Sequenom

Alisa Judge
Vice President, Human Resources
Sequenom

“As our business changes the pressure on our leadership team to continuously improve is ever more critical. We sought customized 360 feedback and a development process. We believed that an off the shelf 360 would not meet our needs, as we needed to specifically define the unique competencies required for our leaders. In addition, we did not need a web site or book to offer development, we needed a trusted local resource to interpret the feedback and offer action-able, just in time learning tailored to each individual executive.

Brainard Strategy had partnered with us for strategic planning and they had done our employee engagement survey every 18 months. Michael and Jennifer were able to quickly and practically build an executive competency model for us that was easily validated. We then created the items, scale, open ended questions, and report format that would meet our needs. Their platform and expertise in crafting the assessments are truly unique in this now commoditized industry. In addition to creating the assessment and managing the process, Michael and Jennifer offered an emotional intelligence assessment, a personality assessment, and an assessment of cognitive style to those executives who wanted to go through a broader assessment. They were able to do this because these assessments are a part of Jennifer Konkin’s dissertation. We truly appreciate that Michael, Jennifer and the team at Brainard Strategy are partners in learning and always striving to learn and grow; they practice what they preach. Lastly, Michael and Jennifer delivered the feedback in the spirit of growth and development and our executives reported that this type of process was among the richest of its kind they have ever experienced.”

Biosite

K. Blickenstaff
Chairman and CEO
Biosite Diagnostics, Inc., San Diego, California

“We had experienced less than optimal business results in 2006 and some management team conflict that was out of the ordinary, and my feeling was that our management structure and management team functioning may have been less than what it had been in the recent past. I asked Michael for his thoughts on an approach and his expertise in initiating an objective assessment of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats if we did not change our course of action. Michael’s approach was based on solid theory, his questioning style and data collection techniques enabled people to be open, and enabled us to get a very thorough assessment that was then easy to convert to pragmatic action. The organizational and management plan of action was easy to understand and prioritized in such a way that many members of our senior management team could easily agree with and work toward.”

Volcano

Scott Huennekens
CEO – Volcano

“We annually perform an employee survey to understand our culture and achievement of our V-difference objectives. Additionally, this year we wanted to take a deeper dive in the understanding of the organization relative to perceptions regarding diversity. Based on a long standing and trusting relationship I had with Marissa Waldman I included Brainard Strategy into the process by which we choose a partner. I had very little knowledge about Brainard Strategy’s capabilities but I knew that as a public company conducting this type of assessment we would need a credible, experienced and trusted adviser.

Michael, Marissa, and I met, and at that time I was not exactly sure about the right path forward and how to implement the assessment process. I knew that we needed an outside and expert view that could enable us to better understand challenges in and among potentially sensitive area; and then help us to develop a path forward that would be acceptable for the employees, management team, and our board. After our first planning meeting it became quite clear that the team at Brainard Strategy had deep experience, a strong theoretical foundation, and a practical approach that I was eager to support. The Brainard Strategy team partnered with me, my HR team, and two board members to guide us through a global survey that was incredibly painless, fast, and cost efficient. Michael Brainard and Jennifer Konkin brought us the results but more than that a very deep understanding of interpreting the results and guided us toward a pragmatic and effective action plan. Our employees, management team and Board members were impressed with the process and outcomes. We will be leveraging the Brainard team for other types of assessments as they are clearly a unique choice among their peer group.

Michael’s blend of assessment skills, organizational development knowledge, and senior executive presence helped me to get our teams focused on key activities.   The flexible options and Brainard’s customization of the tools used for organizational assessment enabled us to navigate what could have been very choppy waters and we are better for it at the board level, executive team level and organizational level.”