PAMELAHACKETTGlobal CEO ofProudfoot

GLOBAL

www.ceotodaymagazine.com

14

CEO Today Management Consulting Awards 2019

Whatfirstinspiredyour interestandeventualposition asathoughtleaderin transformativechange?

Having spent the last 2 years as CEO, I’m passionate about learning from every CEO’s challenge: building tomorrow’s business while leading today’s business. It’s what I call ‘wrestling chaos.’

Few people at any level have had the luxury of successfully leading multiple transformation programs and great-change initiatives. It’s just not something many people do in their careers. But today, it’s what we need. Whether it is planned or not, the ability to engage, enable, and energize an entire organization to continuously change, is crucial for both growth and survival.

Think about the breadth of what CEOs want to implement: diversity, operational excellence, safety culture, customer experience, process and productivity improvements, better margins and lower

costs. There are also the big ideas around sustainability and climate change, not to mention pressing global challenges like lifting people out of poverty or supporting girls’ education. It all requires a deep knowledge and demonstrated skill in implementation. That’s what transformation requires. Transformation is the outcome. The ability to implement change drives the action. We all need to be well versed and skilled in the art and science of implementation. That’s what I’m most passionate about—helping leaders at every level learn how to implement change, repeatedly and successfully.

I truly believe implementation has the power to change the world. It’s how you make change happen. If you can’t implement you can’t make a difference.

Initially, I was taken by Proudfoot’s ability to measure actual outcomes of change—through operational indicators and financial results. We can show a direct link between a project’s actions and the results, week-by-week, down to the

smallest details. This was different than other consulting firms.

But we were also getting different results than the rest of the industry. The statistics 20 years ago were similar to today—other consultancy firms spoke of change failure rates of 70% or more. We don’t experience that. When we looked back to our tracked results, we consistently delivered 110% to objectives. What set Proudfoot apart? I was, and still am, fanatical about trying to understand how we achieved such high success rates to continually learn and apply these findings to client change programs.

In those early days, people were talking about “change curves” and “valleys of despair,” but thought leadership had not yet matured to understand how to navigate the curves and change the trajectory to ensure success. To build our change practice, we focused on the fundamentals of what we still call “People Solutions.” Through the late 1990s and early 2000s, our teams led the development of deep

Q

Global CEO ofProudfoot

knowledge in individual and organizational alignment, as well as education and training, to engage people more effectively in the journey to implement and sustain change.

Naturally, successful change demanded multi-faceted solutions. We led developments in agile project management, measurement, and synchronized change to processes, technology, management tools, structure, and behaviors. We wrapped all of this up in people-based solutions.

Underpinning everything was a profound belief in the power of coaching. Only by safely and securely applying and adapting to newfound skills in the real world, could team members achieve sustainable change.

We’ve tracked the results of our last 1,000 engagements. We measure our results weekly based on client agreed-upon KPIs. Each client audits those measurements. Of those projects, 621 were assessed on financial data, and the rest on a variety of other indicators, including measures of cultural change. We’re not satisfied with approximations of the value we add; we measure it precisely.

Today, we’re so confident in our track record that we offer clients a guarantee of dollar-for-dollar return on their investment. We also put our client-audited results on our website in real time, allowing anyone to view the exact returns we’ve generated for our clients.

HowhastheProudfootstory andlegacysince1946 motivatedyouinyourrole today?

Alexander Proudfoot founded this company in 1946, motivated by his experience in McKinsey and knowledge that big consulting firms of that time focused too much on creating strategy and writing reports, and not enough on implementation. He recognized that the best way to create value for clients was to ‘roll your sleeves up and actually help turn recommendations into action.

ABOUT PAMELA HACKETTTheQuietAchieverMining sites in the Gobi Desert and in Kazakhstan. Insurance giants in New York City and Hong Kong. Manufacturers and aviators from Hartford to Toronto. Healthcare organizations in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Titans of industry across Europe. They’ve all been visited by Proudfoot CEO Pamela Hackett since she stepped into the firm’s top job in 2017.

In 2017, the Board of Directors of this London-listed consultancy was searching for a new type of leader to reinvent their 70-year-old business. They called on Pam, who had more than 30 years’ experience with Proudfoot. That might seem like a counterintuitive choice to drive transformation. But not if you’ve met Pam.

When Pam puts on her safety boots (at 5’4” she wishes they had 5-inch heels) and the rest of her protective equipment, she’s suiting up not only to meet senior executives but also to get into the “coalface” of the businesses the company serves—“the critical places where change actually happens.” She exchanges ideas with front-line supervisors and operators. Pam has met almost all of her team’s long list of clients in her first two years, and is actively scheduling the remainder to set up a time and place for them to get together.

Proudfoot is the brand behind major change at some of the world’s best-known companies. The management consulting firm quietly leads from behind, enabling a client to achieve—and own—major improvements to operations, finances, and workplace culture.

IntheActionPam started with Proudfoot at Mount Isa Mines in Queensland Australia in 1987. Since then, she has held just about every role in Proudfoot, including change management, business-unit leader, country and regional management positions, and most recently, global CEO. She divides her time between Toronto where she officially lives, the firm’s two global hubs in London and Atlanta, and client locations all around the world.

“Proudfoot has always been a global, virtual company. We work where our clients are. Why would I spend a minute in our offices that I don’t need to? The only place that counts is out with our clients,” Pam says of her hands-on style.

She has built a diverse team to co-lead alongside her, ensured that women hold a balance of leadership roles, and given next-gen leaders a powerful voice in decision-making. She has no Executive Assistant to complicate her lean-management style. Her self-described “Heads-Up leadership approach” involves checking in rather than checking up on her teams—empowering Proudfoot’s strong, diverse leadership team to deliver value to their clients.

Her ability to lead transformation—both within Proudfoot and for its clients—is fully informed from more than 30 years driving the company’s focus on people-based solutions. Her boundless passion and enthusiastic support for clients “wrestling with chaos,” is contagious, spreading to every Proudfoot team. The company has an endemic belief in ‘boots on the ground’, and working side-by-side with the people within each client company, implementing change where the work gets done.

AchampionofchangePam was the natural choice for Proudfoot’s next global leader, not only because of her dedication and history with the company, but also because she understands how Proudfoot can be a leader in shaping the future of business. Her crystal-clear vision builds on the company’s history of providing measurable value, and gains power from her conviction that the future of business is still people.

One of few women leaders and board members of a UK PLC, Pam’s approach to diversity goes beyond gender. She embodies the principle that if you want to achieve something new, you need to be different. The company’s teams are populated with people with diverse backgrounds, schools of thought, and decision-making styles. This diversity runs deep. It involves a top-to-bottom expansion of thinking and leadership styles that is ingrained in every facet of the business.

“With almost a 50% increase in input so far this year over last year, I can say the teams are doing something right and our clients are responding to it,” Pam says.

GLOBAL 15

www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today Management Consulting Awards 2019

Q

www.ceotodaymagazine.comCEO Today Management Consulting Awards 2019

16 GLOBAL

Our fundamentals remain the same today: implementation as a core skill; measurement as a means to generating returns on a client’s investment in consulting; and coaching as the foundation of performance improvement. Implementation capability is absolutely core to our DNA and remains our most important differentiator.

Lately, it seems the rest of the consulting world has woken up to the importance of implementation. Many big firms have started talking about it, and every country we work in now has “Proudfoot clones,” often started by people who used to work for us. We take it in stride; after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We might be the most cloned company in the world. But our 73-year track record of creating real, tangible value for our clients still distinguishes us in the market.

We’re continuously finding new ways to add value for our clients. Our emphasis on measurement lets us help clients use the freed-up capacity (capital, time, people, assets) they get from improving their current performance, to fund investments in future innovations.

Whatarethemostcommon faultswithinabusiness thatyourconsultingservices canaddressforasuccessful transformation?

Fault is a strong word. I go back to, “we’re all wrestling chaos.” I think the challenges for most businesses are primarily about capability and bandwidth, rather than fault. Leaders may not have developed their implementation muscle or be able to find the bandwidth to both manage today’s business and lead tomorrow’s. Proudfoot bridges that gap. We work with leaders at all levels to develop that capability, and to demonstrate what ‘good’ looks like. Our teams are all-in, and passionate about making sure we get the results our clients are seeking.

We don’t want to do the same assignment twice. When we help build new capabilities for leaders and their teams, we also build

their implementation capability. So, the next time they are faced with a challenge, they have the tools to make change happen themselves.

Whathasbeenthe cornerstoneofthesuccess you’vefoundatProudfoot?

Speak up. Put your hand up. Step up. And shake it up.

There isn’t a day I don’t recognize how fortunate I am, growing from my first job at age 14 at a McDonald’s in Sydney, to leading a global consulting company, publicly listed out of the UK. If there’s one thing this journey has taught me, it’s that you don’t win games sitting on the sidelines. I love this business and this company. It allowed for experiences like working 4,000 meters above sea level in the Andes and on the border of the Congo, in skyscrapers in New York and casinos in Macau, and countless other exotic and remote places. Proudfoot has given me amazing opportunities time and time again, and I have done my best to make the most of them.

Haveyouhadanyrecent clientsthatstoodoutto you?Canyoutellusabout thetransformationtheywent through?

I’m so proud of so much of the work we are doing, whether it’s an end-to-end transformation, or addressing one specific part of how a business operates.

Often, we’re helping companies improve or recover from the consequences of poor performance. But some of the most interesting and exciting projects happen when a client comes to us to help them prepare for future success, in a greenfield environment. And what better greenfield project than a new $5+ billion investment in a Mongolian mining project in a corner of the Gobi Desert?

Rio Tinto invited Proudfoot to partner with them to develop and roll out what

became known as “One Plan,” an award-winning, multi-faceted plan to get the mine up and running in record time. The cost of delayed schedules for a mine development project can run in the millions per day, so we knew we had to get it right straight out of the gate. Rio Tinto needed contractors, employees, government partners, management and leaders all singing off the same song sheet. “One Plan” was both innovative and grounded in Proudfoot’s richly developed expertise in Short Interval Controls, Management Operating Systems, Active Management, and Aerial MappingTM. The success of the rollout demonstrates the power of mixing well-earned insights with innovation.

I could also tell you about the great work delivered by our teams working on Boston Transit’s Green Line maintenance, helping Delta Dental implement a new IT system, or seeing operators at Kazzinc present their improvements to the Chairman of the Board. All of our projects are meaningful and impact the way people work. We change cultures and improve results. After working at TDK Epcos’ Indian site, the then president of their Capacitor division used a phrase I’ll never forget and will always value. He said Proudfoot “changed the landscape of his business.”

Lookingforwardtotheyears ahead,doyouhave anystrategiesinmindor developmentsyouhopefor Proudfoot?

Right now, we’re thinking a lot about how we scale our business, and how we stay ahead of the market. I was speaking to people at another large mining company recently, and they told us they chose to work with us for two reasons. The first was our robust measurement analytics. The other, was the way we engaged their people.

When clients are considering a consulting engagement, they want to know if you’ll work well with their people, whether you’ll really change their culture, and whether

Q QQ

Q

www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today Management Consulting Awards 2019

17

FIRM PROFILEObsessedwithvalueandresultsProudfoot, one of the world’s oldest and most celebrated management consulting companies is synonymous with one word: implementation. It has been that way since 1946, when Alexander Proudfoot pioneered and launched his operational, implementation approach to consulting. He wanted a new consulting proposition—one that delivered demonstrated and measured value through people-based solutions.

Many of the terms you hear today such as the MOS (Management Operating System), short interval control, brown-paper process mapping, and active management, originated with Proudfoot.

We work with senior leadership, all levels of management, and their teams to realize the full value of their work safely and productively today, while building their business for tomorrow.

InvestmentversuscostOur teams are fanatical about demonstrating and measuring results. Every client knows the precise return on their consulting investment, in real time, through weekly results scorecards.

Our engagements make a difference and deliver measurable value. That allows our clients to treat consulting fees as an investment rather than a cost. Our approach to consulting leads to improvements that not only pay for themselves but allow clients to invest in their future.

UniquelyhumanandagileProudfoot helps leadership and their teams create distinctively people-powered, results-driven cultures that can flex and stretch within the evolving world where they do business.

Don’tknowProudfoot?Thatmeanswe’redoingourjobright.We pride ourselves on maintaining client confidentiality. But there’s an even better reason why you might not know us: Proudfoot’s approach to consulting ensures our clients own the changes at their company. We are the quiet achievers, happy to have our clients enjoy the recognition and accolades that come with positive transformation.

That said, our award-winning work has led to us being named one of Forbes Best Management Consultancies in America, in 2018 and 2019. Even as we become better known around the world, the recognition we take greatest pride in comes from our clients.

“You changed the landscape of my business,” the President of a multi-billion, global Industrials company told us recently. That’s how we measure success.

Modern,people-basedsolutionsThe people who work at Proudfoot want to be part of more than just another operational consulting firm. They’re all in. They lead the way in implementing solutions to a client’s most pressing operational challenges. They enable behavior change at breathtaking speed and scale, while delivering tangible outcomes that stick for the long term.

Our clients open the doors of their businesses to us. We have a duty to bring our best selves to work—it’s how we help every client develop into their own best version. We push for businesses to engage, enable, and energize people, and to be the best performing company they can possibly be.

GLOBAL

you actually know what you’re talking about. Experience has consistently proved that the most important thing our clients are looking for is a partner who will help them develop and optimize their own capabilities. We plan to maintain our two key differentiators: robust measurement and an absolute passion for developing clients’ own capabilities. Our philosophy is that when a project ends, the client should be able to continue to enable everything we did. And we’re certain they can to do that because we don’t spend all of our time in the client’s boardroom. We put on hard hats and safety boots and we work with frontline supervisors and their teams and middle management—the people you need onside if you want to build real, sustainable change.

We’re interested in a full aerial map of a business. We want to know how work really happens across silos and at the front line, and how all the elements fit together. That’s why we’re able to help clients think about value the way we do. We don’t have the name recognition of some other firms, but we do have a 70% repeat business rate. We can see clients’ trust in us grow every day they work with us. They see the value of our approach.

Consulting, in general, has a reputational issue; clients aren’t used to having their project results tracked for them. But the very first time they see the results, they immediately get why it matters.

You may never have heard of Proudfoot, but one meeting with us and you’ll see a passionate team of people who care for their clients—we’re all in!

E:pamelahackett@proudfoot.comw:www.proudfoot.com