Over the next few weeks, we will highlight examples of the work we do here at Protiviti. These stories showcase the variety of projects that our people team together on to deliver meaningful results for our clients — and also to learn something of value in the process.
First up in our #WorkWeDo series, David, a Consultant in Chicago, shares a story about creating efficiencies on a global scale.
Protiviti Career: What was the situation?
David: “A fortune 500 global distribution company struggled with weak control over their finance and accounting teams in different countries. They had areas of frustratingly inefficient processes, unclear responsibilities, few policies in place (and even fewer followed), and generally had difficulty collaborating.”
PC: What was our team tasked with doing?
David: “The company wanted our help to identify how processes are currently performed, understand what the weakest areas were, and develop a plan to smoothly transition towards an improved organization. To do this, we were to create process maps showing what they do and how it could improve. We were also were to create procedure and training documents so that new job responsibilities would be clearly communicated and followed.”
PC: What actions did we take as part of this work?
David: “We first held workshops to discuss what each team does, focusing on what is most painful and frustrating for them. With that information we drew the process maps and detailed areas that could productively change. To support the implementation and future adherence, we then wrote supporting training/procedure documents for their processes. Then, after doing this for one country, we repeated these steps in other countries in the region, using the first one as a baseline.”
PC: What was the result?
David: “The client saw a more streamlined and smoothly operating organization. Since we were aligning the processes in different offices in the same region, it started to become much easier for them to all communicate and collaborate. The client’s headquarters in the U.S. also had a better understanding of the foreign region’s work, and was better prepared to support them.
Additionally, this project exposed our team to what multinational collaboration looks like. The goal was not to bring 100% standardization between different countries, but to allow for management to have an easier time controlling and supporting the teams across the globe.”
Thanks for the insights, David, and great job team! Stay tuned for more glimpses into real client engagements that articulate the #WorkWeDo in the weeks ahead!
