Corporate Learning - Performance Management Services
For many companies that work in unsettled environments, where product life cycles have drastically shortened, the only way to make sustainable profits is through innovation. This means that performance opportunities need to be seized when available. For other companies where process efficiencies are still key to profits, eliminating performance problems provide a viable path. In most cases, companies have to solve both performance problems and seize upon available performance opportunities.
The processes for identifying and acting on Performance issues and opportunities are well known; these include Performance Analysis, Cross functional solutioning, Implementation of solution and evaluation of the results of the solution. Of these, Performance analysis as the underpinning foundation of the other three is the most important and involves determining the:
- specific gaps in organisation/ process/ team/ individual results
- precise barriers and drivers to desired results and
- exact changes necessary to close the gap in results
However, well known doesn’t equate to well practiced. So, companies implement solutions that are simply not attacking the issues that they should be tackling. This leads to wasted time and dollars. The reasons are many and include:
- Analysts confusing symptoms with causes – inability to get to root causes
- Providing solutions for the wrong problem
- Consultants with their baggage of preferred frameworks
- Consultants not factoring in culture, nature of business and change complexities
- A culture of quick decision making based on hunches and not on data
- Silo based solutions when only holistic methodologies will enable solutions
- Not evaluating solution providers for value provided
We have considerable experience in designing and implementing holistic solutions. We have seen that when systematic performance analysis precedes holistic solutions and results obtained are evaluated against prior metrics, the benefits to an organisation are three fold:
- ROI on dollars spent is greater than for investments made elsewhere
- Clarity of thinking and planning of all stakeholders since the process enforces this
- Awareness, responsibility, jointmanship and ownership as the process of performance analysis + holistic solutions + Evaluation make functional silos inadequate
Given constantly shifting goalposts, companies need to have continuously operating processes to identify issues and opportunities and the means to act on them. The Learning and Development (L&D) team comprises an important partner in this endeavour. It has been well known that companies that use L&D as an integral part of the workplace environment leverage their investments. However when the L&D function becomes a mere provider of programs (both online and classroom), companies lose this vital edge. Training now becomes more a matter of faith and a means to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
We have seen that even companies that pride themselves on their analytical capabilities pay little attention to Performance analysis and on evaluating the effectiveness and efficacies of the implemented solution. However, when they do this, they often find innovative solutions, large savings and ROI much larger than that available through pure training courses. Why do companies not evaluate interventions that cost them a huge amount of money? Mostly, it is the frenzied pace at which businesses are being made to adapt. There is always something new that has to be tackled – leaving little time for leaders to monitor and intervene.
We believe that we should be evaluated on the ROI we bring to our clients and welcome the opportunity to work through level 1 to level 5 evaluations, with clearly defined markers and metrics. When our clients use ROI to measure vendors, we are more than happy because this means that they are keen to bring in measurements, use data to make decisions and opt for cross functional solutions. It is easier for us then to nudge departments into contributing during performance analysis, pre and post training support and build awareness and responsibility. When learning interventions stop at level 2 evaluations, the impact on the company’s bottom line is unknown. To ensure that our solutions address the intended goals, we move through level 1 to level 5 evaluations. Whilst this adds some effort, it is small compared to the effort that is put into courses and solutions.
The focus on the efficacy of our solutions help in moving it well beyond individual, job level improvements to organisation level performance improvement. We carryout performance improvement interventions in the most competitive industries, including engineering industries where margins are as low as 3%; where efficiencies are so important that a single shift’s quality defects will jeopardise the financial well being of the company. We welcome challenges of this sort, because it is precisely in these situations that our interventions are well recognised and credit given ungrudgingly. When we walk into our client’s offices, it is with the confidence that we will always remain their first choice for any human performance intervention.
We would welcome enquiries from potential clients. Try us out; experience what we are capable of delivering, shorn of much of the hype that characterises the consulting industry.