Page 5 - The Leadership Line: July 2023

Making Difficult Decisions

Lessons shared from one of our leaders
From John Degni – Senior VP – CHS

Midway through the pandemic, we received word of a budget cut that had the potential
to decimate our team. This was an unprecedented event coming at a time when the team
was struggling to adjust to the “new normal” of telework. In addition, we were knee-deep
in a challenging implementation with negative press on a global scale. This seemed an
insurmountable challenge for the employees and management team.
Priority one was to find a new home for the employees that would have to go. We were able
to negotiate with the client to transfer many of them to a new team that we were developing
within our division. In addition, we had several resignations in progress so we quickly
informed the client that we would not be back-filling at that time. We were able to make it
through this first phase of the crisis with most of our workforce intact. Next, we turned our
attention to helping the staff that was still in place to weather the storm.
Setting realistic client expectations was key. Production work would be impacted, and initiatives would need to
be delayed or shelved. Our team culture was always to complete work on schedule and under budget, so it was
important to communicate to staff that production deadlines were now more fluid. We merged two functional
teams, Analysis and Design and Quality Assurance, to better leverage resources across the project lifecycle. Next,
we worked with the client to develop a process that would safeguard the budget going forward and avoid another
unexpected event.
The challenging implementation eventually reached stabilization and is now seen as one of the most significant
accomplishments in our team and client’s history. I’m beyond proud of the team for flourishing during this time and
I’m grateful that we have supportive understanding clients that were willing to partner with us to find a solution. I
worry about the impact that the pandemic and the budget cut have had on my team. I hope they feel confident and
safe moving forward. We worked hard to find a solution that put our employees at the forefront of our decision-
making.