Partner Experiences
Explore how we partner with organizations to navigate pivotal moments.
Strengthening Leadership in a Global Organization
Situation
As a global, mission-driven organization reached a pivotal scale, leadership realized that the way it worked together needed to evolve to support continued growth and respond to changing market conditions.
Solution
EWC partnered with the organization to design a leadership structure that clarified portfolios, accountabilities, and decision-making, while creating space for the CEO to focus on external engagement and brand building to better position the organization externally. We began by listening closely to each leader’s perspective and needs, which surfaced that shared leadership was essential to how the team worked best together. At the same time, the existing approach to shared leadership often slowed decisions, underutilized leaders’ strengths, and created confusion for staff who did not know which leader was responsible for what. We addressed this by introducing clearer leadership role descriptions and developing a custom responsibility framework that clarified who owned each portfolio, who made recommendations, and who provided input. The result was a clearer, more effective approach to shared leadership that honored cultural norms while ensuring staff had clarity and leaders could fully apply and grow their capabilities.
Creating Clear Career Paths in a Multiregional Philanthropy
Situation
Team members at a multiregional grantmaking organization were eager for clarity about available career opportunities, a better understanding of how advancement works, and more insight into what readiness for progression looks like.
Solution
EWC partnered with the organization to design a career pathway framework, beginning with a deep understanding of each role and mapping these roles into a cohesive picture. Through interviews and focus groups, we created a custom pathway and a competency model that anchored the framework by defining the skills and proficiency needed to succeed in role and be ready for advancement. The pathway framework introduced two types of advancement: timely recognition for growing capabilities and experience, and full career-leap promotions when organizational needs allowed. This ensured that staff could still experience career growth and title changes, even when a full role promotion was not available. To make the framework accessible, we developed a visual map that gave staff a clearer view of what career progression in the organization can look like. By grounding the framework in staff voices and clear competencies, the approach made advancement decisions more transparent and equitable through shared criteria applied consistently. Staff gained clarity on how to grow, while leadership gained tools to support development across regions and functions.
Transforming Talent Development in a Philanthropic Foundation
Situation
A leading philanthropic foundation, at a new stage in its lifecycle and with a more tenured staff, recognized the need for a cohesive approach to developing and supporting its people.
Solution
EWC, as part of a consulting team, partnered with the foundation to design and implement a holistic talent development strategy. Through extensive conversations with leaders and staff, we surfaced and worked through core tensions – such as how to support staff growth in an organization that would not expand rapidly – and identified approaches that were both meaningful and feasible for the foundation’s context. From this clarity, we developed an employee value proposition that set the vision and strategic focus for talent development. At its heart, the EVP emphasized individual growth: helping each team member to succeed in their role, pursue career development at the foundation, and, if it was the right next step, continue their career journey beyond it.
Guided by the EVP, we redesigned the HR function to ensure the capacity and structure needed to deliver on these commitments. We selected and implemented a new management training program focused on coaching and supporting staff development, and refreshed the performance management approach to prioritize professional growth. The strategy also created space for open, honest conversations between staff and managers about career opportunities within and beyond the organization, reinforcing the foundation’s commitment to fully supporting each team member’s growth path.
We took an inclusive approach throughout, ensuring diverse perspectives from across the foundation shaped the strategy and the systems and tools that underpinned it. The result was a comprehensive, multi-year initiative that gave staff the clarity and support they needed to grow professionally and provided leaders with language and resources to champion that growth.