Art Technology Group, a leading e-commerce platform provider contacted KGA when they began to explore strategies for strengthening front line leadership as a strategy for attracting and retaining valuable employees. The company was keenly aware that their newly promoted managers in the company were responsible for managing and retaining nearly 80 of the 400 employees in the company. Some of these managers were very new to management; having been newly promoted from technical positions and others were tenured managers based in locations aroudn the world. KGA worked with the Human Resources team to develop a customized New Manager Assimilation program and designed and delivered this program synchronously to new managers in a classroom in Cambridge and to managers around the world. Art Technology selected Senior Consultant Monica Brunaccini as someone who had not only the right expertise - given her passion for new leader development - but also the right chemistry to work face to face and online with this diverse group ranging from Senior Technical experts to new Sales Managers. Monica partnered with HR Director, Julia Slee in a co-creative process in which each delivered modules of the training. And - the program was kicked off by company CEO, Robert Burke as he addressed managers around the world about his practical and very personal insights about the impact managers have on people and company results.

The results of the New Manager Training were quick and impactful. Immediately after the training, at least one key new manager contacted HR to further his learning from the classroom training. He wanted HR's help in soliciting feedback about how his team perceived his management style and what he could do to improve. He was coached by HR about how to solicit the feedback, and almost more importantly, how to follow up with the team about their perceptions and what he intended to do to develop. "This type of development is not only what the managers need the most, but it also strengthens our relationship and connection as HR professionals with the managers who are so close to our valuable employees," said Julia Slee - Director of Human Resources.


A major player in the data archiving industry contacted KGA when the need for developing leaders became a strategic imperative. Over the last two years the company had acquired two other businesses in order to accelerate its strategy for being a worldwide leader in the industry. Through these acquisitions and additional hiring, the company had grown from about 160 employees to over 400. Merger and integration was not a simple process. A large number of the new hires for these roles have never managed people before. By engaging senior company leaders in designing a set of competencies they called leadership commitments, a leadership fundamentals curriculum both helped managers to understand the company's vision and gave them the tools to help employees to collaboratively support that vision. A customized curriculum unique to their particular business challenges was created. Sessions were held over a period of time so that participants had an opportunity to practice new skills, and action plan coaching was incorporated between modules, giving participants an opportunity to measure progress and seek feedback in the future.


A Boston-based university approached KGA to design a program that would improve manager performance. It was found that the primary reason managers did not succeed in their positions was a lack of clear goals and expectations for their employees. With limited resources, the university needed a cost-effective way to help managers integrate core competencies into the performance management process and use these competencies to be clear with their teams about expectations and measures for success. In collaboration with the Human Resources team, KGA created and implemented a "train the trainer" program that HR could then implement with managers on an ongoing basis. With enhanced facilitation skills, the HR professionals went on train managers to use an eight-step coaching model for improving the performance of their work teams. The managers would now use a better process for identifying operationalized goals and objectives and measuring the progress of their employees. The result-successful managers and a sustainable plan for training and supporting managers in the future.


A multi-million dollar high technology company worked with KGA to conduct an executive assessment of one of their most senior operating executives, as a way of planning for and investing in the future of this organization. The company founder wanted to assess the current interpersonal climate among the executives created under his leadership, look at the appropriateness of the climate in the context of the company's current and future business needs, and identify strengths and potential areas for improvement. This executive coaching opportunity was an experiential and developmental process that built this individual leader's capability to achieve short- and long-term organizational goals. It was conducted through one-on-one interaction, driven by data from multiple perspectives and included interviews, self-assessment, and testing. Most importantly, it was based on mutual trust and respect. The organization, the executive, and the executive coach worked in partnership to achieve maximum impact and return on investment.