Sharpening strategic focus and implementing a major overhaul
Bioversity
Helen led a comprehensive and inclusive process to create a new 10-year strategy and implement far-reaching organisational changes, enabling Bioversity to achieve financial security and to radically improve its reputation.
The Issues and Challenge
Bioversity International is a not-for-profit agricultural research organisation based in Rome. With an annual budget of $40m, provided entirely by donors, it employs around 250 eminent scientists and support staff around the world. In 2013 Ann Tutwiler joined as the new Director General and identified quickly that funding had flatlined, costs had spiralled and the organisation was perceived as ineffective by some of its key stakeholders.
There was an urgent need for a major overhaul of Bioversity – a ‘soup to nuts’ transformation. Ann and her senior management team asked Helen to help them sharpen their strategic focus, and identify and drive through the changes needed.
What we did
After analysing their current strategy – sources of funding, geographical spread, operating costs etc. – Helen devised and ran a series of highly participative events with senior managers and staff to create a new 10-year corporate strategy. This represented a radical departure from what had previously existed, so it was important to identify concerns and potential resistance as discussions took place. Materials were developed to communicate the changes and persuade staff and stakeholders of the benefits of doing things differently.
Helen worked with the senior management team to develop a change roadmap – a detailed plan of action for the first 18 months – to embed the changes that needed to take place across eight work streams: strategy, financial performance, structure, funding, external communication, internal communication, process improvement and IT change. Helen then worked with people from across Bioversity to implement and embed the changes over a two-year period.
What we achieved
Helen succeeded in both developing the new strategy and change plan and putting them into action. With a new organisational structure, Bioversity was able to reduce the number of operating countries from 85 to 35, with no loss of efficiency. They were also able to achieve reductions in headcount of 10% and the overall annual cost base of 20%.
Senior managers and staff gave very positive feedback on the approach taken to the whole process of change (especially regarding participation), even when changes were imposed and/or unsettling. Helen was also able to help Bioversity introduce a new results-based framework, a systematic approach to objective setting and measurement – typically very difficult in a not-for-profit, research-led development organisation.