Ezek Consulting

We build strong relationships with our clients, ensuring we have a full understanding of their needs, and providing a bespoke service with a personal experience.

Donna discusses all things Talent Management

Ed interviews Donna and digs into Leadership Development, Career Coaching, and Assessments. Plus what all businesses need to consider when it comes to Employee Retention and Cohesion.

And if that isn't enough you'll also hear about the two best pieces of advice Donna has ever received. As well as the worst!

Staff Surveys

Listening to and acting on feedback from employees is an essential element of being a successful business. Yet staff surveys can be an extremely costly affair. Beyond budget for many, they often churn out a tonne of data with no clear indication of how to interpret and act on it, which can result in a very expensive tick box exercise!

​We’ve used our experience to switch things up and designed an affordable solution. It doesn’t measure response rates and benchmarks – it empowers businesses to be intentional with the cohesion and engagement of their people. We’ve called it LiNC (Listen, Nurture, Connect) because that’s precisely the aim.

Our fully managed solution obtains feedback by relationship level and team, and will:

• ​measure key elements which affect the cohesion and engagement (ergo performance) of teams

• provide an overall summary report for the business which displays data in simple chart formats

• provide team reports and workbooks for managers to easily interpret the data, identify trends, and create relevant action plans

• measure subsequent improvement by teams in focus areas (via a Pulse survey)

All of this comes in at a small fraction of the cost of a regular staff survey.

Get in touch to find out more about how LiNC works and for a no obligation quote.

View sample extracts from a LiNC Report

View Sample

360° feedback

360° feedback has become increasingly popular in recent years and there are now a range of systems available in the market place. So what makes ours unique?

It splits into 3 parts; the initial assessment, an action planning workbook, and a follow up "Pulse 360" to review movement against agreed priorities 6 months later.

Not just a 360° assessment; more a comprehensive personal development programme with 360° feedback at its core.

Onboarding 360°

It’s a well-known fact that it’s a candidate’s market out there right now. Less known, is that a shockingly low percentage of new hires go on to stay and succeed in their new role.

It’s important to engage and retain employees from day 1!

Given that a strong onboarding process can result in higher retention and productivity, yet only approximately 1 in 10 employees think their employer does a great job of onboarding (according to Gallup), there’s clearly room for improvement with many organisations.

That’s why we designed our Onboarding 360° assessment.

Our assessment is focused on 6 key competencies: Relationship Building, Prioritisation, Communication, Initial Impact, Team Leadership, and Organisation Awareness.

The results provide valuable support to individuals during a period where they have not yet fully acclimatised, established themselves, or adjusted to a new culture, and can radically shorten the time taken to reach full effectiveness.

What is it?

An Onboarding 360° assessment looks and feels like a typical 360° feedback questionnaire but is aligned to the specific competencies and behaviours required to make a successful transition into a new organisation as smoothly as possible.

Why should I use it?

Aside from the obvious cost savings of not repeating a costly and time-consuming new hire process, a major benefit of good onboarding is that it enables new hires to settle into their role and reach full productivity faster; thus, producing more value.

When?

The process generally commences approximately 12 weeks into the candidate’s employment; the feedback report would then be generated approximately 17 weeks into the candidate’s employment.

How much does it cost?

£200 + VAT per assessment and report.

Can it be tailored?

Yes of course, we operate a bespoke service.

We can also brand the assessment and report if required (at an additional one-off cost).

Contact donna@ezekconsulting.com for more information.

Psychometrics

Personality and aptitude testing

With all the instruments on the market it can sometimes be bewildering which to use. We provide a recognised range of both personality instruments and aptitude tests that can be conducted online or administered person to person.

Coaching

Whether you have lost your job, are looking for a fresh challenge, wanting to make a career change or simply reviewing your career options, we have the experience and expertise to help you with the business of making a successful transition as smoothly and as quickly as possible.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to help unravel the complexity and derive some meaning from what are often a series of disconnected, confusing thoughts that circulate round your head and prevent you making decisions with confidence and purpose.

Getting your head straight about what your options are and what you really want to do next, understanding what is truly realistic for you, having a practical plan to take you there and steering through selection processes of possible employers are all the elements we can help you with.

Career Review

Have you reached a point where you have started to re-evaluate your career options? Wrong career? Wrong organisation? Reached a fork in the road? Need to pay the bills but the role leaves you cold?

Career counselling support aimed at Senior Executives and Professionals could be the solution you’re looking for.

We ca help you re-evaluate your career by taking a deep dive into what you’re passionate about, and what your core skills and aspirations are. Sometimes we have to spend a little time looking backwards before we can get some clarity about what forwards looks like.

When you’ve done the thinking, you’ll then need some practical help understanding the job market, getting your CV in shape, knowing where to send it… and when and where not to send it; then making the right choice about your next move.

It’s not just about getting a job offer, it’s about getting the right role, with the right company, at the right price.

Leadership Development Programme

These days executive coaching is one of those terms that can mean just about anything, but our Leadership Development Programme has a beginning, a middle and an end.

It consists of 6/8 sessions over a 6 month period with project work in between and covers 3 main elements: a thorough review of the role (don’t confuse this with a job description), a full skills/behavioural assessment and the development of a specific personal change plan based on overlaying the latter against the former, and then allows you to draw your own conclusions.

Performance is the application of specific skills/behaviours in situations critical to the role. Getting real clarity about the role purpose is the starting point for determining what to invest time and energy in changing. This is what ensures the programme is totally relevant to you.

Find out more

Outplacement

These days redundancy is sadly just another of those inevitable lifetime events. Those who receive Outplacement support find new employment more quickly than those who don't, and often make very positive life changing decisions as they are broken out of their familiar box and start to understand what they are selling in terms of skills and capabilities, know what work they want to do, have a marketing brochure that represents them well, understand how the job market works, and gain the knowledge to help them navigate the selection process.

For those providing Outplacement support there are various benefits:

• Employees who are offered Outplacement support from their employer during redundancy are less likely to harbour negative feelings towards their employer and are less likely to re-act against the decision.

• The way that a company conducts itself during times of redundancy will be noticed by clients, shareholders and the public. Providing support to staff helps a company to maintain a good employer brand within the industry and locality.

• The morale of remaining employees will undoubtedly be affected by the way in which the redundancy process is handled. The employees that remain will be aware of how the redundancies were handled and a well managed process can support retention and productivity.

• Providing Outplacement significantly reduces the level of stress experienced by managers responsible for implementing redundancy decisions

• People who receive Outplacement support find new employment quicker and more easily than those who do not.

We offer a variety of support levels to choose from, all of which are tailored to the needs of the individual.

With all 121 Outplacement we offer an initial 30 minute discussion between the consultant and individual to ensure they have the chemistry to work together successfully; and at the back end we offer an Onboarding 360 to support successful transition in their new role.

Read about our 4 stage outplacement process

Read more

HR peeps, are you looking to improve your toolkit?

Bespoke Talent Management feedback tools to enhance your HR offer.

Let’s talk cohesion & engagement in teams

Cohesion and engagement are interrelated concepts that are essential for effective teamwork - teams…

Effective Onboarding

Career development continues to be the leading reason people leave their jobs, so it makes sense to…

Delivering the message nobody ever wants to hear

Announcing a redundancy exercise is one of those tasks that no one looks forward to.

Top tips for producing a brilliant CV

Start from scratch with a blank piece of paper. Never simply update a CV. Tempting I know,…

Case study 1

Top 100 Law firm with ambitious growth plans but without any plans to develop Partners or prospective Partners.

Implemented a structured programme of Assessment, Coaching and Development aimed at enabling their Business Leaders of to implement short and long term growth plans. Ensured that those Partners with significant capability for generating new business were empowered to do so, while those with greatest potential for providing business and people leadership were refocussed, thereby maximising efforts to grow team fee income.

This was then followed by the implementation of a broader appraisal system for all staff based on the firms core cultural values and competencies. A 360° appraisal process was also implemented for all Equity Partners, managed externally and completely anonymous, ensuring that that each Partner had a Development Plan relating to their individual needs.

HR was revitalised with the hiring of appropriate HR skills and experience, transforming it from simply a maintenance function within the Employment Team, to being a separate function in its own right, tasked with making a real contribution to the achievement of strategic objectives and firm performance.


Case Study 2

Mid-sized Law firm employing around 200 staff. New Managing Partner with little formal Leadership education or training in need of external support and coaching.

Carried out full psychometric assessment including behavioural, numerical, and verbal ability enabling them to get a better understanding of how they might maximise their own contribution. Provided a confidential space for the Managing Partner to think through how to respond to business-critical issues and personal challenges whilst managing their own significant stress levels.

The same process was applied to the whole Leadership Team. A much more appropriate distribution of firm wide responsibilities was achieved between Partners, whilst at the same time enabling a far more cohesive collaborative approach at senior level.

In the longer term the facilitation of a Staff Survey enabled the identification of key priorities for improving both productivity, capability, staff turnover and motivation. This in turn lead to the establishment of clear action plans for improvement which had real traction being securely rooted in real data from all staff members. This included a comprehensive development programme for Team Leaders at all levels, further skills training for Partners, and an Onboarding 360° process for all senior hires to support a smooth and successful integration, which has also reportedly greatly improved engagement.


Case study 3

Medium sized accountancy firm looking to develop their Leaders of the future.

Implemented an Assessment and Coaching programme for those aspiring to Partnership, thereby allowing the creation and implementation of concrete plans to allow those individuals to step up successfully.


Case study 4

Leading independent UK professional services consultancy across risk, pensions, investment, and insurance.

Initially engaged to carry out coaching programmes for senior individuals. Subsequently requested to design and deliver a company talent programme. No set standards were in place; a 2 level Competency framework was created to be used across the business and as the basis for a 360° and Pulse 360°, which formed part of the programme alongside a work based psychometric and 121 coaching.


Case study 5

Global consumer experience services business looking to implement a 360° tool for senior leaders including board level.

Created bespoke 360° and Pulse 360° incorporating behaviours and values of the business which will now also be implemented ahead of promotions in the business to identify any developmental areas beforehand.


Case study 6

Mid-sized law firm with 5 offices across the South looking to implement 360° assessments at Partner level with a very short turnaround time.

Created bespoke 360° which ran over a two-week period with 99% response rate.


We have used the services of Ezek for over 15 years and they have become invaluable to our business and some of the decisions we make with our people. They always listen to what we want and understand what we are trying to achieve, this enables them to provide effective solutions for our teams and individuals. Ezek will challenge our thinking and help us to look at situations from a different perspective. What we have found invaluable is their ability not only to understand our business but our people too and adapt accordingly to develop them to be their best at a Team and management level. Couldn’t be without them.

Amanda
HR Manager