Case Study
Creating the Focus to Accelerate Mining Growth
Mining was already a successful part of the business. The question was whether it could become something much bigger.
Background
A global AEC firm had established mining expertise, strong client relationships and active work across Canada, but those strengths were spread across regions and disciplines. There was no coordinated national approach, and leadership did not yet share the same view of mining’s growth potential. Before a strategy could be built, the case for one had to be established.
Extensive market research was conducted to understand the Canadian mining landscape, emerging trends, client activity and where the strongest opportunities for growth existed. Internally, information-gathering workshops brought together leaders and technical experts to establish a baseline of the firm’s existing mining work, capabilities, relationships and opportunities across the country.
The discovery confirmed considerable strength in mining, but much of it was operating independently across the business. More importantly, the research and workshops provided the evidence needed to build greater alignment around the opportunity. Some leaders already saw mining’s potential; others needed a clearer case for why the sector warranted additional focus and investment.
From that work, the initial national mining strategy was developed. One of its first priorities was the appointment of a dedicated mining sector leader, creating clear ownership and accountability for the first time.
Finding the right person mattered. The leader that filled the role brought decades of mining experience, deep industry relationships and an established reputation within the market. Well connected, respected and sought out within the sector, he brought immediate credibility and an understanding of the clients, people and opportunities shaping the industry. He was also given a clear mandate to lead, allowing him to take ownership of the strategy and begin building momentum across the business.
The initial strategy also focused on connecting mining professionals across geographic regions and establishing a revenue baseline against which future growth could be measured. By the end of the first year, stronger connections were forming across the national mining community and revenue had reached approximately $14.4 CAD million, exceeding the initial $12 CAD million target.
The opportunity had been validated, leadership alignment was growing and clear sector ownership was in place. The next phase was about accelerating growth.
The Challenge
Technical capability, relationships, and market opportunity were already in place, which meant the real work was turning successful but dispersed mining activity into a coordinated business capable of pursuing growth at a much greater scale. Key barriers included:
- Inconsistent opportunity visibility. Opportunities and client activity were not consistently tracked, limiting the ability to see where the strongest growth potential existed.
- Diffuse client development. Strong relationships existed, but there was no common approach for prioritizing strategic clients, assigning relationship ownership or developing those relationships over the longer term.
- Capability gaps. Ambitious growth targets required the organization to identify where additional technical expertise, recruitment and external partnerships would be needed to support future growth and delivery.
- Untapped organizational breadth. Expertise existed across markets, service lines and geographies that could create greater value for mining clients but was not being consistently connected to the sector.
The goal was to transform mining from a collection of successful regional activities into a coordinated national business, with the leadership, priorities and discipline needed to focus investment, deepen strategic client relationships and pursue growth at a much greater scale.
The Strategy: Creating Focus Around Four Growth Priorities
The next phase began with a deeper assessment of the mining business and the market around it. Existing revenue, clients and relationships were examined alongside market trends, capabilities across the mining lifecycle, emerging opportunities and gaps that could limit future growth. The assessment also looked beyond mining to identify expertise and services elsewhere in the organization that could bring greater value to clients.
That work narrowed a wide range of possibilities into four priorities: Create a Core Mining Team, Strategic Client Development, Recruitment and Partnerships, and Collaboration. More importantly, it established how those priorities needed to work together.
The Core Mining Team provided the structure. Under the direction of the mining sector leader, regional technical experts and client relationship managers were brought together, supported by marketing, PR and targeted business development. This created stronger connections across the country and a more coordinated way to manage clients, opportunities and performance.
With that structure taking shape, Strategic Client Development brought greater discipline to where the team focused its attention. Priority clients were identified based on strategic importance and growth potential, relationship ownership was clarified, and teams looked more deliberately at client needs, future direction and longer-term opportunities. The focus began shifting from the next pursuit to understanding where priority clients were headed and how the firm could support them along the way.
Growth also had to be matched by the ability to deliver it. Recruitment and Partnerships identified technical and permitting gaps that could constrain future growth and where targeted recruitment could strengthen the team. Strategic partnerships provided another avenue for adding specialist expertise, strengthening Indigenous relationships, expanding market access and broadening the capabilities available across the mining lifecycle.
Collaboration extended the strategy across the broader organization. Considerable expertise already existed outside the mining team, both within Canada and internationally, but it was not always reaching mining clients. Stronger connections across regions, markets, service lines and countries made it easier to introduce advisory, digital and other technical capabilities where they could solve a client need or strengthen an opportunity.
The four priorities were intentionally interconnected. The core mining team provided structure, strategic client development determined where to focus, recruitment and partnerships strengthened the ability to deliver, and collaboration expanded what the firm could bring to its clients.
Together, they provided a clearer direction for where the mining business should focus, where it needed to invest and how it could turn existing strengths into sustained growth.
Actions for Success
Turning the strategy into action required practical mechanisms that made the priorities visible and measurable across the business.
- Strategic clients were segmented into priority tiers, with clear relationship ownership and targeted engagement plans
- Major opportunities were tracked nationally based on potential value, timing and positioning
- Revenue targets and growth milestones established a measurable path forward
- Capability assessments informed targeted recruitment and partnership priorities
- Regular leadership and team touchpoints improved visibility and coordination across regions
- Mining teams were deliberately connected with advisory, digital and other internal capabilities where they could add value
- Industry participation and market visibility activities were aligned with priority clients and strategic growth objectives
These mechanisms helped move the strategy from an annual planning exercise into the day-to-day decisions being made about clients, people, opportunities and investment.
Results & Organizational Growth
- Approximately 125% growth in less than 18 months.
The mining business more than doubled as the strategy took hold. Greater focus, clear sector ownership and more deliberate client development helped convert existing strengths and market opportunity into significant growth. - Clear ownership accelerated momentum.
For the first time, one leader was accountable for the national mining sector, providing a central point of connection across regional teams, clients, opportunities and leadership. With the mandate to drive the strategy forward, the mining sector leader could connect the right people, maintain momentum and keep the business aligned around its priorities. - Mining began operating as one connected business.
Stronger connections across regions gave technical experts, client relationship managers and supporting functions greater visibility into one another’s work. Expertise could be mobilized more easily around priority clients and opportunities, regardless of where it sat within the organization. - Client development became more deliberate.
Rather than treating every client and opportunity equally, the team concentrated its attention on relationships with the greatest strategic potential. A longer-term view of those clients created greater visibility into where they were headed and where the firm was best positioned to add value. - Opportunity decisions became more informed.
A clearer view of the national pipeline allowed major opportunities to be considered against their potential value, timing and positioning. Good opportunities could be weighed against better ones, bringing greater discipline to where the team invested its time and resources. - Growth planning became more proactive.
As the pipeline expanded, the business had greater visibility into the people and capabilities that would be needed next. Recruitment and partnership decisions could be made against anticipateddemand rather than waiting for delivery gaps to emerge. - Clients gained access to more of the firm.
Greater collaboration opened access to expertise that had not always been connected to mining. Digital, advisory and other technical capabilities could be introduced in response to client needs, broadening the firm’s value proposition and creating additional avenues for growth. - A longer-term growth path was established.
The 125% increase was significant, but the strategy was designed to extend beyond the immediate result. A multi-year growth trajectory provided a path forward and a clearer understanding of how leadership, client relationships, people and capabilities would need to evolve as the sector continued to grow.
Key Takeaway
The global AEC firm did not need to manufacture a new market opportunity. Much of what it needed to grow was already inside the organization: expertise, relationships, capabilities and active opportunities.
What changed was the focus. The right leader was given clear ownership, four priorities aligned the business, and greater discipline was brought to clients, opportunities and investment.
Approximately 125% growth in less than 18 months showed what could happen when those pieces began working together.
The result was a national mining strategy, but more than that, a more disciplined way to grow.
