AQH realized there was tremendous opportunity in segmentation to expand leadership roles for high-potential and emerging leaders.

Julie Geyer
VP Global Human Resources, Broan NuTone

Promote Talent Through Segmentation

Air Quality & Home Solutions (AQH) is an $875M global enterprise that Madison purchased in 2021 as part of the Nortek acquisition.

30 People

More than 30 people were promoted into new or extended leadership roles.

For more information on this story, contact
Julie Geyer, VP Global Human Resources, Braun NuTone: [email protected]

Goal
AQH was traditionally structured by technical expertise, with functional leaders such as vice presidents of marketing, engineering, sales, etc., reporting to Frank Carroll, President and CEO. AQH’s Zephyr and China businesses already ran independently as stand-alone segments. It had more than 2,000 global employees, about 85% tied to its larger North American operations facilities. AQH needed to define segments, assign leaders, and establish teams. But many questions arose. Could they use internal talent? Or would they have to recruit new employees to lead the organization through this change while also simplifying the business and growing it?

Process
AQH spent many hours building channel segment options, conducting Zero Ups, and trying to complete simplification from that angle. Ultimately, at the end of 2021, they agreed they needed a different approach. They decided to break the business down into smaller product/category segments before staffing and simplifying each. They selected segment leaders based on their demonstration of AQH’s core leadership competencies: effective communication, building effective teams, driving results, and possessing a strategic mindset. Then they assessed potential candidates through
talent reviews, focusing on functional or business acumen for newly identified segments. AQH also considered candidates’ ability to manage through change and ambiguity.

They realized there was tremendous opportunity in segmentation to expand leadership roles for those with high potential and emerging leaders. They had a relatively strong employee evaluation process and began utilizing the nine boxes and talent assessments.

Results
In early 2022 AQH announced seven segments and leaders for each, including five for Broan North America (Exhaust Ventilation, Kitchen Ventilation, Fresh Air Systems, Direct to Consumer, and Overture™), plus Zephyr and China. By March 2022, they’d assigned segment teams and reorganized the entire business. Overall, through segmentation, AQH promoted more than 30 people into new or extended leadership roles.

Key Learnings

  • The quicker you can align on segments, the faster you can get the right leaders in place, organize segment teams, and release the natural organizational anxiety present in this exercise.
  • It can be easy to forget that not everyone has the insight that you do, so you need to be purposeful to communicate early and often.
  • Having a set of competencies that you hold leaders accountable for can help with the selection process.