SERVICE
People & Organization
Structures, roles and leadership teams designed around the work, not around today's jobs.
Typical reduction in management layers and spans below five
Faster decisions, measured on major approvals
Critical roles retained through redesign
OVERVIEW
Organization design, leadership effectiveness, workforce planning and culture for companies whose structure has grown faster than their clarity about who decides what.
Most organizations were not designed. They accumulated, one reorganization, acquisition and new hire at a time. The result is familiar: too many layers, spans of three or four, overlapping roles, and decisions that climb to the executive team because nobody below is sure they are allowed to make them.
We redesign organizations from the work outward. We start with the outcomes the strategy requires and the decisions that drive them, then design roles, structures and governance around those. Only then do we look at the people who will fill the roles.
That order matters. It keeps the design honest, it makes the case for change easier to explain, and it gives leaders a structure they can hold to when the next reorganization is proposed. We stay through appointments and the first months of operation, because that is where most redesigns lose their shape.
QUESTIONS WE ANSWER
What clients bring to this practice
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WHAT WE DO
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Organization design
Structure, spans and layers designed from the work the company has to do, with clear accountability for every outcome that matters.
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Decision rights
A short, explicit map of who decides, who is consulted and who is informed for the fifty decisions that drive performance.
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Leadership team effectiveness
Assessment and coaching for executive teams on roles, operating rhythm and how they make and stick to decisions.
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Strategic workforce planning
A model of the skills and headcount the strategy requires, compared with what you have, and a plan to close the gap.
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Talent and critical roles
Identifying the roles that create the most value and making sure the strongest people are in them.
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Culture and ways of working
A small number of specific behaviors to change, tied to how people are measured, promoted and paid.
OUR WORK
All case studies
INDUSTRIES
Where this practice works most often
Is organization design mainly about cutting cost?
Cost is often an outcome, but the main goal is clarity. A well-designed organization usually costs less because it duplicates less work.
How do you avoid a redesign that takes a year?
We design the top three layers first, appoint leaders, and let them design their own teams within agreed principles and a fixed timetable.
How do you handle works councils and consultation?
We have run redesigns under consultation rules in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and France, and we build those timelines into the plan from the start.
Do you assess individual executives?
Where the client asks, yes, using structured interviews and evidence of performance, always with the results shared with the person assessed.
Webinar: scenario planning for the 2027 board calendar
scenario-planning-2027-webinar
Event
Elena Marsh and Priya Raman
A one-hour online briefing for directors and executives on building scenarios, triggers and prepared moves into the board's regular cycle.
Scenario planning that boards will actually use
scenario-planning-for-boards
Article
Elena Marsh and Thomas Reid
Most board scenario exercises produce a thick report and no decisions. A lighter approach, tied to triggers and pre-agreed moves, makes them useful.
Making cost savings last: a breakfast roundtable for CFOs
making-cost-savings-last-roundtable
Event
David Okafor and Hannah Cole
A closed-door breakfast in London for finance leaders planning their next cost program, built on the findings of The CFO Cost Agenda 2026.
Operations AI Benchmark 2026: from pilots to the P&L
operations-ai-benchmark-2026
Report
Marcus Lindqvist and Priya Raman
How 286 operations leaders are using AI in maintenance, planning and quality, how much of it reaches production, and what the companies seeing returns do differently.
Zero-based organization design, done properly
zero-based-organization-design
Article
Hannah Cole
Designing an organization from a blank page sounds radical. Done well, it is the most practical way to remove layers and duplication without starting a political war.
The first 100 days after a merger
first-100-days-after-a-merger
Article
Lukas Brenner and Amara Nwosu
The first hundred days after closing set the pace for everything that follows. What to settle before day one, what to do quickly, and what to leave alone.
The CFO Cost Agenda 2026: why savings fade and what keeps them
cfo-cost-agenda-2026
Report
Thomas Reid and David Okafor
A survey of 412 chief financial officers on cost programs, how much of the savings survive, and the practices that separate durable results from temporary ones.
Making AI pay back in operations, not in pilots
making-ai-pay-back-in-operations
Article
Marcus Lindqvist and Kenji Watanabe
Most operations AI never leaves the pilot stage. The few use cases that pay back share a set of traits that have little to do with the model itself.
Pricing power after the inflation years
pricing-power-after-inflation
Article
Elena Marsh and Priya Raman
Companies raised prices faster than costs between 2021 and 2024. Customers remember. How to set prices now that the cover of general inflation is gone.
Why cost programs fail in year two
why-cost-programs-fail-in-year-two
Article
David Okafor and Thomas Reid
Most cost programs hit their first-year targets. The savings disappear in the second year, for reasons that are predictable and largely avoidable.