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Case Studies
Redesign
of a manufacturing division
Redesign of a bank division
Resolving
conflicting objectives in an IS group
Designing a consulting division
New product introduction redesign
Implementing a new performance management
system
Managing the development needs of 1000 consultants
Rollout of proprietary training
A review of an existing rewards and motivation
system
Case Studies | Rollout of proprietary training
The client in this example was a large consulting group, a division of a multinational outsourcing, consulting and systems integration firm. The group was experiencing strong sales in a volatile labour market, and was growing rapidly by both acquisition and recruitment.
Like all consulting enterprises, the success of this group depended strongly on good relationships with clients, between consultants and with other parts of the parent organisation. With the large influx of staff it was felt that there was a danger that the style of working that formed the basis of these relationships would be diluted or lost. Some way was needed to reinforce the organisation's culture and values, and to underline the importance of continuously working to improve performance.
After some research a suite of proprietary training was identified as suitable. It was focussed on leadership and teamworking, and was delivered in a way that could be used to reinforce the organisation's own values statement. It could be delivered in-house, by the client's own staff, and had modules covering a range of suitable topics such as feedback, recognition and coaching. I was asked to lead the rollout.
The first step was to review and agree the objectives of the training programme with the executive, and select modules for the first wave of training. They decided to be the pilot group themselves, which sent a powerful message to the rest of the organisation. Next, suitable consultants were identified and trained as trainers, and the logistics of venues, equipment, session timings and trainees organised. Finally, mechanisms were established to measure the effectiveness of the training.
The rollout had a hesitant start as several other initiatives were competing for attention and resources, but soon built up momentum. Using email, regular updates on progress and discussion of learning points maintained team spirit among the trainers, who were spread across the UK. By the time the rollout was put 'on hold' for a productivity drive, several hundred people had attended at least one module.
The success of the rollout was demonstrated most directly by the very positive feedback that was received about the organisation, delivery and content of the sessions. In the longer term, practice heads commented that real changes of behaviour had showed up in project and annual appraisals.
The learning point, however, was that business priorities can change very quickly. When the training programme was instigated the main focus of the management team was on staff development. By the time the rollout had reached full speed a few months later, productivity had become the greatest priority and training budgets were considerably tighter.
