could not find new-hires who were capable and responsible and stayed employed with the company more than 1 year. New Operators were asked to fill 12 hour shifts on an ½ cycle 3 swing shift that made it hard to manage other aspects of life. College degreed candidates, who were the most desirable, were the least likely to even interview for the position.
Finally the company instituted a high-school petro-chemical program in surrounding neighborhoods to the plant. The 6 –year program allowed selected underprivileged teens to begin both a petro chemical and college degree program and enter the company’s workforce as an entry-level operator making $80,000 and above to start. This income level for the selected teens often times was enough to support their entire family. The teens who successfully completed the first couple of cohorts of the program could not sustain the familial and professional pressure of the job. Strong Point Resources worked with the company over a period of 5 years to reach the milestone of 80% employment sustainability after one year of hire date for these high-school entrants.
The Actions / Key Contributions:
1. Helped the company define the screening, interview and selection process for teens selected for the 6-year high school petro-chemical / college training program.
2. Developed a specialized leadership and life skills training “boot camp” which consisted of training in interpersonal skill (public speaking, negotiation, clarifying expectations, active listening etc); professional skill (note taking, computer skills, time management etc); and life skill (balancing checking, understanding insurance and saving; managing finances and credit) skills.
3. Developed an enterprise mentoring program that paired the teen new-hires with senior level executives and leaders of the company.
4. Developed specialized team building exercises and vehicles to keep the new hires connected to their cohort peers and enable them to develop their own support tools and methods.
5. Created a scalable and repeatable resource selection, recruiting, on-boarding, mentoring and employee sustainability program for the company.
The Result:
1. Revitalized and re-invented the company’s ability to hire entry level, sustainable talent.
2. Created a Young-Leaders’ Organization and Model for the Company.
3. Totally Revamped the Company’s New-Entrant Process.
4. Developed company’s first ever enterprise mentoring program.
5. After the 3rd year and cohort of the program, company achieved its goal of 80% new hire employment sustainability after one year of hire date.
6. High-School Training Program increased in size and success at least 30% (new hire classes went from 20 students (year 3) to 35 (year 4) to 50 students (year 5).
7. High-School new hire program received Community acclaim, notoriety and support.