Cutting into the heart of the problem

Background

The European College of Equine Internal Medicine (ECEIM) was established in 2000 to advance equine internal medicine in Europe and increase the competency of those who practice in this field. In 2010 it became a fully recognised member of the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation (EBVS), which monitors and regulates veterinary specialty colleges. One of those regulations includes writing a 10 year plan for the college. When ECEIM last came to submit their recertification, they realised that they needed help putting a 10 year plan together.

They had some budget they could invest in capacity building and wanted advice on how best to use it. One of their board members suggested David Saint and Action Planning, having been aware of his work with other non-profits, including the British Small Animals Veterinary Association.

Brief
The brief began with a request to run a strategy day, from which they hoped to come away with a clear vision of what they wanted the college to be, how they could use their resources to better support members and residents, a way of improving the relationship with the EBVS and a realistic plan that they could deliver.

The Board also wanted legal advice about whether to stay registered in the UK post-Brexit, or move registration to a country in the EU. And finally, in response to our recommendations, we were asked to run a recruitment process for a Chief Operating Officer.

Process
David Saint planned and ran the strategy day in Amsterdam, involving not just the Board but also the Chairs of the various committees that run the college, and residency representatives. He arranged to have video calls with each attendee in advance, to learn about their individual concerns.

It became clear that the college’s biggest strategic issue was who would do the work. They scarcely had the capacity to manage the day-to-day activities of the college (which only has one part-time employed staff), never mind implement any new strategic ideas. So David recommended that they should hire a Chief Operating Officer or equivalent, to get all the systems on a secure footing and running smoothly. He pointed out that this would quite likely pay for itself, if the COO was also tasked with income generation. David identified that the College was not maximising income from its various revenue streams, including fees, Congress, sponsorship, grants and donations.

“It was fantastic,” said ECEIM President Lisa Katz. “ The day and David’s preparation were structured very efficiently and allowed each of us a voice without it running over. Everyone was very happy at the end, even though we came to a conclusion that we hadn’t foreseen. He had us all convinced that we needed to have a COO. No dissent. We’re happy with the steps we needed to take.”

For the legal advice around where the charity should be registered, we ran a simple tendering process with three law firms. ECEIM chose Stephanie Biden of Bates Wells, who ran a hugely valuable advice session for them. The upshot was to remain UK based.

Having agreed to David’s recommendation to appoint a COO, ECEIM commissioned us to run the recruitment for that post. Action Planning Associate Sarah Ginn managed the process, supported by Sarah Divina, and they received a huge response, with over 80 applicants for the role

Meanwhile, Nicola Ford prepared all the paperwork for on-boarding, including lining up a payroll provider and pension provider – as this was their first full-time staff post they had nothing in place.

With five excellent candidates shortlisted, David facilitated the interview process, which involved several Board members, and a job offer was made and accepted. Nicola completed the on-boarding process and a start date was agreed with the successful candidate, Harriet Boyd-Wallis.

“Again the recruitment went really smoothly because everyone had very specific roles,” said Lisa. “They took the reins, put together a summary document to alert our membership that this was what we were doing, put together a job ad… they did all the work. We approved things but didn’t have to do anything. They ran the short-listing, reported back recommendations. We could not have done that ourselves.”

Outcomes
The main outcome from the strategy day was the decision to employ a COO. The delegates also came away with a set of practical, short-term objectives towards a new strategic plan, as well as Mission and Vision statements. We completed the recruitment process, as a result of which the COO role has been created and filled. And we were able to get ECEIM sound legal advice to remain registered in the UK.

David was subsequently asked to provide mentoring for Harriet as she settled into the new role, and to oversee another awayday next year to assess how the plan is coming together.

Consultant’s insight
This was a delightful assignment! Right at the beginning, Lisa and her colleagues said, “We are just vets. We do our best, but running an organisation really isn’t our skill set.” Maybe so, but everyone we spoke to and worked with in ECEIM was open, constructive and positive. And decisive! Seldom have I known a client to so enthusiastically embrace our recommendations – and so swiftly act on them! They were truly exemplary.

I took on this assignment with some trepidation – I know nothing at all about horses, let alone their insides! But, as is always the case, that really didn’t matter because the clients were the absolute experts in their subject matter, but we were able to add real value in our own areas of expertise – in this case strategy, governance, recruitment and HR support. I now very much look forward to working with Harriet as she takes on this new role, and to seeing the Board’s exciting ambitions coming to fruition.