Clients & Results

Clients Arbinger has worked with

These are just a few of the fine organizations we’ve been privileged to work with.

A 30,000 employee division of a telecommunications company undertook reengineering and several other major initiatives simultaneously. The size of the division and the scope of the changes led to huge problems in implementation.

According to the Division President:

“Morale and productivity began to plummet. During this turbulent time Arbinger trained over 1,300 of our managers, supervisors, and executives. Despite our immense obstacles, we improved efficiency by over 10% increased revenue growth 17% over plan improved capital efficiency by 50% reduced inventory by over $45 million reduced prices by 23% through improved vendor relationships raised overall work satisfaction among participants by over 20%.”

ROI Impact

A national distributor had been suffering from poor business results and numerous organizational problems.

According to the CEO:

“We were such a basket-case that the most effective consulting firm we could find (and it has a very high international profile) could do nothing with us, despite months of trying. Fortunately, this firm was familiar with Arbinger and referred us to them. Nothing has been the same since. We are now the most profitable company in our industry—doubling and even tripling the ROI of our nearest competitors.”

Industry leading Results

The managing partner of a healthcare provider had this to say about working with Arbinger: “Since introducing Arbinger to our company in 2001, we have tripled revenue and operating income margins, decreased staff turnover to better than half the industry average, and received 93% fewer claims than the industry average in our region. All of this is the direct result of conceiving our results and doing our work in an Arbinger way.”

Impact on Earnings per Share

“One month into the new quarter we were projecting earnings per share for the quarter of only 36% of budget. We were headed for disaster. We had begun implementing ARBINGER broadly a few months before this, but now focused our ARBINGER efforts specifically on this target. Starting with only a few weeks left in the quarter, we not only met but exceeded the budgeted earnings per share by 27%.”

The division of a large defense contractor implemented Arbinger’s approach to address an urgent and specific need to cut its costs.

In the words of the Corporate Vice President, “It was October and we had to show a $70 million expense reduction by end of year. We felt forced to lay off 200 workers to meet $20 million of this requirement. As we implemented Arbinger to meet these demands, we found ways to succeed we had never thought of before. We found $6.5 million in savings the first day, without involving our deputies or anyone else to help find hidden costs. As we worked the Arbinger process, we discovered amazing success. One of my peers called it ‘like magic.’

“We met the goal. What’s most interesting is this: When we began we were sure we had to lay off 200 people. The only questions were ‘who’ and ‘how.’ By the time we finished, we didn’t have to lay off anyone.  Working out of the Box gave us opportunities we had never seen before.”

Efficiency & Quality

The Leadership Team of large international multinational company, had become highly dysfunctional.  Internal politics, dishonesty, and lack of teamwork made the team totally unproductive, leading to an inability to capitalize on business opportunities or solve organizational problems.

Shortly after the implementation support the CEO began hearing from the team members who marveled at how the team had begun functioning.  The team members began saying things like “that was the best business meeting that I ever participated in” and “I’ve never been a member of a team that has worked so well together” as well as calling the team the most productive and honest team that they had ever seen.

The CEO stated that the difference between his team after the Arbinger work was “like night and day” and credits Arbinger with producing “remarkable results”.  In fact, in its due diligence conducted during the subsequent acquisition of its corporate parent, the acquiring firm specifically mentioned the unusual cohesiveness and rapport that they noticed within the Leadership Team.

“Management” not the problem any more

“To me the problem has always been you, the management.  But you are not my problem any more.  The problem is the problem.  Everyone is trying to do what is best for them.  I am sorry for assuming you were the problem.  We’re just in this together, trying to get through as best we can.  We have got to fix the problem together instead of thinking that the other is the problem.” Arbinger Workshop Participant

Teamwork & Motivation

“If I had to rank the things that have happened to me in my life, I’d have to put The Arbinger Program right at the top. This is very significant work, and I am just so proud to work for a company that would do this for its employees. It’s worth every penny. Just seeing how people are before they go to The Arbinger Program and what they’re like when they come back and the way people are relating to each other makes it worth it. I know that it’s not something that’s going to die in a couple of years, like some of the programs that our company has been dragged through. This is real living and growing work, and it’s very valuable.” Arbinger workshop participant

“In this stressful environment there was a sense of self survival amongst us that ‘No matter what, I’ve got to make sure I get mine’ type thing, and even if that means not sharing all of the information with my co-workers or whatever; it’s important that I jockey for a position in the new company or even outside the company job offers. Since going to The Arbinger Program and since sharing that with a wide base of people, now we have more teamwork than I’ve seen before. We’re pulling job ads off the tube for each other and saying, ‘Hey, I put in for this job. It looks like you would be a good fit for this. You should try’—which before, I guarantee you we wouldn’t have done. Now it seems like everybody feels that the more I give to you, it’s amazing how much you give back to me, and I don’t expect anything upfront. It’s just incredible that we have evolved this way.” Workshop participant

Even if I go…

“I don’t blame the company any longer for the downsizing, even if I’m going to be one of those people who gets surplussed. I realize now that while I’m enjoying my work now more than ever, there is life outside this corporation; there are other things I could do, and that while I feel an allegiance and a commitment to this company, I don’t feel a dependency upon them like I did that locks me into resenting them if they don’t do just what I want them to do.” Workshop participant

A large manufacturing organization was concerned about the impending implementation of SAP by the organization. SAP implementation is always a complicated issue, and was all the more daunting for this organization as it directly affected 8,500 of its employees. The business unit decided to use Arbinger’s training and principles as the framework for the SAP implementation. The implementation was accomplished ahead of schedule and under budget.

According to one of the senior managers:

“Never before has an internal project had this kind of performance. The success of the implementation was not just about integrating the changes in our team: we had to change the hearts and minds of everyone, by building relationships, strengthening teams, and helping each person to integrate the new software solutions throughout all processes. Given that we started out with Arbinger training as our modus operandi, we were aligned and started the project…all connected and focused on results together. We asked people to bring the negatives they found to our team, so that we could find solutions rather than leaving them to fester and potentially poison the change process. When problems came up, we welcomed them as one and walked through them together.”