Strategic Consulting Unity of a Top Global Healthcare Firm Uses Structural to Increase Retention and Productivity

The Challenge:

When is a walk down the hallway or a quick phone call not enough?

Matching talent to opportunity and promoting strong internal networks was uncomplicated when the firm was small. Most employees were in direct contact with one another and could get in touch easily.

In 2018, after years of strong growth, both the complexity of opportunities and the diversity of skills and expertise on the team had expanded beyond the level where personal networks could support the right connections at the right time.

On top of this, the firm’s culture became diluted and employees started to feel increasingly disconnected from the organization as a whole. In fact, staff turnover reached an unsettling 35%.

The Process:

To remedy the increased turnover and strengthen connections among employees, the firm deployed an employee engagement team tasked with finding a solution. This group consulted an ~2,000 person sister organization under the same parent company, which had participated in a lengthy pilot of Structural that yielded very promising results, including:

Increased speed to market
More streamlined internal opportunity placement
Reduced hours spent on staffing by 20-30%
Improved workplace management and engagement

Healthcare Insights Structural Laptop Img

Real-time insights are quickly pulled from groups of experts or search results, creating a rich view of this talented workforce that was never possible before.

In October 2019, after examining its parent company’s results and running a brief pilot of its own, the firm decided to move forward with Structural as a solution for increasing transparency and connectedness organization-wide. Key goals the firm hoped to achieve via the use of Structural included:

Improved utilization of individuals and more rapid project staffing
Increased support of peer connections, mentoring programs and targeted communications
Increased visibility into the unique strengths and expertise organization-wide, with these insights available to all employees
Ability to make more informed people decisions, ultimately leading to increased career development opportunities for employees and increased retention

We reduced turnover by 50% in the first year with Structural because our teams no longer feel disconnected from each other and the business.

Michael Division COO

The data pulled into the platform mirrors the expertise of the firm’s talented employees. It includes current and past project assignments, client experience, technical skills, certifications, current and future capacity, development goals and interests, and more, on each and every person. All of this is organized in robust, searchable, employee profiles.

With Structural’s advanced search capabilities, the firm’s employees can easily find exactly who they need internally, in real-time, simply by entering in keywords (see image to right) or adding a quick search filter. To increase connection and engagement, the firm makes great use out of the optional Structural Posts Module as well. This has been especially impactful during the COVID-19 pandemic as the team has become more distributed and remote. Since March of 2020 the platform has seen surges in sharing of resources and expanded use of the Structural Groups function to create support teams. The firm’s management team leverages Structural Posts to push out important messages, company updates and even new hire announcements.

People data is collected from existing systems and organized into rich, searchable, profiles.

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The Result:

With Structural, our healthcare consulting client was able to not only meet but exceed the goals originally put in place. Part of the reason for this is how quickly and fully the firm’s employees embraced Structural, with over 60% of employees actively using the platform. The firm’s CEO even commented, “This is the single most valuable platform we’ve rolled out since I’ve been here. We have never had this kind of visibility in our talented workforce.”

Connections are strengthening each and every day, based on these high levels of activity. In the past six months alone, there have been over 14,000 profile views and 5,000 contacts made within the platform.

In addition to utilizing Structural for connection, the firm’s employees have reported another major benefit of usage: productivity. Not only are they able to find the right people at the right time and staff winning project teams faster, but the overall quality of work has increased because experts are being matched to the projects and tasks that align with their skill sets and experience.

As mentioned before, one of the firm’s key objectives in rolling out Structural was to increase retention rates after turnover rose to a concerning level. According to the COO, turnover has since reduced by half, from. This is largely due to the greater reach management now has in terms of contacting the organization and the visibility leaders have into the skill sets and development interests of their teams. For the first time, they are able to quickly access this information and provide opportunities that enrich the employee experience and benefit the firm as a whole.

This has been a game-changer for us. Creating an environment where all generations want to work is key here, and our Millennials love Structural.

Michael Division COO

Conclusion:

In just a matter of months, our healthcare consulting client went from major growing pains and a high turnover rate to increased employee engagement and performance on projects that has allowed them to sustain their influx of new clientele. Structural has played a key role in this remarkable turnaround with its data-driven platform that empowers people and teams.

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