“It’s not about being the hero consultant”

Skipp WilliamSon begins every business transformation project with the same aim: to make her team redundant quickly. The Melbourne-based professional, who last year was named one of Australia’s five most influential consultants by The Australian Financial Review, says true change means rewiring the company so it’s easier to manage and can continually improve itself. “Traditionally, consultants come in and beat the s**t out of a company; they emaciate it, disempower people and leave,” she says. “Three years later, they’re needed again. This is a dependency model. We’re trying to solve a very different question: ‘What is missing in your organisation that means you need to call in external consultants?’” In every case, she says, what’s absent is a high-performance culture. “Companies without this tend to be lacking in top-tobottom single-person KPIs to make priorities and performance transparent and timely. All organisations must be restless with the status quo. That requires a culture that’s really honest about how it’s performing and grinds out high-value improvements. Without this, shifts come as a surprise and surprise requires major transformation.” Williamson (or one of her 500 consultants based around the world) begins by agreeing on an initial goal with the client, which is clear and outcome-focused – for example, save $100 million in costs or halve the time it takes customers to achieve what they want to do. Nebulous concepts such as “become a digital organisation” are not acceptable. The consultant then meets with frontline and other staff to identify the main drivers they should focus on. It’s two-way; the staff also educate Williamson’s team about the business, their frustrations and ideas for improvements. “Typically, they’ll generate 50 or 60 ideas within an hour; within 10 days they’ll have prioritised several to achieve the goal,” she says. Williamson, a former McKinsey & Company consultant who set up Partners in Performance in 1996, says pushback is usually minimal. “Resistance comes from not being part of the journey or not being listened to. We don’t set up a separate project office reporting to the CEO. That creates an alternate power structure and weakens the link between the CEO and the rest of the business.” She also makes sure the management team presents the agreed plan to the CEO or board. “It’s not about being the hero consultant – they have to own it.” That includes tough decisions, such as the 44 per cent headcount reduction needed at one oil and gas client after a dramatic fall in the oil price. “Headcount is not usually the first lever we tackle but this was a survival turnaround,” she says, adding that 12 months later the company’s EBITDA had grown by more than US$250 million (about $350 million). “If we have to do it, we do it very fast – in this case, six weeks after we started. People want to be treated with respect and honesty. Months of delaying bad news is shocking; the organisation is paralysed. It’s inhuman.” In tandem with assisting the organisation to deliver on agreed goals, Williamson’s team works on developing a high-performance culture – with clear reporting lines, the right data, KPIs and regular, frank reviews – so the company develops the skills to continually improve. This typically takes six to nine months. “We emphasise helping the client deliver rather than doing the work for them. Our focus is more on coaching and supporting the client to ensure the skills are transferred and they are successful.”