By: Dorothea Bell
Leadership coach and HR strategist Karen Malloy is launching The Turnaround Code, a six-month coaching program through her company, Karom, designed to help leaders of leaders manage difficult, high-visibility assignments and prepare for greater organizational responsibility.
The program combines individual coaching, stakeholder feedback and leadership planning to help participants address struggling teams, organizational transitions and complex assignments. It focuses on improving team performance, strengthening stakeholder relationships and demonstrating leadership readiness through measurable results.
The launch comes amid declining manager engagement. Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report found that global manager engagement fell from 27% in 2024 to 22% in 2025.
“I’ve sat in the meetings where promotions get decided, and the question is almost never whether someone worked hard,” Malloy says. “It’s whether they’ve moved the business forward and brought people with them. Nothing shows that faster than a difficult assignment.”
Building on More Than 20 Years of HR Leadership
Malloy developed The Turnaround Code based on more than two decades of HR leadership experience, primarily at Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines, now MercyOne, and Kum & Go.
At Mercy, part of Catholic Health Initiatives, she partnered with nursing leaders on employee engagement initiatives. Together, they oversaw approximately 700 clinical employees.
At Kum & Go, Malloy worked with an operations leader and 10 directors to improve engagement across a multistate retail region. She also led enterprise-wide culture survey initiatives across its then-parent company, Krause Group, and guided HR through a major acquisition and multiyear integration.
Her corporate experience included working with leaders facing difficult team dynamics, organizational changes and performance challenges. These experiences informed her decision to establish Karom and develop a coaching approach for demanding leadership assignments.
How The Turnaround Code Works
The six-month program includes 12 one-on-one coaching sessions, beginning with a 90-minute kickoff. Participants complete the Undercurrent Assessment, which combines personal reflection with confidential feedback from their teams and key stakeholders.
Malloy uses the assessment findings to help participants develop a one-page Turnaround Plan outlining priorities throughout the engagement. An optional conversation with the participant’s manager helps establish shared expectations at the outset.
Participants also receive reflection guides and AI prompts to help establish meeting schedules, structure one-on-one conversations, and develop team charters suited to their organizational needs.
During the fifth month, a follow-up pulse survey measures changes, providing participants with results they can share with senior leadership.
The Turnaround Code is designed for mid-level leaders, senior managers, directors, assistant vice presidents, and vice presidents responsible for complex assignments with significant organizational visibility.
Turning Difficult Assignments Into Career Opportunities
The Turnaround Code helps leaders understand how demanding assignments can demonstrate readiness for greater responsibility.
The program addresses practical challenges, including delegation, difficult conversations, and communicating results to senior executives. It links work on team performance and stakeholder relationships to the leadership capabilities organizations consider when evaluating advancement.
Malloy says leaders may underestimate the opportunities associated with difficult responsibilities.
“Organizations don’t hand their hardest problems to people they’ve given up on. If you’ve been given the mess, someone believes you can fix it,” Malloy says.
Malloy is an ICF-certified Associate Certified Coach, a Certified High Performance Coach through the High Performance Institute, and a Professional in Human Resources-certified HR leader.
Through Karom, she supports leaders managing complex assignments and preparing for broader organizational responsibilities.
For more information about Karen Malloy and The Turnaround Code, visit www.leadwithkarom.com.
