examples of the output of the 2018 BPP process, capturing our need to continually innovate and develop high-value services as well as expand brand distribution and knowledge. In 2015, as part of the BPP, IPM’s organizational structure was modified to provide greater focus on areas of strategic importance. Recognizing the investment as an intelligent risk, the ET assigned Managing Directors (MD) to lead Healthcare and Consumer Products sectors and develop specific strategies to be implemented following ET approval. Around the same time, Business Development and Marketing, which had previously been a single entity, were separated to allow its MD to focus on the BD side, strengthening our ability to organically grow business development capabilities and capacity. Marketing was reassigned to report directly to the CEO, which led to a brand refinement initiative and the establishment of a Marketing portfolio management process, where the CEO and COO review the portfolio of marketing projects monthly to determine their prioritization, ensuring maximum value of the work being executed. Senior leadership cultivates a supportive environment of learning for IPM’s workforce. Although our consultants primarily work at their respective client sites to foster customer engagement, they are the beneficiaries of significant organizational support. Our employees receive coaching from their managers, assistance from colleagues, support from the CoEs, plus training from Knowledge & Process Management (KPM). Job shadowing and collaboration on projects are used to teach new consulting skills. This supportive environment provides consultants with the necessary foundation for consistently providing outstanding customer experiences. Continuous improvement and organizational learning are essential components of sustainability, therefore IPM’s consultants collect post-project lessons learned from each client engagement, which are then disseminated through staff meetings, roundtables, and the After Action Review of Projects (AARP), so that the entire organization may benefit. To create a workforce culture that fosters customer engagement, senior leadership requires weekly touchpoints between the client sponsor and the project manager, with additional meetings between the sponsor and the account manager to bolster the relationship. Each project team requests customer feedback through a PPE, the results of which are highlighted and emphasized at Staff meetings. Through twice annual Organizational Planning sessions (5.1a(1)) , the Company assesses our organizational strengths and depth of role succession. This succession planning is done to ensure the continued availability of proper resources for key roles. After our first Illinois Performance Excellence (ILPEx) application in 2015, it was recognized that the PS&DP process applied to all positions in the Company was not designed to specifically develop leaders for the highest levels. To address this need, Senior Leader Characteristics have been identified, and performance criteria for MDs defined, including specific pictures of success. The ongoing feedback mechanisms for MDs were revised in early 2017 and are now focused on four
key leadership competencies: Strategic, Execution, People, and Personal. Additionally, the VRO, an ET role developed as a result of the 2015 BPP, was explicitly created to focus on succession planning. The VRO has been tasked with determining how the Company can continue to remain independent beyond the retirement of our founder and CEO, to achieve our goal of celebrating our 100 th Anniversary and protect the interests of IPM’s primary stakeholders, our employees. 1.1c(2) Creating a Focus on Action Senior leadership generates Objectives as part of the BPP, and identifies the actions needed to achieve them in the form of Strategic Initiatives (Initiatives)—projects with a defined end state and timeframe for completion. Every strategic goal has a direct link to at least one Initiative. Each Initiative has an identified ET sponsor and a Single Point Accountable (SPA), the individual that owns the outcome of the Initiative. Through routine one-on-ones, employees and their supervisors discuss how to engage in activities to support IPM’s Initiatives, whether leading or providing execution support. While execution of internal Initiatives is vital to continuous improvement and Company evolution, employee participation must be balanced with focus on providing value to customers. Senior leaders roll out the Initiatives during the AP meeting, the same meeting where the forecast for the upcoming year’s revenue and profit is unveiled. Initiatives and business results must share the spotlight. IPM develops AP themes, based upon reinforcing and promoting the Objectives and creating ongoing excitement and energy associated with the Strategic Plan. The themes—from Improve & Impress (1992) to Velocity to Vision (2018) —create a focus on action. Throughout the year, the theme is referenced in the newsletter and other communications, and each employee gets a theme button and framed picture with the associated artwork. Additionally, IPM management has various regularly scheduled meetings (full roster AOS). Sessions like monthly senior leadership meetings, where the current state of the business is discussed along with issues critical to ongoing operation and growth, and weekly ET reviews, which ensure organizational alignment with our strategic goals, create a focus on action to improve the Company’s performance. Throughout the year, senior leadership emphasizes the Company’s accomplishments and details our progress through the newsletter and at quarterly Staff meetings, while holding themselves accountable for results that need improvement. At regularly scheduled ET Strategy Meetings—which are often offsite and occur quarterly, at minimum—senior leaders look beyond the current state, to anticipate new market opportunities, and harness the talents of the organization to discover ways to further differentiate ourselves. The ET has a clearly defined vision for the Company, and they consistently take responsibility —one of our FV —for the organization’s actions.
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