Engaging the head and the heart of your people to change behavior at scale
Our Approach
Impact-oriented
We take an outcome-oriented approach and apply our deep industry knowledge to set bold aspirations that help prioritize and sequence change at scale to increase value quickly.
Evidence-led
We share proven recipes for success, research and analytics, and pragmatic tools to shift behaviors—including culture, mindsets, capabilities, and team and group dynamics—to make change personal and systemic.
People-first
We engage, elevate, and empower all employees—from the C-suite to the frontline of every organization—to make lasting changes.
Capability-driven
We build the skills of your people and the capabilities and culture of your organization to improve organizational health and performance.
How we do it
Benchmark organizational health
We determine the baseline of an organization's health and culture and use the results to identify the right path forward, reinforcing strengths, pinpointing critical behavior and mindset shifts, and activating the top team to be leaders for change.
Find the points of leverage
We identify individuals who exhibit successful behaviors and tap into their knowledge to motivate and drive change within critical stakeholder groups.
Make it personal for leaders
We help leaders shift their behavior, build adaptability and learning agility, and stay calm through change.
Prototype the new system
We adapt the change experience around your people, embed behavior change themes into your critical business initiatives, and establish a structure for governance and continued learning.
Scale with rigor
We enable change across the organization by implementing capability-building programs, embedding key change themes into initiatives, adapting interventions and reallocating resources as necessary, all while communicating and tracking processes.
Examples of our work
Rebuilding for a healthy organization
A global auto manufacturer was experiencing lagging performance and job losses while adjusting to new ownership. We helped design and drive a five-year change program that moved organizational health scores into the top quartile and allowed the company to hire more than 10,000 new employees.
Cascading strategy and capabilities to capture value
After a health services company completed a challenging merger, we shaped a comprehensive three-year strategy that included building new capabilities across the organization and an operating model redesign. Within eight months, organizational health scores increased by 20 points and stock value rebounded.
Featured Experts
Carolyn Dewar
Senior PartnerBay Area
Delivers large-scale performance-improvement programs that foster culture change and counsels senior executives making leadership...
Ben Fletcher
Senior PartnerSydney
Brings deep expertise in people topics, particularly in designing and driving large scale culture and change, capability-building,...
Arne Gast
Senior PartnerAmsterdam
Offers extensive global expertise in people and organizational performance, including organizational design, transformational...
Rebecca Kaetzler
PartnerFrankfurt
Brings deep expertise in merger management and performance transformation to help executives manage culture, change, and organizational...
Rajesh Krishnan
PartnerNew York
Leads enterprise-wide transformations efforts that focus on performance and health, helping organizations deliver lasting improvements...
Amadeo Di Lodovico
Senior PartnerDubai
Serves leading companies in energy, industrial, conglomerates, and governments on strategic topics, operational and organizational...
John C. W. Parsons
Senior PartnerCalgary
Transforms large industrial sites and organizations by implementing the latest performance-based approaches and leveraging the...
Neil Pearse
PartnerLondon
Supports organizations to achieve the sustained behavior changes needed to accomplish their long-term strategic ambitions, through...
Rob Theunissen
PartnerAmsterdam
Helps companies succeed in transformational change by defining new strategies, improving organizational health, promoting culture...
Brooke Weddle
Senior PartnerWashington DC
Drives lasting change at scale for global organizations through digital transformation, operating-model redesign, enterprise...
Featured insights
Article - McKinsey Quarterly
Returning to the office? Focus more on practices and less on the policy
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The working model is far less important than the work environment leaders create. Five core practices can help organizations implement a policy that best fits their culture.
Article
What does it take to run a healthy organization? Find out with this quiz
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The latest update of McKinsey’s Organizational Health Index offers some twists and surprises for leaders. See if you can identify the crucial drivers of a healthy organization.
Article
Revitalizing organizational health in the care delivery sector
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The care delivery sector continues to navigate challenges following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meaningfully improving organizational health will be crucial to optimizing performance.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly
Healthy organizations keep winning, but the rules are changing fast
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Driving higher organizational health and performance means focusing on new practices: empowering employees to make decisions, using technology to create value, and updating leadership styles.
Blog Post
Seizing the upside: improving organizational health for Australian and New Zealand companies
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The latest snapshot of McKinsey’s Organizational Health Index sees Australian and New Zealand businesses on a healthy baseline but there is a clear need for leaders to adopt a more external, market-focused approach to stay healthy.
Blog Post
Hybrid can be healthy for your organization—when done right
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Lessons learned from a fully remote organization can help overcome the challenges of hybrid and improve organizational health.
Article
Organizational health is (still) the key to long-term performance
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McKinsey’s latest findings on organizational health demonstrate that it remains the best predictor of value creation and a sustainable source of competitive advantage in today’s global marketplace.
Report - MGI Research
Performance through people: Transforming human capital into competitive advantage
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A dual focus on developing people and managing them well gives a select group of companies a long-term performance edge.
Podcast
Social capital: Build back better relationships at work
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Companies are reporting a dearth of social capital since the start of the pandemic. How can they reestablish meaningful connections among teams and individuals in today’s changed work environments?
Article
Network effects: How to rebuild social capital and improve corporate performance
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People’s professional networks have shrunk since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, while companies’ attrition and hiring challenges are growing. To help reverse these trends, people and organizations will need to manage workplace interactions more intentionally. Here’s how.
Blog Post
Returning to the office can be a choice, not a challenge
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By applying behavioral science and choice architecture to the post-pandemic workplace, organizations can “nudge” employees to embrace flexible work, avoiding mandates altogether.
Article - McKinsey Quarterly
Meet the psychological needs of your people—all your people
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Too many employers pay too little heed to the needs of the lower earners in their company. Here’s why—and how—they should shift gears.
Article
A single approach to culture transformation may not fit all
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It can be hard for organizations with many independent business units to achieve cohesion among them and transform their culture. Remember: it’s better to bend than break.
Featured Publication
Book - Featured Insights
Power to the Middle
With rich stories and cutting-edge research, Power to the Middle offers a new model for companies to radically alter the way they hire, train, and reward their most valuable asset: managers, the true center of the organization.