About Encounter
The mission of Encounter is to assist improving the effectiveness of the organizations and the development of successful leaders through creating and implementing successful strategies for organizational development and change.
In our work we are guided by the following principles:
Partnership
We believe in the synergy effect of combining different expertise and experience.
We strive to build long-term partner relations with our clients and colleagues, based on mutual trust and straightforwardness.
Whenever possible we assist the establishment of partnerships between our clients, suppliers and companies we work with.
We invest in the establishment and the sharing of a network of social business contacts.
Respect
We respect the achievements of our clients and we know that whatever challenges they face at a certain period of time they cannot undervalue what has already been achieved.
We respect their business, goals and strategies.
We respect the people and the teams they have chosen to work with.
Reliability and integrity
We deliver on our promises and we do not promise what we cannot deliver.
We are guided by the professional standards and ethical principles in our work and we do not compromise on projects and tasks that contradict with them.
One can rely that we shall be accessible and we shall come forward wherever and whenever our cooperation is needed.
We believe that we are specialists in the professional fields we have chosen for us and we take on projects only in the scope of our expertise.
Change and perfection
We invest in our development as professionals, in our competence and expertise.
We change to respond to the changed requirements of the clients and the market.
Development is not only the field of our competence, but our constant objective as well.
Approach
Encounter’s approach is based on the understanding that the purpose of every organizational intervention is to result in a sustained change in the organization, in the way it operates or in the people, which in turn would help the organization accomplish its short-term or strategic objectives.
That is why we strive to offer long-term and precisely planned programs for organizational development, for achieving controllable results consistent with the organizational strategy, environment and culture.
We believe that our main advantage is the ability to conduct a valid analysis of the situation and the needs and to combine the suitable program of interventions for achieving utmost and long-lasting effect.
In the solutions we develop we combine methods and instruments reflecting the world’s best practices in the field of organizational development and behavioral trainings.
The programs we carry out combine effectively methods, instruments, and models of VideoArts, Pfeiffer Library and OS Bulgaria. Our consultants are accredited to use all instruments of Human Synergistics®.
Team
Main team
Ivaylo Iliev
Main fields of competence:
Management skills development programs; Organizational development programs; Leadership; Creative and critical thinking.
Education and experience:
Master of Organizational and Labor Psychology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”; Certified trainer (International Debate Trainer) of International Debate Education Association, “Training for group-dynamics trainers” – Top Consult Center of Development.
Memberships and certificates:
Certified consultant of Human Synergistic Bulgaria.
Member of Chartered Institute on Personnel Development.
Certificate in Training Practice, CIPD
Antonia Dimitrova
Main fields of competence:
Skill development programs; Assessment center, Organizational diagnosis and development.
Education and experience:
PhD in Organizational and Labor Psychology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Masters degree in Organizational and Labor Psychology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”; Training for group-dynamics trainers” – Top Consult Center of Development.
Memberships and certificates:
Certified consultant of Human Synergistic Bulgaria
Project teams
For the projects we implement we put together project teams for which we try to select consultants with relevant experience and profile, meeting the requirements of the program, the client and the target group.
We are happy that in our work we are able to forge successful partnerships with colleagues in whose competence and professionalism we are deeply convinced.
As a part of our brand, or under the form of a consortium with other companies, we manage to provide our clients with a choice of the consultants who will be participating in the implementation of their project.
Encounter Leadership
In our work with various organizations we have witnessed precisely planned programs for development and change that cannot achieve utmost efficiency due to the underestimation of the influence of the managers of all levels and their leadership skills on the process and the maintaining of the effect of change.
The effective leadership and the constant perfection of management skills are a must for the success of every organization in the ever-changing market conditions.
We are convinced that the successful organizations are the ones in which leadership is a distinguishing feature of the management in the entire organization, and not a characteristic of certain individuals. That is why the programs for assessment and development of the leadership potential are the main focus in our work.
Assessment Center
Are leaders born or made?
We answer this question by assisting organizations to find the talent that can be developed afterwards. Recognizing and using people’s talents multiplies their contribution to the organization and the return on the investment in their development.
That is why we offer an assessment center as an added value to our development programs.
Description
The assessment center (AC) is an integral system of tools for monitoring and evaluation of a specific set of skills and behaviors. The participants in the Assessment center are assigned various types of tasks, which simulate situations, predicaments or challenges occurring in the everyday work. Being put in similar conditions the participants demonstrate in practice certain skills, attitudes and ways to interact with the others, ways of thinking, reactions and behaviors. Their behavior is monitored and assessed by trained assessors in accordance with preliminary set criteria and precise levels of evaluation, consistent with the specifics of the company, their position, the organizational processes, the profile of the organizational structure, the organizational values and the desired work behavior.
Approach
In the structuring of the assessment centers we use instruments for evaluation and potential development that have been practically tested and have proven their objectivity and validity.
What instruments can be combined in an assessment center:
- Simulations
- Cases
- Practical task solving
- Group discussions
- Role plays
- Presentations
- Individual tasks
- Interviews
- Tests for evaluation of professional skills and knowledge
- Personality questionnaires
- Biographical questionnaires
Benefits
When is the use of an Assessment center appropriate?
- When you need new employees for key positions and you have launched campaigns for recruitment and selection of candidates
- When you want to recognize and develop „the talents ” in the organization
- When you promote the „talented” employees to a higher or more responsible position and you need objective assessment of their potential and the ability to cope with the new functions
- When you seek for strengths and weaknesses in the work of certain units or employees
- When you identify and analyze the needs for training in the organization
- When you are building a new team
- When evaluating the effect of training and development programs on the actual work behavior
Benefits:
- Compared to other evaluation methods, the assessment center is the most objective tool for monitoring and making a decision for hiring or development, due to the fact that the evaluation is carried out on the basis of direct monitoring of real behavior and not on the basis of subjective personal or psychological characteristics
- Combines various methods and tools using their potentials and advantages, depending on the situation and the objective
- Saves time and efforts of the organization or the Human resource department in the implementation of multi-step campaigns for selection and development
- The use of this method provides the opportunity for estimation with a high level of accuracy of the future behavior of the participants and their potential reactions and actions in certain situations
- Simulates actual professional situations, actual organizational and interpersonal processes and leads to the display of authentic stereotypes of actions and reactions
- The presence of professional evaluators reduces the risks of mistakes and subjectivism in the final assessment
Development Programs
In the long-term programs for development of leadership skills and competences we combine:
- Activities for developing the skills and the competences
Example: behavioral trainings, coaching, distant learning
- Activities that help applying the developed skills in the actual work
Example: work on practical projects; individual work on cases; moderated group meetings
- Activities aimed towards assisting and establishing the change and the new aspects in the work behavior
Example: development plans; involvement of the line manager in the entire process, supplementation of the work evaluation
Encounter’s leadership development programs:
- Are formulated in accordance with the actual challenges and the needs of the company
- Are an integral process of diagnosis and examination of the needs, implementation of the activities, monitoring of the implementation and constant improvement, communication and involvement of the main parties concerned, recommendations for ongoing development
- Estimate the potential impact on the related systems, processes and structures in the organization
- Conform to the potential helping or obstructing factors in and outside of the organization
- Are flexible and can vary in terms of duration, used opportunities and learning methods, scope of topics and skills
- Are aimed towards the direct application of the developed skills in the work of the participants
- Structured in logical consistency, which guarantees the successful build-up of the developed or acquired skills
In our experience so far we have witnessed the following effects of the leadership skills development programs:
- Improving the efficiency in the work of the managers
- The establishment of a more effective approach towards the management, the motivation and the involvement of the employees
- Managers prepared for more responsible positions in the growth of the business and the management reshuffles
- Reduction of the undesired differences in the managerial approach
- Enhancement of the strategic role of the middle management in the company
- Improving the coordination between the different managerial levels
When is the implementation of a long-term development program appropriate?
- When planning or having achieved growth
- In career planning and development
- When creating prepared staff for management reshuffles
- When planning change and in need of creating internal change agents
- When in need to cope with new market challenges
- When changing the business model or the management model.
Coaching
Objectives of the coaching programs
The objectives of the coaching programs relate to the focused development of groups of skills and competences by the clients, through individual work on actual cases and working environment situations, specific questions or difficulties, which the clients face in their everyday work.
The process usually comprises a series of coaching sessions (meetings), in which the gradual development of the skills or the solving of a specific situation is achieved through:
- analyzing actual situations and decisions that have already been taken;
- discussing potential or upcoming decisions;
- developing specific skills and behaviors, through the setting of time-related goals and the constant measuring of the progress;
- feedback and self-evaluation;
- providing objective outside information and independent points of view;
In the course of work the aim of the consultant is to assist the client in reaching own conclusions and making a change in behavior.
The work during the coaching sessions covers a range of fields, matters or skills that have been agreed upon in advance by the two parties.
When is it appropriate to use a coaching program?
- As an extension of a program for training and development
- When dealing with a specific difficulty
- When in need of reconsidering the existing ways of work
- When willing to build a new work approach
Projects
A program for middle managerial staff development
The challenge
A rapidly developing trade company whose staff has doubled in a year. In view of the growing market opportunities there is a need of establishing a strong middle management that can take on the management of the commercial activities at regional trade representative offices, thus supporting the introduction of a new level in the organizational structure of the company. The former supervisors of the commercial teams have been selected to take the role of regional managers who have to build and run strong regional trade structures.
The solution
A program of five consecutive trainings for the development of management skills. The main topics in the program are identified after conducting an analysis of the needs for trainings and a diagnosis of the present level of skills. Within the course of five consecutive trainings the program builds communicative skills, time management and delegation skills, conflict solving and negotiation skills, leadership skills, work and change management skills. The program is completed with the drawing up of a personal plan for development for each of the participants and a follow-up coaching session aimed towards the follow-up development of each of the participants.
The result
The supervisors were prepared to take on their new functions.
The participation of the executive director in the entire program has helped building a unified vision for the staff management and the management model of the company.
The successful beginning of the process of development of each of the participants has been laid though the final coaching sessions.
A program for middle managerial staff development
The challenge
A financial institution with a large-scale expansion plan promotes successful employees to managerial positions with the purpose of ensuring the required number of managers for its new branches. The main challenge is how to prepare the employees, who have no managerial experience, to take on their responsibilities quickly and effectively.
The solution
A program of four consecutive trainings for development of managerial skills. The main topics of the program are defined by the client, as a result of identifying the basic skills, which the newly-appointed managers need to have. Within the course of four consecutive trainings with an average duration of two days and a period of 6 – 8 weeks between the trainings the program works on the improvement of personal efficiency and organization, the skills for problem solving and relationship management, leadership skills, work with people and skills for building, developing and managing teams.
There is an evening session within the framework of each of the trainings, in which additional topics related to the main topics of the trainings are discussed: approaches for development of the subordinates, team building and creation of an effective team, approaches and strategies for conflict solving, organizational culture. The evening sessions feature relaxing and alternative methods of learning, such as watching and analyzing videos, simulations, meetings and discussions with representatives of the senior management (member of the management board).
The line managers, who participate in the maintaining and the evaluation of the effect, though the communication with trainers, feedback and observation of the work of the participants, are taking part in the beginning of the program.
The program is completed with the drawing up of a personal plan for development for each of the participants. A day for tracking the effects is held six month after the last training, in which the transfer and the change acquired by each of the participants, is discussed.
The result
The new managers succeeded in mastering basic skills, required to deal successfully with their new role.
The constant participation of the line managers has contributed for clearing the priorities in their new roles and the successful application of the acquired skills in their day-to-day work behavior.
Thus the implemented program was standardized as an approach for the development of future managers in the company as well.
Encounter Effectiveness
Through the planning and implementation of activities for evaluation of the present condition and the introduction of change in the various aspects of work in the organization we assist our clients in:
- responding to the need for change
- preparing their organizations for growth
- improving the different aspects of the functioning of the organization
- reconsidering and improving the ways of achieving the objectives and the company strategy
- creating and implementing a new strategy
Areas of Impact
An object of intervention in the effectiveness improvement programs may be:
- the people
- the organizational structure and processes
- the organizational culture
- the objectives and the strategy
In the projects we implement we take into consideration the influence and the interdependence of these four organizational aspects.
The need for change often manifests in one of these four aspects, but the reasons for its emergence may be influenced by the remaining aspects as well. The analysis of the interrelations and the forecasting of the effect of change on all organizational aspects is a main principle in our work. Thus we achieve an integral and long-lasting result from the organizational effectiveness improvement programs.
Benefits
Objective information and data on the present condition of the organization at all levels
Example: The managers’ assumptions not always reflect the actual condition of the organization.
The declared values of the organization and the actual values, displayed in the working behavior, often differ drastically.
A fast-growing trade company is seeking co-operation in relation to the poor motivation of the employees, the staff turnover, and the lack of understanding and collaboration between the teams. The supposed reason, identified by the management, is the poor-quality selection as a result of the challenges of the labor market and problems in the structure and processes.
The organizational diagnosis showed that the main factors, affecting negatively the motivation, are the lack of a clear system for work evaluation and clarity for the employees as regards to the strategy of the company and their contribution to the achievement of the objectives.
The non-constructive competition within and between the teams is a result of the managerial turnover and deficits in the skills of the managerial stuff to build and manage teams.
The overall diagnosis of the organization ensures precise planning of the change and a choice of the most adequate interventions
Example: A common solution of the problems regarding the servicing of clients is the training for improvement of the skills of the services staff.
A company operating in the field of energy supplies undertakes a series of trainings of the “customer service” specialists with the purpose of improving the level of servicing. Despite the precise selection of suppliers, the training programs do not result in an improved level of servicing. A diagnosis of all factors, which affect the servicing process, shows that the actual reasons for the low level of servicing are the lack of support to the service staff from their internal suppliers and the problems in the process of information exchange between the departments in the company.
Preventing the hardships caused by the poor planning of the company’s expansion activities
Example: companies often respond to growth within the context of the situation and do not foresee the pressure and the demands, which the growing volumes or payrolls put on the existing work practices. The priority focus on the outside environment and the market, as well as the lack of purposeful actions, which to prepare the organization for this process most often result in:
- Overlapping of functions or people who are assigned too many functions
- Frequent, ad hoc structural changes, which dampen the effectiveness and are not completely in consistence with the company’s strategy
- Compromises related to the promotion of employees to managerial positions
- Demoralization of the staff and weakening strength of the organizational norms and values
- Fading loyalty of the long-standing members of the organization due to the sharp change in the culture and the way of work
- Staff turnover
- Stiff internal competition and worsened coordination and communication between the members of the organization
- Worsening of the coordination and the communication between the management and the employees
Building a capacity and preparation for dealing with changing or different market conditions
The changing market conditions always result in different requirements towards the organizations –speed, innovation, qualification of the employees, attitude towards the clients, adaptivity and readiness for change and etc.
Following a preparation of its plans for 2009, a leading trade company asked our cooperation to prepare its staff to achieve growth in volumes against the backdrop of the faltering demand due to the financial crisis.
Achieving a maximum effect from the projects for change through professional management and monitoring of the results
Undertaking changes is often easier than the achieving of the initially set objectives of change. One of the most common reasons for this is the lack of experience at all managerial levels, as well as the communication of the change and difficulties in the balancing of every day work challenges and the ones caused by the process of change. The ineffective communication and change management may often not only hinder the achievement of its goals but cause serious negative consequences for the entire organization: staff turnover and loss of talent, loss of confidence in the management, worsening relations and conflicts, missed market opportunities and benefits and even financial losses. The use of professional help in the planning, introduction and monitoring of the results in the process of change may be an additional resource, which could guarantee the management avoiding the risks of inefficient management of change and achieving the utmost effect expected.
Achieving actual and longstanding changes and improvements in the functioning of the organization
Example: As a consequence of managerial reshuffles the new management of a diversified company faces considerable and complex difficulties: demoralization of the staff, serious flaws in activity, low efficiency and high percentage of losses due to the ineffective systems for staff management. A complex solution for the reconsideration of the strategy and the business model; gradual clarification and introduction of the desired organizational culture and the building of new systems for staff management, consistent with the new strategy and the business model, could help the organization start functioning in an entirely new and more efficient way.
Improving the capacity for change introduction and management
Example: The successful introduction of a project for change assists the establishment of a culture supporting change and improves the skills of the participants in the project for change management and introduction.
Successful integration in mergers and acquisitions
Example: Regardless of the fact whether the merger is between units within a company or between rival companies, this type of organizational change puts the management and the staff ahead of the biggest challenges. The precise planning and the flawless management of the process all along is a prerequisite for achieving a successful integration.
Contacts
Encounter
training & consulting
Sofia 1000
30 Pozitano St., 2nd fl, office 205
tel. +359 884 066 599
P.S. for Colleagues
We believe that the achievements, in which someone takes pride and wants to be associated with, are attained on the basis of successful partnerships.
With Encounter we want to achieve our vision for successful consultancy and to create projects and services that make us and our clients proud.
If this website and its content aroused your interest, if you share our mission, philosophy and principles and you would like to be part of our team, contact us!
This could be the beginning of a successful partnership!
