When how business results are achieved matters as much as what is achieved…

WorkOut is a large-scale transformation event focusing 20-60+ people across businesses, functions, and levels on an ambitious, cross-boundary business objective.

• Focus on Results. Expect to deliver tangible, measurable results within 100 days or less.
• Model of Employee Engagement. Get employees at all levels to identify what’s important to build momentum and generate results.
• Active Sponsorship. Remove barriers to progress while promoting innovation and bold, disciplined decision-making to develop new solutions.
• Speed and Alignment. Organize to deliver results now! Gain alignment across silos and decision-makers.
• Follow Through. Promote actionable goal-setting and accountability for results – no more redesigns.
• Immediate Action. Get started on good ideas since there is no need to wait for perfection.

Accelerating Sales Growth

• “Our new business strategy means that we're asking our sales force to move in an entirely new direction and to “raise their game”. How can we ensure that they're up to the challenge?”
• “Our share price has been flat for years. We need to grow our top line dramatically - how do we get there?”

Engaging Employees

• “I’ve heard that WorkOut can be used to engage my people in solving complex business problems. How can I use this tool to tap their knowledge and drive fast, effective decision-making that translates into real results for us?”

Improving Business Performance

• “Our P&L tells us we have issues; how do I know that we're working on the right drivers of performance – with urgency?”
• “I need to cut costs strategically and constructively. How can I eliminate unnecessary work that helps my organization not just survive, but focus on and prepare for future opportunities?”
• “Our business is too complex. How can we simplify the ways we operate, to better focus on meeting our customers’ needs – and deliver better results?”

Books

• GE WorkOut: How To Implement GE's Revolutionary Method for Busting Bureaucracy and Attacking Organizational Problems-Fast! , Dave Ulrich, Steve Kerr, Ron Ashkenas. McGraw-Hill, 2002.

The first guide to General Electric’s famous "Work-Out" change management tool was written by GE insiders. GE’s legendary Work-Out program played a key role in the organization's phenomenal success over the past decade and has been implemented in many other companies. Now, three members of the team, including Ron Ashkenas of Schaffer Consulting, discuss the inner workings of Work-Out and their experiences at successfully implementing the program at GE. They explain how Work-Outs can be used in other organizations, making necessary adaptations while protecting the overall integrity of the process. Filled with effective assessment and decision-making tools, GE Work-Out provides concrete and realistic guidance for anyone who wants to implement Work-Out and break down bureaucracy and hierarchy within their organization.

Also published in Korean, Portuguese, and Chinese.

• Rapid Results! How 100-Day Projects Build the Capacity for Large-Scale Change , Robert H. Schaffer, Ronald N. Ashkenas, and Associates; Jossey-Bass; 2005.

This publication shows how to make large-scale changes succeed by using 100-day results-producing projects to develop vital implementation capability. Written by leaders in the field of change management, Rapid Results! describes an approach that has been field-tested by real organizations of every size and industry to improve performance and accelerate the pace of change.

Selected Blogs

• One Brick at a Time: Building XL Insurance’s Construction Business
• Bringing Timely and Accurate Numbers to Management: Using WorkOut to Energize a Global Finance Function

Financial Turnaround and Cultural Change

The new CEO of a struggling, 100 year old European financial services firm saw the writing on the wall for the venerable but under-performing company. The organization had to achieve nothing less than a complete transformation of its financial performance and corporate culture if it was to survive... Over the first four years of this transformation, WorkOuts generated over $75 million ...  learn more...

Manufacturing: Radical Profit Turnaround

A major manufacturer was faced with a daunting challenge. It needed to break through to profitability after several years of losses. With a majority of business coming from commodity products, much of the turnaround in performance had to occur in the production lines for these products in the company's four plants. In initial discussions, company leadership set a goal of making an improvement of an additional $1.5 million in profit in that fiscal year ... learn more...

Skandia International

Skandia International closed revenue gaps and achieved $32.5 million USD within the last 4 months of the year. learn more...

Government Agency: Bureaucracy Busting and Customer Satisfaction

WorkOut helped launch a broad transformation of ways of working in this Department of Transportation – including a major focus on quality, on new ways of involving the public, and on new ways of interacting with major suppliers and contractors. learn more...