“What impressed me most was how quickly the team put the tools into practice. This wasn’t theoretical training. It gave us a common language, improved accountability, and helped us operate more effectively as a leadership team.”
— Joe Montano, President & CEO, Delphon
Founded in 1980 and based in Hayward, California, Delphon is a premier provider of advanced polymer and adhesive materials, specializing in protecting fragile components for the semiconductor, medical, electronics, and optoelectronics industries.
Industry:
Manufacturing
Solutions:
People Analytics: Vital Statistics Report
Leadership Development Program (15 weeks)
1-to-2 Coaching
In 2024, Delphon identified leadership development as a strategic priority following a senior leadership strategic planning session where culture, training, and leadership effectiveness emerged as key concerns.
The executive team included leaders with vastly different tenure levels, from 20+ years to less than three, who were navigating significant change and integrating newer leaders with strong professional backgrounds but limited experience within the organization.
The CEO found it challenging to align the team, often encountering resistance rooted in long-standing practices. With a desire to strengthen cohesion and accountability while establishing a common leadership language across the business, Delphon recognized the need for a structured development initiative that could unite its geographically dispersed leaders and support measurable growth.
“It's strengthening accountability and leadership competence, and we're committed to continuing that momentum into the next phase.”
— Program Participant
Delphon engaged with Vivo Team to deploy a Leadership Development Program for its executive team, including the President and CEO, senior executives, and VPs.
The executive team completed a Vital Statistics Report (VSR) by responding to a detailed series of statements related to the six key indicators of high performance: communication, interactive feedback, accountability, emotional intelligence, structures, and cohesion. The VSR identified areas for improvement and factors contributing to the costs of lost productivity. Based on the VSR data, the program focused on communication and structures.
Live, virtual instructor-led training and group coaching sessions were delivered in alternating segments. Each session was supported with micro-learnings on a company-specific learning experience platform. The 1-to-2 coaching sessions deepened the learning while allowing the leaders to share ideas and gain key insights into how the organization works.
The program ran for 15 weeks.
“Our team has made meaningful progress towards improved visibility and alignment.”
— Program Participant
Measurable Improvements in Effectiveness
Using VSR and analytics data, success would include visible improvements in leadership behaviours tied to accountability, cohesion, and effectiveness. Meaningful growth in the data would support better decision-making and reinforce the credibility and long-term value of the program.
Increased Executive Team Alignment
Success would be demonstrated by the executive team's improved ability to work together efficiently, adopt a unified leadership language, and align behaviourally across the organization.
Demonstrated Return on Investment
Given the company's history of not investing in development, success needed to include clear evidence of return—such as stronger performance, improved engagement, or operational effectiveness. Just as important was cultural proof that leadership development drives growth, helping turn skeptics into advocates for continued investment.
“The areas that we agreed would have the most impact—communication, interactive feedback, and structures—have all improved.”
— Program Participant
The Delphon executive team saw a 16% performance improvement in overall team effectiveness, moving from 63 (low) to 73 (medium). A score of 80 indicates a highly effective team.
All six key indicators showed improvements, with interactive feedback and structures showing the most significant gains, each increasing by 24%.
Key Indicator Improvement
At the start of the program, the Delphon executive team rated their CEO's leadership effectiveness at 72, while the CEO rated their own effectiveness at 85. This indicated a 13-point gap between how the CEO perceived their behaviours and how team members perceived them.
After the program, the team rated the CEO's leadership effectiveness at 78, an 8% improvement. The CEO rated their own effectiveness at 81, closing the gap from 13 points to 3 points—a 77% reduction in the effectiveness gap, indicating increased alignment among the executive team and the CEO.
The Delphon executive team reclaimed $121,653 in lost productivity, reducing the cost from $766,415 at the start of the program to $644,762 afterward. This represents a 15.9% decrease in lost productivity costs.
The program also received a 100% recommendation rate from the participants who responded to the survey.
“I am most excited about decreasing the gap between my perceived leadership score vs. what my team scored me. I am also encouraged by the improvement in key categories.”
— Program Participant
Delphon has committed to ongoing, continuous learning experiences with Vivo Team. Following the initial program engagement, the company has mapped out a plan to develop more leaders throughout the organization.
The HR team has integrated Vital Statistics Report analytics into leaders' personal performance plans and career development at Delphon.