Manager and management consultant

I don’t think of myself as a traditional management consultant. And I doubt that my clients do either. But it would be difficult to have worked in and around professional and regulatory teams for as long as I have done without engaging with the management process and being asked to pass that knowledge on. Examples of such work include:

People management

A snapshot of my thoughts on people management can be found in my book, On The Way Up, published in 1992.

• Working with a head of division in one of the economic regulators to improve relationships between different groups of professionals within a multi-disciplinary environment
• Some years after leaving Ernst & Young, I was asked, as a consultant, to design and facilitate a culture change programme for a group within its corporate finance department
• Chairing a working party for the Actuarial Profession which looked at the ways to improve the professional body’s decision-making functions.

Financial management

Simon’s rapid response to one specific area of work at very short notice was particularly appreciated. Nick Morris, Ofcom

• Enabling a bank to reduce its losses on a portfolio of leases by identifying alternative negotiating positions
• Developing financial models for the analysis of equity release mortgages and investment mis-selling
• Advising a retail chain on negotiations with a government department
• Developing a strategy for a City professional firm to determine fee levels.

Facilitation

I have run structured facilitation programmes within professional services firms as a means to assist decision-making and also in the business school environment as part of a program of risk management case studies (click here for examples)