Performance Consulting: A Strategic Process to Improve, Measure, and Sustain Organizational Results

By Dana Gaines Robinson, James C. Robinson, Jack J. Phillips and 2 more

“A potent tool and practical resource for everyone who practices in the talent development and organizational improvement field.” —Chip R. Bell, author of Inside Your Customer’s Imagination
 
NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED

In America, organizations spend $175 billion in training initiatives and more than $500 billion in human resource solutions every year yet often have little to show for it. One reason is that people “jump to solutions” before they identify the causes of the problem. Performance consultants are effective because they partner with clients to clarify business goals and determine root causes for gaps between desired and current results. Only then are specific solutions agreed upon and implemented.

This third edition of the classic book that introduced performance consulting adds a wealth of new material. There are new case examples throughout and four new chapters providing detailed steps for measuring results from performance consulting initiatives on five different levels, including ROI. The book includes a never-before-published Alignment and Measurement Model, allowing you to connect organizational needs and performance consulting initiatives designed to address those needs with the appropriate level of measurement.

This remains a profoundly practical book, featuring tools, models, and checklists. It will enable you to make a difference in your organization that is valued, measurable, and sustainable.
 
“This book offers leaders and practitioners the evidence-based approach that will drive lasting strategic impact in our organizations. It’s the most exciting business book of the decade!” —Jean Larkin, EdD, Vice President, Talent Management, Tyco

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781626562318

Book preview

Performance Consulting

THIRD EDITION of the Classic Bestseller, Completely Revised and Updated

Performance Consulting

A STRATEGIC PROCESS TO IMPROVE, MEASURE, AND SUSTAIN ORGANIZATIONAL RESULTS

Dana Gaines Robinson | James C. Robinson

Jack J. Phillips I Patricia Pulliam Phillips

Dick Handshaw

Performance Consulting

Copyright © 2015 by Dana Gaines Robinson, James C. Robinson, Jack J. Phillips, Patricia Pulliam Phillips, and Dick Handshaw

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Third Edition

Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-62656-229-5

PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-62656-230-1

IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-62656-231-8

2015-1

Production Management: Michael Bass Associates

Cover Design: Dan Tesser/Studio Carnelian

This book is dedicated to all those in the human performance field who make performance their business and prove it each and every day.

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Preface

Introduction: Stop Jumping to Solutions and Make Performance Your Business!

What Is the Alternative?

Performance Consulting Process

The Proof

1 Performance Consulting: The Process

Types of Work

Our Partners in the Performance Consulting Process

The Performance Consulting Process

Performance Consulting Pointers

2 Performance Consulting: The Mental Model and Logic

The Need Hierarchy

The SHOULD-IS-CAUSE Logic

Gaps Map: Here’s How It’s Done

Performance Consulting Pointers

FIRST PHASE:

Identify Strategic Opportunities

3 Build Client Partnerships

Access

Credibility

Trust

Performance Consulting Pointers

4 Identify Strategic Opportunities Reactively

Reframing—What Is It?

Core Practices to Use in Reframing Discussions

Reframing Requests: Here’s How It’s Done

Performance Consulting Pointers

5 Identify Strategic Opportunities Proactively

Triggers for Working Proactively

The Proactive Discussion

Conducting Proactive Discussions: Here’s How It’s Done

Performance Consulting Pointers

SECOND PHASE:

Assess Business and Performance Needs

6 Define the SHOULDs

Defining Business SHOULDs

Defining Performance SHOULDs

Collecting Data

Defining Organizational SHOULDS

Building Performance Models: Here’s How It’s Done

Shortcuts for Forming a Performance or Competency Model

Performance Consulting Pointers

7 Assess the IS

Business IS

Performance IS

Data Sources

IS Assessment: Here’s How It’s Done

Shortcuts for Doing an IS Assessment

Performance Consulting Pointers

8 Identify CAUSEs and Select Solutions

Identifying Root Causes, Not Symptoms

Designing CAUSE Assessments

Reporting Results

Interpreting Data

CAUSE Analysis: Here’s How It’s Done

Shortcuts for Obtaining CAUSE Data

Performance Consulting Pointers

THIRD PHASE:

Implement and Measure Solutions

9 Alignment and Measurement Model

Client Preferences for Measurement Information

Alignment and Measurement Model

Alignment and Measurement Logic

Alignment and Measurement Model: Here’s How It’s Done

Performance Consulting Pointers

10 Develop and Implement the Measurement Plan

Guidelines for Effective Measurement

Measurement Data as Diagnostic Data

Measurement Objectives and Plans: The What, How, Who and When

The Use of Technology

Measuring Results: Here’s How It’s Done

Shortcuts for Measuring Results

Performance Consulting Pointers

11 Determine Return on Investment (ROI)

Methods of Isolating the Effects of the Solution

Converting Data to Monetary Values

Determining Monetary Value of a Unit of Measure

Identifying Intangible Benefits

Determining Costs of a Performance Consulting Initiative

Calculating ROI Measures

Shortcuts to Determining the ROI

Performance Consulting Pointers

FOURTH PHASE:

Report and Sustain Results

12 Report Results and Develop Plans for Sustaining Results

Preparing for the Meeting

Conducting the Meeting

Sustaining Performance, Organizational, and Business Results

Knowing When to Actively Reengage

Shortcuts for Reporting Results

Performance Consulting Pointers

Conclusion: Commit Now to Make Performance Your Business

Performance Consulting and Measurement Toolkit

Glossary

References

Index

About the Authors

List of Figures

1.1    Performance Consulting Process

2.1    Need Hierarchy

2.2    Components of a Gaps Map

2.3    Gaps Map for Manufacturing Situation

4.1    Direction of Reframing Discussions

4.2    Starter List of SHOULD, IS, CAUSE Questions

4.3    Logic Path That Begins on Performance Side of Map

4.4    Logic Path That Begins on the Business Side of Map

5.1    Direction of Proactive Discussions

6.1    Applications from SHOULD Assessments

7.1    Skill and Frequency Matrix

7.2    Accomplishment: Maintain Contact with Store Manager/Owner, Encourage Acceptance of New/Additional Products

7.3    Accomplishment: Respond to Problems or Complaints from Store Manager/Owner

8.1    Root Cause Categories for Gaps

8.2    Unabridged Root Cause Categories with Examples

8.3    Data Funnel

8.4    Gaps Map for Route Delivery Representations (RDRs), Northeast Region

9.1    Alignment and Measurement Model

10.1  Performance Consulting Process

11.1  Example of Results from Control/Experimental Group Design

11.2  Example of a Trend Line

11.3  Forecasting Example

12.1  Data Funnel

List of Tables

2.1    Need Hierarchy Terminology

5.1    Examples of Business Goals and Strategies

5.2    Checklist to Prepare for a Proactive Business Goals Conversation

6.1    Comparing Performance and Competency Models

6.2    Performance Model for Quality Control Representative (QCR)

6.3    Competency Model for Quality Control Representative (QCR)

7.1    Designing IS Assessments

7.2    Frequency Scale

7.3    Skill Level Scale

7.4    Gap Analysis Plan

8.1    Designing CAUSE Assessments

8.2    CAUSE Analysis Questionnaire for RDRs

8.3    Results of CAUSE Analysis for RDRs

9.1    Executive View of Measurement Data

9.2    Objectives for Work-at-Home Initiative

9.3    Business Results

10.1  Measurement of Reaction

10.2  Measurement of Organizational and Individual Capability

10.3  Sample of an Organizational Support Survey

10.4  Measurement of Performance Results

10.5  Measurement of Business Results

10.6  Data Collection Plan for Metro Transit Authority

10.7  Cost of Absenteeism Comparisons

11.1  An Example Illustrating the Steps for Converting Data to Monetary Values

11.2  Consulting Cost Categories

12.1  Typical Agenda for a Meeting to Report and Discuss Measurement Results

Preface

by The Robinsons

"What do you think of the idea of working together on a third edition of Performance Consulting?"

—Jack Phillips in conversation with Jim and Dana Robinson, ISPI Conference, 2013

We were stunned when this question was posed to us by Jack Phillips. We sold the intellectual property for our workshops and retired in 2011. We believed that the second edition of Performance Consulting, published in 2008, would be our last. However, the idea of a new edition was exciting to consider!

In ongoing conversations with both Jack and Patti Phillips, as well as Dick Handshaw, it became evident that coauthoring a third edition with these three individuals was not only possible but would be enriched by integrating each of our perspectives and experiences. Dick brings fresh applications and cases from his consulting practice, which employs performance consulting techniques. The Phillipses bring their robust body of work regarding measurement and evaluation. And we provide the performance consulting models and techniques that have evolved over thirty years and are validated by practitioners every day. Thus, we began our work as a team with this book the result.

PERFORMANCE CONSULTING—THE PROCESS: WHAT’S NEW?

We are reminded of the statement Books stand still; knowledge does not when reflecting on all that has changed since 1995 when the first edition of Performance Consulting was released. One change relates to the very people who use performance consulting techniques in their work. When we first began our journey into the field of human performance improvement, performance consulting was viewed as a role for people in the learning and development field. Now it is a process embraced by individuals, working both internally and externally, in an array of functions including human resources, talent management, and organization development in addition to learning and development. During the last five years of managing our consulting firm, we assisted people in finance, information technology (IT), and quality functions to incorporate performance consulting principles and practices into the partnering processes used with their clients. The bottom line: performance consulting is a process that benefits anyone who aspires to achieve organizational change, enhance human performance, and impact the business through influence, not edict.

In 1995, our knowledge of performance consulting was almost entirely based on what occurs in American corporations. Since then, our books have been translated into multiple languages, and we have assisted functions around the globe to operate strategically, employing performance consulting models and logic. We know, from our work and that of our coauthors, that performance consulting is a process used in countries throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. This global experience has enriched the performance consulting process and this book.

Even our definition of performance consulting has changed. Twenty years ago our focus was on how a client and a consultant partner to achieve optimal human performance. Years ago we emphasized the relationship aspect of performance consulting because so many people operated as either experts or pairs-of-hands, paraphrasing the work of Peter Block (2011). Our focus was also on enhancing human performance that would result in business impact.

Times are different, and so is our definition of performance consulting. We now view performance consulting as a strategic process that produces business results by maximizing performance of people and organizations. The partnership of clients and consultants is still an integral part of the process—this relationship matters. But now our emphasis is on the process of performance consulting. This process is strategic because it begins with, and directly addresses, the long-term and mission-critical needs and goals of a business. What also is new is the greater focus we place on the need to enhance performance of both people and the organization if business results are to be achieved.

PERFORMANCE CONSULTING-THE BOOK: WHAT’S DIFFERENT?

This edition contains new cases and multiple examples from the authors’ recent consulting assignments. Terminology has been changed to reflect today’s business world, and the models themselves have been refreshed. The primary change you, the reader, will experience is new content regarding how to measure performance consulting initiatives. In our previous books, we acknowledged measurement to be a part of the process. However, we offered little advice on how to plan for and implement that part of the process. Enter Jack and Patti Phillips and their in-depth knowledge of this critical component. It has been a joy to partner with them, discovering how our performance consulting models and techniques combine with the measurement models they have developed and validated over the years. The result is a book that describes an end-to-end performance consulting process, taking you from how to respond to a client’s initial request to forming the measurement strategy, implementing solutions, and reporting on the business and performance results.

WHAT’S THE SAME?

One of the major reasons for writing the first edition of Performance Consulting remains the same today: too many people still support a jump-to-solution approach. In other words, when a need is presented by a client, the conversation quickly progresses to deciding on the solution that will fix the problem. Several reasons explain why this approach persists, including that many people in organizations are biased to action, resistant to taking the time needed to ensure the solution is appropriate and sufficient. Then, once resources are expended and the problem remains, the conversation moves to laying blame. Clearly this bias to action, before determining if that action will yield success, can no longer be justified. Performance consulting remains a process that prevents this solution-jump from occurring. Performance consulting is a systemic process requiring that we (1) work on the right problem, (2) implement the right solutions, and (3) focus on achieving and measuring the right results.

We still believe performance consulting is comprised of both art and science techniques. The art is evidenced through the relationships developed with clients, sharing the goal of enhancing the performance of people and the organization to achieve business results. The science includes the mental model and logic that performance consultants use. The science also includes techniques for designing and reporting data obtained from assessment and measurement initiatives. It is this evidenced-based approach that helps us avoid the jump to solution tactic too frequently used today. Each of the art and science components is described in depth in this book.

This book embraces the practical, how-to approach of our previous books, including the following:

Here’s How It’s Done are examples from the consulting practices of our author team. These cases tell the story of how people actually utilized the practices we discuss in the book and the results they obtained.

Shortcuts are suggestions for how to complete some phase of the performance consulting process in a reliable, time-efficient manner.

Performance Consulting Pointers appear at the close of each chapter, summarizing primary learnings you can take away and utilize.

Download These lists the tools, checklists, and graphics described in this book that can be downloaded and utilized in your day-to-day practice. These tools can be accessed by going to the Berrett-Koehler website. Complete information on how to purchase and download these tools can be found on the Performance Consulting and Measurement Toolkit pages at the end of this book.

FOR WHOM IS THIS BOOK WRITTEN?

This book is written for people who work within any of the people-focused functions in organizations, including human resources (HR), learning and development (L&D), organization development (OD), and talent management. People who work in these functions have diverse job and role titles. In this book we will use the term performance consultant to reference any and all of these individuals, whether they are internal or external to an organization.

Performance consulting techniques and processes are relevant whether you work in a for-profit, not-for-profit, governmental, or nongovernmental organization. Each of these entities has goals of an operational nature that must be achieved, as well as employees and managers whose performance is key to realizing these goals.

What we now know, as mentioned earlier, is that performance consulting techniques are also relevant to people who work within other support functions of an organization. These functions include but are not limited to quality, IT, finance, and operations. Individuals within these functions partner with clients on business initiatives and strive to achieve results through the influence and collaborative practices that comprise the art of performance consulting. Determining the root causes of problems, rather than jumping to solutions, is also a relevant approach.

Finally, people who work as external consultants will find relevance in this book. External consultants partner with one or more clients in diverse organizations. Frequently, the goal shared by these consultants and their clients is to enhance business results through the performance of people and organizations—the purview of performance consultants!

OVERVIEW OF BOOK CONTENTS

We begin with two chapters that provide the flow of steps and logic that are the framework for performance consultants. In Chapter 1 we describe the nine steps in the Performance Consulting Process. The logic and mental model that guide the thinking and actions of a performance consultant are described in Chapter 2. These two chapters can be viewed as describing both the what (the mental model) and how (the process) of performance consulting. The remainder of the book is a deep dive into the optimal practices and techniques for performing each of the steps in the Performance Consulting Process. These steps are organized into four phases of work.

First Phase: Identify Strategic Opportunities

The first phase of work focuses on identifying strategic opportunities. By strategic opportunities, we mean the results that the business or organization must achieve to ensure long-term success. Through our partnerships with managers who own accountability for business results, we gain access to the projects that will benefit from our work. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 provide techniques for deepening client partnerships, as well as identifying strategic opportunities both reactively and proactively.

Second Phase: Assess Business and Performance Needs

The second phase in the Performance Consulting Process focuses on assessing business and performance needs relevant in a given situation. In Chapters 6 through 8, we provide the how-to’s for assessing what SHOULD be occurring, what IS occurring, and the root CAUSEs for these gaps. Once causes are known, selecting the appropriate solutions is possible. We do not discuss how to design the solutions required to enhance the performance of people and organizations. There are literally hundreds of books dedicated to solution design. We do discuss how to decide, with your client, on the solutions that will be required.

Third Phase: Implement and Measure Solutions

Planning for measurement begins at the time that goals for the initiative, and solutions to be implemented, are determined. This is what we mean by the statement that measurement is a front-end process—planning begins before you launch solutions. Chapter 9 introduces you to the Alignment and Measurement Model that integrates performance consulting and measurement processes. This model has five levels of measurement corresponding with the increased level of impact that can occur as solutions are implemented. Which level(s) to focus on and how to design the appropriate measurement process are topics we include in this section. Chapters 10 and 11 describe techniques for developing a measurement strategy and analyzing the data obtained, including return on investment (ROI).

Fourth Phase: Report and Sustain Results

Once measurement results are known, it is critical to share the findings with clients and other stakeholders. This is where the proverbial rubber hits the road with regard to performance consulting initiatives. Which business and performance results did we obtain? Which results are unsatisfactory—and why? And how can we sustain results over time? We address these questions in Chapter 12.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As an author team, we want to begin by thanking the many people who assisted us in writing this manuscript. They include those we reached out to early in the process to discuss current research and trends, including Elaine Biech, Marc Effron, Ann Herrmann-Nehdi, Pat McLagan, and Norm Smallwood. Several people read versions of the manuscript, providing us with valuable suggestions and comments that improved the book. Our reviewers include Chris Adams, Paul Butler, Gary DePaul, Tora Estep, Jean Larkin, Steven Manderschied, and Leigh Wilkinson. And thanks also to Barbara Thornton for providing one of the in-depth cases included in this book.

A special thanks to Hope Nicholas, of ROI Institute, for her editorial and administrative support throughout the writing process. She is a real pro! We want to also acknowledge the entire Berrett-Koehler (BK) team. As authors, we have published several books with BK; each experience affirms both the talent and the commitment to collaboration that is integral to this organization. Thanks for the opportunity to partner with you once again.

We each want to thank the many clients with whom we have worked over the past decades. It is within their organizations, and through the partnering on their performance consulting and measurement initiatives, that our collective ideas on optimal practices and processes have been formed and tested.

Finally, we want to acknowledge each member of our author team. We have been on a journey together for more than a year; we have each learned a great deal and experienced, once again, the joy that comes from working in a synergistic manner with others.

INTRODUCTION

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Stop Jumping to Solutions and Make Performance Your Business!

Consider these scenarios, representative of what occurs frequently in organizations today:

Sales representatives in a tech company are charged with selling large enterprise-wide systems. While their revenue goals are being met, the profitability goals associated with these sales are not being achieved. The VP of enterprise sales and his HR strategic partner have decided to change the compensation plan so it puts more emphasis on making profitable sales.

Safety violations are increasing in a manufacturing organization. A decision has been made to have all operators and their supervisors participate in a refresher course on safety. This is a program these individuals attended just one year ago that was never measured to determine if employees’ on-the-job performance had actually changed.

Management in a hotel chain is concerned about the low customer satisfaction ratings obtained for the past four months. This is the same time period when a large number of new hires were placed into front-desk positions. A senior leader asks the chief talent officer to meet to discuss changing the selection criteria and process used to hire people into the front-desk clerk position. Clearly this process is not identifying people who possess good customer contact skills.

What do these scenarios share in common?

1. They use a jump-to-solution approach, quickly moving from an identified problem to a request for solution.

2. Root causes for the problem are not identified before agreeing on a solution.

3. And, as evidenced in the second scenario, measurement of results is neither planned for nor completed.

WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE?

Our message: utilize a performance consulting process and partner with clients to

translate business strategy into talent requirements;

identify on-the-job performance gaps, both current and future, that impact business results;

determine root causes for gaps in business and performance results—and form strategic plans and the solutions required to address those causes;

form a measurement strategy on the front end of solution implementation;

implement solutions that yield measurable and sustainable results; and

measure the results, determining with management any future actions that are required.

The need to align tactics, such as HR and learning solutions, to the strategic business requirements of organizations is not new. The books and messaging that headline the need to be strategic are ubiquitous. Unfortunately, too many people who work in the HR, L&D, and OD fields continue to perform more tactically (their focus is on solution design and implementation) than strategically (where the focus is on achieving business results). A robust amount of research supports this statement. In the interest of brevity, we will cite just one of these studies. Lawler and Boudreau are authors of a longitudinal study of the HR strategic partner role. They began their research in 1995 and have continued their research to the present day. Their conclusion? Only modest change has occurred since 1995. There is no question that the business environment has changed dramatically in the last 20 years, but the HR function in most organizations does not look very different from 10–15 years ago.… On the other hand there is widespread agreement concerning how HR needs to change: it needs to be more strategic and more of a business partner (Lawler & Boudreau, 2012, p. 152).

This book is written as a call-to-arms to you and others who work to enhance human performance and contribute to business results. The approach of focusing on the solutions to implement, rather than starting with the required business results, is no longer an option. We can—and must—work differently. With numerous tools and how-to techniques, this book provides a proven process for working strategically and for partnering with managers to achieve and