Organizational Consulting

By Margaret McCraw

 

Since starting her company Behavioral Health and Leadership Dynamics, LLC in 1995, Dr. McCraw has developed solutions to improve performance, train new leaders and prepare the workforce during difficult transitions. As CEO of BHLD, Dr. McCraw has led her consultants to guide organizations to meet challenges in shifting markets and technology. As a leader in behavioral health, Margaret McCraw has created a unique, holistic approach to business consulting services to a variety of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and government agencies.

 

The dynamics prompting the need for BHLD services have varied and include:

  • Significant shift in market conditions triggering new strategic direction and/or priorities
  • The emergence of new technology
  • New board, new senior leaders, new executive director
  • Reduction in revenue base
  • Need for innovation — new products or services, new ways to reduce costs
  • Underdeveloped or under-investment in infrastructure
  • New stakeholders with new needs and expectations
  • Lack of alignment across organizational groups impeding overall capability and performance
  • Culture change in support of new direction and performance goal

What differentiates BHLD Consultants from other consulting groups is Dr. McCraw’s philosophy: a seamless blending of behavioral, managerial, human relations, and business skills, all of which are integrated into a comprehensive, holistic approach toward leadership.  Read reviews from an array of consulting clients to see how Dr. McCraw’s insight has helped large and small organizations reach goals and become successful.

BHLD is equipped to identify critical issues and design tailored, actionable solutions.

Specialties

  • Resilience Consulting
  • Climate/Culture Analysis
  • Gap Analysis
  • 360 Degree Feedback
  • Restructuring Staffing or Service Delivery
  • Strategic Planning

Guiding Principles

  • Complexity:  Organizations are complex systems — when change occurs in one place in an organization, other parts of the organization are naturally affected.
  • Change dynamics: Resistance to change is common and can be addressed in a positive manner.  Surfacing, respecting, and working through resistance is a healthy and useful part of the change process. Addressing the emotions surrounding any organizational change ultimately enables the organization’s ability to become adaptive and optimize the success of the change objectives.
  • Involve the Right People: Successful change requires alignment, commitment and participative leaders with the authority to influence action, and impact key stakeholders throughout the organization.
  • Full Participation: All participants are encouraged to speak up and fully engage in the process in order to foster ownership and commitment to the change.
  • Multiple Perceptions: There are often as many perspectives and opinions as there are people involved in the process. In order for change to successfully occur, participants need to understand and accept each other’s point of view.  This requires momentarily suspending positions, listening attentively, and balancing advocating for a point of view with inquiring about and honoring others’ perspectives.
  • Jointly Designed Actions: Consultants and the client group work together to co-create a process that is tailored to the unique dynamics and constraints of the organization. This approach encourages innovation, commitment, and ownership of solutions.
  • Objectivity:  Consultants work from a stance of objectivity, without bias, and with a strict code of confidentiality so as to engender trust throughout the change process.
The BHLD Process

While every organization is different, our process is scalable and adaptive to each client (not necessarily in this order):

  1. Identify the change imperative with leaders
  2. Design success criteria
  3. Develop a change strategy to align work expectations with organizational goals and  competencies
  4. Assess current state and readiness using multiple feedback sources and team evaluation
  5. Engage key participants across the organization
  6. Perform organizational culture analysis as indicated; determine perceptions of internal and external customers in regard to performance management systems
  7. Define key stakeholders and determine roles and responsibilities
  8. Develop the change plan
  9. Implement and facilitate the change
  10. Identify and integrate learning solutions
  11. Monitor progress
  12. Develop and implement corresponding communication

    Customer Satisfaction

     

    In order to ensure that organizational leaders are satisfied in the process, BHLD consultants will:

    • Seek their active involvement in co-designing and leading the process
    • Develop project objectives, timelines and success criteria, which is monitored throughout the project
    • Prepare regular status reports
    • Conduct regular check-in meetings, solicit feedback and make changes accordingly
    • Complete all deliverables as specified  in our agreements