What We Do

C.M. Perme & Associates provides the following consulting services:

Organizational Level

Strategic planning facilitation
Organizational alignment
Organizational culture change
Executive “deep dive” retreats

Group Level

Team building and team training
Conflict resolution
Facilitation of difficult decisions or “tricky” subjects

Individual Level

Individual coaching and development planning
Leader’s impact on culture

Experience with Organizational Assessments and Change

We have been conducting organizational and cultural assessments since 1990, and are adept at identifying key levers for change in an organization. We have conducted these assessments to help support planning for various activities including organizational improvement, ownership changes, and mergers and acquisitions. The result of the assessment is usually a “roadmap” that recommends a process for change, integration, or whatever the original objective was.

As a part of an organizational assessment, we typically conduct both qualitative and quantitative research on an organization’s culture and effectiveness. We do this by using focus groups and interviews along with specific organizational assessment tools that provide a baseline measurement from which to track change over time. We prepare a report for the client that summarizes the information and provides recommendations on key levers to start organizational change, based on our analysis. We follow that up with an executive retreat to work with the information and help facilitate decision-making and commitment to change. We then support the change effort in any way that is needed.

Recent Project: IT Organization

In one specific project, the executives of an IT organization in the private sector had spent 3-4 years trying to implement a new strategic direction, and were frustrated at the slow pace of implementation and the amount of resistance they received. They thought that perhaps their culture was impeding forward movement, and commissioned us to assess not only their culture but their organizational effectiveness as well. What we found was that (a) decision-making processes did not support the culture they wanted to create, (b) more attention needed to be paid to cross-training, individual performance planning, and feedback, and (c) more investment needed to be made in product development tools and processes.

Recent Project: Multi-National Company

The most recent study we conducted was for a multi-national US company that had acquired three companies in the UK. It was trying to decide to what extent to integrate these companies. They had already done the financial and product assessments, but felt that the cultures of all three companies were so different they wondered if integration would work. We assessed the current and ideal cultures of all three companies, and consulted with the executives from all three companies about the potential impact of integration. We also provided a process to overcome cultural hurdles if consolidation was decided. The net impact of this work was that the company decided to merge two of the three organizations, and focused on creating a new culture that matched the ideal of both companies.

“I liken this to the experience of watching a well done play – I don’t notice the sound effects, the background music, and the script, and I’m able to suspend awareness that people are wearing costumes and that they are acting. If any of the elements are less than excellent in how they are created and delivered, it is noticeable and irritating and I’m not as easily able to move into that altered state where deeper meaning resides.”

-- Recent Client

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