In this issue:
- In Our Opinion: “Five Easy Pieces” – Keys to Successful Strategy Implementation
- Blog Roundup:
- Blog – Can Business Learn From Sports?
- Special Announcements:
- Rob DiGiovanni – Head of Marketing – Asia and IMETA at Mercer
- Kevin White – Account Manager, Digital Services at Epsilon
- Taylor Patchen – Inside Sales & Marketing Executive at Waterfall
- Career Opportunities:
- Managing Director, Social & Mobile Business Development
- VP, Digital Experience – Global Financial Services
In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White
“Five Easy Pieces” – Keys to Successful Strategy Implementation
As we are approaching the time of year when companies turn their attention to business planning and budgeting for 2015 and beyond (i.e., 3-5 year planning), we felt it timely to discuss the keys to successful strategy development and implementation.
We are attaching an article by John McCreight (McCreight & Company) which highlights the essentials to strategy implementation in simple, straightforward terms. John’s firm recently led a CEO Forum of 45 CT technology companies sponsored by the CT Technology Council. John’s article is entitled “Strategy Implementation Insights” (SII_Chapter 19_August 2014) and our column this month is entitled “Five Easy Pieces” as if the individual pieces of strategy implementation were in fact this easy to achieve.
As McCreight lays out, the five essential pieces to successful strategy implementation are:
– Vision – You need a long-term vision which translates to goals, timelines, key milestones, and specific performance measures. SMART goals (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, with timetables) provide a road map for measuring success.
– Talent – Following the guidance of author Jim Collins (“Good to Great”), CEOs need to get the right people on the bus and exit the wrong people off the bus. I spoke with a CEO recently who successfully implemented a turnaround business strategy and it required replacing over one-half (50%) of a 1,600 person organization. Without the talent changeout, nothing significant would have been accomplished according to the CEO.
– Culture – McCreight calls this “how we do things,” and we see it as the CEO establishing common values and a C-team alignment which encourages collaboration, innovation and risk-taking, personal accountability, and results-orientation. It’s ultimately about getting the C-level geese in your company flying in formation so others at the next level down see this and follow suit.
– Customers – It’s about listening to customers, partnering with customers, solving customer problems quickly, and turning customers into advocates. We are definitely in the “Age of the Customer” who expects a consistent, high-quality, personalized, relevant brand experience at whichever touch point or channel they choose at a particular moment.
– Board – In a time where Boards are often criticized for negligence in oversight, companies have a huge opportunity to reconstitute Boards, and lean on outside Directors for their expertise and connections which can lead companies to growth opportunities or risk avoidance. If your Board isn’t materially helping the CEO, you need to make changes.
All of these five “easy pieces” to strategy implementation seem obvious and straightforward…if only it was this easy to put them into action!
As your business approaches planning its long-term (2015-2020) business strategy, where do you stand in terms of these “Five Easy Pieces” to successful strategy implementation?
We want to know
As always, we value and appreciate your feedback! Connect with us — we want to hear your experiences and opinions.
Lola and Jeff
BLOG Roundup: Did you catch our recent blog posts?
Can Business Learn From Sports?
When the aging San Antonio Spurs basketball team recently defeated LeBron James and the Miami Heat (reigning NBA champions), Greg Popovich (Spurs Coach) and R.C. Buford (Spurs GM) were lauded for their innovative practices in recruiting “role players” and building a “team first”, “non-star” philosophy, which enables them to conserve the energy of their aging veteran players and thoroughly outplay the Miami Heat in a one-sided NBA Finals.
Well, the Spurs have not been resting on their laurels since winning the NBA championship. In another innovative recruiting move, they recently signed Becky Hammon, a soon-to-be retiring WNBA star, as an assistant coach.
What a great example of gender diversity in the selection of Hammon to her new post.
Special Announcements
Rob DiGiovanni – Head of Marketing – Asia and IMETA at Mercer
We are pleased to announce Rob DiGiovanni has recently joined Mercer as Head of Marketing, Asia and IMETA. EC handled this executive search for Mercer on an exclusive basis.
Rob brings to Mercer 20 years’ experience in brand, digital and demand generation marketing. Prior to joining Mercer, Rob spent more than 14 years at Ogilvy & Mather based in the United States. He was hand-picked to come to Asia in 2011 as the Regional Director where he led the strategic development and the regional relationship with key clients such as UPS, IBM and American Express, across Growth Markets.
By driving effective translation of business strategies into well-executed marketing programs through innovation, Rob will partner with Mercer’s Growth Markets Leadership Team and all marketing colleagues to create new ways to deliver positive ROI on marketing investments that contributes to the region’s P&L and develop new levels of brand value for Mercer.
Rob has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on marketing from Franciscan University. Based in Singapore, Rob will have a dual reporting relationship to Michelle Bottomley, Chief Marketing & Sales Officer, and Gaurav Garg, President, Growth Markets.
Congratulations Rob and best wishes for continued career success in this new role!
Kevin White – Account Manager, Digital Solutions at Epsilon
EC is giving a “shout out”and a BIG CONGRATS to Kevin White, EC’s 2012 “Rising Star.” Kevin was recently promoted to Account Manager, Digital Solutions at Epsilon, making him one of the youngest Account Managers in Epsilon history. In this role, Kevin will manage the marketing communications for several lines of business of a Fortune 100 company.
Really fabulous, Kevin! You are surely one of our EC Millennial Personal Brands to watch!
Taylor Pat
chen – Inside Sales & Marketing Executive at Waterfall
We are pleased to announce Taylor Patchen, EC’s 2014 “Rising Star,” began her career recently as an Intern at Waterfall in NYC. Taylor has recently been offered a full-time position as Sales Manager at Waterfall and she is excited to be launching her career in NYC.
GO, Taylor! Your work ethic, follow through, and great attitude will take you great places!
Career Opportunities
Managing Director, Social & Mobile Business Development
We are pleased to announce a career opportunity – MD, Business Development – Social & Mobile – for a Digital/Social/Mobile/CRM/Content/Analytics agency with several offices nationwide.
The position will be based in our client’s Alexandria, VA office and our client prefers not to relocate…so initially we are focusing our efforts intensively in the DC/VA market, but we are always interested in discovering key talent in the NYC area, which is our secondary market location.
We welcome all inquiries, connections and referrals.
VP, Digital Experience – Group Insurance Division
This VP, Digital Experience position is located in the NY metro area and we are focusing on identifying qualified candidates with 10+ years of digital experience in the insurance and/or financial services (banking, credit card, brokerage) sectors. B2C and B2B digital strategy and marketing experience are essential and, in addition, this individual will be a digital thought leader able to influence senior leaders and support them to accomplish business goals through development of innovative digital solutions.
As this is a new position within the Group Insurance Division, reporting to the SVP, Strategy & Chief Marketing Officer, this individual will be a team builder and leader of a team focused on designing and executing digital marketing and customer experience strategies and programs. The CMO is a long-term EC client, a terrific marketing and business leader, so this is truly a great career opportunity to partner and work with a high-performing CMO in an exciting business opportunity.
This role will also have considerable matrix interface and coordination with enterprise-wide digital and customer experience initiatives.
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