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Dr Iain McCormick

Iain McCormick is Managing Director and executive coach with the Executive Coaching Center in the New Zealand.

Iain has a Master of Social Science, Diploma in Clinical Psychology and a PhD in organisational psychology. He has twenty years of management consulting experience and over this time has worked for many major multinational and large national corporations (see Client List).

He has experience in:

• executive coaching, training and development, human resources audits and strategic planning
• organisational and culture change, mergers and acquisitions, and job design, core competencies mapping, performance management, remuneration and incentive systems
• quality and process improvement
• assessment centre development and implementation, succession planning
• operations reviews, Government consulting

• PhD, in organisational psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
• Master of Social Science (Honours, First Class), University of Waikato, New Zealand
• Diploma in Psychology (Clinical), University of Waikato, New Zealand
• Bachelor of Science, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
• Strategic Human Resource Management Programme, Harvard Business School
• Leadership and Change Programme, London Business School
• Strategic Innovation and Change Programme, Columbia Business School
• Certificate in Company Direction, Institute of Directors in New Zealand

He has consulted in a wide range of countries including Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, PRC, Japan, New Zealand and Canada.

Dr McCormick has twenty years of management consulting experience. He has been:

• head of a consulting and clinical psychology practice
• National Director of HR for Touche Ross New Zealand - internal and external consultant
• Consulting Partner in Deloitte, Touche, Tohmatsu
• General Manager of the Strategic Human Resources Consulting group for the Hong Kong Productivity Council
• Managing Director of Renwick McCormick Maule and Tam - a Hong Kong based consulting group
• Executive Director of Aon Consulting Hong Kong Limited
• Managing Director of the Executive Coaching Centre in New Zealand

The following coaching projects have been undertaken.

• The Managing Director of a major European multi-national food group in order to enhance his ability to make highly motivating presentations.
• Two senior managers in a major US based insurance broker as part of a management development initiative.
• The Finance Director of a major oil company as part of a productivity improvement project.
• Two senior managers from a major US based merchant bank to assist them in dealing with feedback from 360-degree feedback.
• A highly successful six-month individual coaching programme with the Partner of a major law firm whose performance had deteriorated.
• A long-term project coaching the HR manager for greater China of a multinational oil company.
• A Partner in a major accounting firm whose work practices were unacceptable to the firm.
• Career coaching with the Regional CEO of a large multinational bank who had applied for a very senior position in the international headquarters of the bank.
• The CEO of a major limited license bank to clarify performance problems in his senior management team.
• A training manager of a large retail chain in making presentations and this greatly assisting the company to gain second prize in a major Hong Kong business award.
• A senior executive in the property sector at the time of a major downturn in the industry.
• Senior Partner in a major international interior design company.
• Senior managers in a multinational oil company including a construction project manager and an IS and business process manager
• Senior managers in the Asia Pacific headquarters of a multinational telecommunication equipment company.

Iain has developed and run the following courses

• coaching skills
• mergers and acquisitions
• customer service
• change management
• process improvement
• cross cultural team building
• presentation skills
• performance appraisal systems and counselling skills
• time and task management skills
• effective performance pay and profit sharing systems
• linking human resources plans to business plans
• interpersonal communication including assertiveness and conflict resolution skills
• delegation and supervision
• developing productive work relationships
• leadership style and skills
• team building
• professional selling skills
• stress management and coping with change
• equal employment opportunities
• career development
• succession planning
• dealing with poor performers
• downsizing and redundancy
• mergers and acquisitions
• organisational performance management
• organisational restructuring
• role clarification as part of organisational renewal
• human resources strategic planning

His clients for training programmes have included:

• major multinational corporations
• government departments
• large national enterprises
• small entrepreneurial firms

He has undertaken teaching or training in:

• Hong Kong
• PRC
• Indonesia
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• The Philippines
• New Zealand

Iain has developed a simple, clear method to link human resources systems and processes to business strategies. This approach ensures that human resources management becomes a key source of competitive advantage for companies.

Iain has undertaken human resources strategic planning for the following clients:

• A large electronic publisher - work undertaken for the East Asia region
• a beverage manufacturer with factories in Hong Kong and China
• two large operational government departments in Hong Kong with one project involving updating and implementing the strategic HR plan over three years
• a large multinational oil company with one plan completed for Hong Kong and China and a second for Taiwan
• a household goods manufacturer
• a electronic goods manufacturer
• a major Hong Kong Hotel
• a computer components manufacturer with offices in Hong Kong and a factory in Southern China
• a German hi-tech equipment manufacturer
• a US computer networks company
• one of Hong Kong's largest property development companies
• a global insurance broker
• in addition he has made numerous conference presentations and run training programmes on human resources strategic planning

Iain has produced a straightforward and highly participative method to train senior management teams how to develop and implement sound organisation change processes and restructuring.

This work has been completed for the following clients:

• the IT department of a large retail bank
• the computer division of a large Hong Kong based consulting organisation
• a computer components manufacturer with offices in Hong Kong and a factory in Southern China
• a large international dairy products company
• a beverage manufacturer with factories in Hong Kong and China
• a large garment manufacturer in Southern China
• a large multinational oil company with a series of projects completed for the Asia Pacific Regional office, as well as in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan
• the Hong Kong branch of a large US based finance company
• the Employee Benefits Consulting section a large US insurance broker
• numerous projects in government departments including Justice, Housing, Police, Land Registry, Civil Service Training, Health and Transport
• a semi-government trade promotion organisation
• multiple conference presentations for a large financial institution

A wide range of work has been undertaken with organisations undergoing mergers or acquisition including integration planning, training programmes for managers, facilitation of integration implementation and general advice.

This work has been completed for the following clients:

• two large accounting firms
• a small consulting company that was acquired
• an internet venture capital firm and a large telecommunications company
• a Swiss biotech company that was preparing for a merger
• two multinational oil companies including the pre-merger preparation, development of a culture assessment tool, the mapping of the two former cultures and the definition of the new culture, development of a plan to implement the new culture
• three Hong Kong based quasi-government organisations that were merging into one

In this area Iain has produced a highly participative method to enable jobholders to develop lists and definitions of the skills, knowledge and attitudes (or competencies) required to succeed in jobs. Competencies are used as a basis for enhancing nearly all human resource management systems from recruitment to succession planning.

This work has been completed for the following clients:

• a large telecommunications company
• a large multinational oil company where projects were completed for Hong Kong and China with competencies being developed for senior management, middle management, and sales staff
• a semi-government organisation in the area of electronic data interchange where competencies were developed for a range of job groups
• three different consulting companies where competencies were developed for all levels in the organisations
• a construction equipment company
• Registered Nurses in Hong Kong
• a large construction company
• a major dairy producer and exporter
• a small government department in Hong Kong
• a large postal utility
• a major retail bank
• a global insurance broker

Numerous projects have been undertaken using a straightforward method to train work teams to write clear and measurable objectives. In addition complete performance management systems have been developed for a wide range of clients.

This work has been competed for the following clients:

• a beverage manufacturer with factories in Hong Kong and China
• four different consulting companies
• a large multinational oil company with projects completed for Hong Kong and China
• a large polytechnic
• a Hong Kong based European trading company
• a small government department in Hong Kong
• an international accounting firm
• a multinational insurance broking firm

Programmes have been designed and run for the following organisations:

• a multinational oil company
• greater China marketing group
• Asia Pacific regional marketing group
• Asia Pacific regional management team
• a trade development organisation
• a multinational accounting firm
• a semi-government consulting organisation

Iain has used the commercially available quality improvement methodology from Joiner and Associates for the following clients

• the Hong Kong based arm of a major French bank
• a medium sized European bank
• the Hong Kong arm of a major US finance company
• a UK based oil company with work in the supply chain and the finance department

Programmes have been designed and run for the following organisations:

• a large retail bank that was selecting managers for a newly designed organisation
• a second retail bank where management potential was identified
• a large national accounting firm

Work in this area has been undertaken for:

• a major dairy products company
• a large China based garment manufacturer
• the central agency for a large group of hospitals

Projects have been undertaken for:

• an international accounting firm
• a large local law firm
• a large local engineering firm
• a large Hong Kong government department
• a multinational insurance broker

The following reviews have been undertaken:

• twenty New Zealand prisons, head office and training school
• a large government social welfare department
• a major law firm

Iain has undertaken a wide range of government and quasi-government projects:

• Led the team that wrote the code of practice for the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission on the SDO and DDO.
• Led the team that wrote the guidelines for human resource practitioners for the Office of the Commission on Data Privacy.
• Undertook a review of the impact of equal opportunities legislation on insurance for the Hong Kong Equal Opportunities Commission.
• Developed the performance management system for the Hong Kong Productivity Council. This included developing performance measures and training managers and staff in the use of the system.
• Developed performance pay systems in an engineering based state owned enterprise that was operating on a commercial basis. The systems were designed to ensure that rewarded performance was in line with the organisation's strategic direction and fostered its competitive position in the market.
• Undertook a review of the effectiveness of a job search skills retraining programme conducted by Christian Action for the Employees Retraining Board.
• Led a major project to improve efficiency and productivity in the New Zealand Prison Service. The project involved aligning occupational groups and the ranking structure of the New Zealand Prison Service with a new management approach. Dr McCormick had developed this management approach in a series of previous projects. The work involved a review of overtime, penal rates, rostering, leave, superannuation, career prospects, multi-skilling, teamwork and training.
• Conducted four structure and staffing level reviews for the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Transport. This work formed part of the overall government sector reform which saw the break up of large government departments and the establishment of small, more tightly focused, policy-based ministries and government regulatory agencies. The overall programme included the corporatisation and/or privatisation of operational arms of government.
• Led the largest organisation and management structure review that had been undertaken in the New Zealand prison service. This twelve-month assignment involved the review of 21 penal institutions, the Prison Staff College and the Head Office of the Penal Division of the Department of Justice. The project has involved the successful development and implementation of a methodology for the management review. This resulted in the conducting of structured interviews with a range of staff at each prison, running management restructuring workshops with both local prison staff and Head Office representatives in order to identify a relevant structure for each institution. The review was also very successful in introducing the notion and practice of unit management into many prisons.
• Was appointed by two successive New Zealand Ministers of Justice to undertake projects. He was asked by Rt. Hon. Geoffrey Palmer to participate in a major policy review of the prison service. He was subsequently appointed by Rt. Hon. Douglas Graham to a think tank to advise the Minister on prison reform.
• Led an international team of consultants who undertook an organisation and job design project for the New Zealand Income Support Services section of the Department of Social Welfare.
• Undertook an evaluation of the effectiveness of organisational change in a major State Owned Enterprise and developed alternative corporate renewal strategies. This included training for senior management in the principles of the corporate renewal strategy task alignment.
• Led a strategic planning exercise that served as a base to develop a new fund-raising organisation for Health and Welfare Canada.
• Assisted senior management in an organisation review of a policy and research division of a major government department.
• Led a project to assess internal customer perceptions of service level for the corporate services section of a major government department and for the human resource group of a major insurance firm. These projects were undertaken by developing a survey and using the results as part of the input for a planning round.
• Part of a team that undertook a comprehensive audit of the Corrections Branch of the Department of the Solicitor-General of Canada.
• Developed a system to link the strategic plan to the human resource plan for a government department. This involved working with senior management to develop planning systems that produced data relevant to skill and performance gaps in the organisation. It also identified areas of human resource risk.
• Led a long-term strategic planning project for the Corrections Group of the Department of Justice. Representatives from the prison, probation, planning, policy and psychological services met to construct an integrated approach to organisational development.
• Was appointed to a task force to oversee the introduction of contract management into the New Zealand prison service.
• Led a project designed to introduce performance measurement into the tertiary education sector. This involved working with the Chief Executive, senior managers and heads of departments to identify the critical planning areas and to develop measures of performance. From this data, planning guides were developed and implemented.
• Was involved in the commercialisation of the retail electricity distribution system. He led the national project team that assisted the New Zealand Minister of Energy to appoint 175 Directors for newly created electricity supply companies.
• Involved in the commercialisation of the public health sector. He led a team that appointed Directors who formed hospitals which operated on a commercial basis in New Zealand.
• Undertook a review of human resource management for a major Hong Kong based management consulting organisation.
• Conducted a management information needs analysis for the Correctional Services of Canada.
• Undertook a strategic planning and strategy alignment project for a computer services division of a major Hong Kong professional services firm.

• A wide range of psychological testing and test interpretation
• developing mission, vision and values
• business strategy development and planning
• personnel forecasting and developing 'head count drivers'
• recruitment
• writing individual employment contracts
• internal communication surveys and reviews
• developing human resources management policies and procedures
• job analysis and job description writing
• undertaking a wide range of internal surveys and developing survey strategies
• internal communications reviews
• development of organisation wide performance measures

• Independent Trustee The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce Superannuation fund
• Non-executive Director - Solo Plastics Limited, Auckland, New Zealand.