An internal service division within a major business products manufacturing company realized it had inefficiencies in its work processes. This was directly affecting decision-making responsibilities, criteria for priorities, communications within and across groups, quality standards and customer service. Employees were experiencing high levels of stress, confusion about roles and responsibilities, and the group's cycle times from the customer request to the final product had increased. The client's goals were to: 1) identify and resolve underlying challenges contributing to inefficiencies; 2) resolve decreases in productivity; and 3) increase employee morale.

Originally, the client considered the problems a result of improper training on current work processes. Gillespie Associates responded by providing organizational development consulting expertise. We conducted an organization-wide assessment employing several data-gathering methods: focus groups, individual interviews, and paper surveys. After review of the findings, Gillespie worked with the department at all levels to determine appropriate next steps. It was agreed that a work system redesign was necessary (including organizational structure changes and creation of a new position) to accomplish the client's goals and resolve root causes.

• Managers, supervisors, and employees across all department levels

• Organizational development consulting
• Work process redesign
• Cross-functional team facilitation
• Formal, documented work process for entire business

• 62 different processes—from handling customer orders to outsourcing and archiving "lessons learned" sessions to procedures for billing internal customers—were reduced to 2.5
• Roles and responsibilities became clearer
• Customer satisfaction improved
• Employees worked in "teams" vs. "functional silos"
• Employee morale improved
• Employees learned how to understand and resolve future problems
• The organization calculated a savings of $1.2 m directly attributable to the new work system redesign

My experience has been that Gillespie consultants are skilled professionals, committed to excellence. They hold ethics of their consulting practice and consistently meet customer expectations.

- Managing Client