Discussion: View Thread

Dear Colleagues,


Season's greetings and best wishes for a happy new year.


A request for assistance-I would welcome your recommendations for me to meet
a challenge I'm facing.


Please let me first share with you the nature of the work I am handling.


Part of the training we provide for our employees is done in-house and
another part is done outside. Our in-house training has mostly been
classroom based. When an employee is sent to attend a training course no
one makes sure that the employee actually needs to attend that course. When
he or she is in the classroom, no one knows if he or she is learning
anything of value to the organization. When he or she goes back to work no
one knows if his or her performance on the job will be improved as a result
of having attended the course. No one knows what is the return on
investment, if any.


We have training "coordinators" whose main job is to "find" training courses
(in-house and out) and then to "send" employees to attend those courses
(they do so in coordination with the supervisors of the concerned
employees). That's their primary job and primary competence: namely, to
"find" a training course and then to "send" employees to attend the course.


Now we realize that what we need is performance improvement consultants--not
training "coordinators."


Here are our objectives:
(1) to select 50 of our professional employees (e.g., engineers) who have NO
background in the area of training as such
(2) to develop those 50 employees to become performance improvement
consultants
(3) to gradually phase in a new process of performance improvement
consulting
(4) to gradually phase out the obsolete process of training coordination


My responsibility is to figure out how to achieve these objectives. I don't
have firsthand experience in transforming a training "coordination" function
into performance improvement consulting. I'm excited to figure out how to
do it and how to do it right.


By the way, the 50 professional employees will be nominated by mid February
'99.


I am hoping that you would share your experience to help me meet this
challenge. Any recommended plans of action with specific deliverables would
be very much appreciated.


Eagerly awaiting your reply.


Saleh

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Saleh A. al-Ghamdi
Corporate Learning Task Force
C/O Aramco Box 9062
Dhahran 31311 SAUDI ARABIA
phone: + 966 5 580 7348
email: ghamsa2n@hotmail.com
email: ghamsa2n@aramco.com.sa
home page: http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Thinktank/7952/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saleh,
This is a very exciting undertaking that you are embarking upon. I can
imagine many institutions around the world being ready to support you.
Careful use of a search engine such as Northern Light:
http://www.northernlight.com/power.html
will bring you the urls of firms that claim to have expertise in this field
and/or with offices/representatives/other projects in Saudi Arabia. I
recommend a search statement such as:
Saudi "performance improvement" consultants (training OR development)
Without the term "Saudi" you will find thousands of urls to examine (with
it about 60).
Cybercollegially,
Charlie Wankel
St. John's University--New York City
listmaster mg-ed-dv

Dear Saleh,

Your project sounds exciting and challenging and I have a few thoughts
"off the top of my head."

First of all, I would do some "teambuilding" with the performance
improvement consultants so they can support one another and put some
processes in place for them to have ongoing dialogue.

Then, I would use coaching models so they could be coached and, in turn,
coach employees. Also, I would want to "train" them in
facilitation/coaching skills.

Good luck in creating a wonderful learning environment!

Margie Summerscales, M. S.
Coaching for Successful Solutions
Salt Lake City, UT

"Ghamdi, Saleh A" wrote:

> Now we realize that what we need is performance improvement consultants--not
> training "coordinators."
>
> Here are our objectives:
> (1) to select 50 of our professional employees (e.g., engineers) who have NO
> background in the area of training as such
> (2) to develop those 50 employees to become performance improvement
> consultants
> (3) to gradually phase in a new process of performance improvement
> consulting
> (4) to gradually phase out the obsolete process of training coordination
>
> My responsibility is to figure out how to achieve these objectives. I don't
> have firsthand experience in transforming a training "coordination" function
> into performance improvement consulting. I'm excited to figure out how to
> do it and how to do it right.
>

Saleh,

You face an interesting and exciting challenge. From my experience I have found
that performance improvement has two sides to it: the technical side (knowing
the job, using specific skills, etc.) and the people side (motivation, working
together, corporate environment, etc). I was wondering if you could say more
about how or why your company (or whomever) came to the determination that "what
we need is performance improvement consultants". Your answer will help me know
better what it is you are after and what I might suggest you look into or how to
go about it.

Looking forward to your response.

David Miron
Miron & Associates

Saleh,
What you've described is a problem common to just about every training
professional who presumes that the only route to performance improvement is
along a training road. While it is true that to achieve improvement one has to
travel along at least one road, knowing which road is the key and here is where
many people find the source of their dilemma.

I would suggest that when considering what your 'consultants' should be doing
that they try to get as far away from looking only for training solutions as
they can. In my experience, if you want performance to improve you must first
understand the desired level of performance (and, obviously, where such
performance is to be demonstrated), and what the current level of performance is
when measured against the desired level. This isn't a difficult problem to
overcome because it is simply a matter of carrying out a functional analysis to
determine what skills and knowledge are required, on the job (and not, rpt not,
in the class room), in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the
workplace in which these skills and knowledge are to be applied. These may not
be the same right throughout the organisation therefore you should look at them
from the point of view of the organisation and not from a trainer's point of
view. A quick example of this is the skills and knowledge that are applied, on
the job, by an engineer as opposed to those applied by a technician. Both are
similar but one is applied with only minimum guidance while the other is applied
with a great degree of guidance.

Having identified the skills and knowledge that are needed (and please, please
don't just list the tasks or duties that the individuals are expected to
perform. To get the full effect you should go far wider and look at such things
as where and how they are to be applied, what contingency management skills are
needed and so on), you should identify the skills and knowledge possessed by the
person or people expected to fill (or who may even be currently filling) the
position or function you've just analysed. This gives you the gap between the
skills and knowledge they now possess (in order to achieve their individual and
organisational goals and objectives), and those that they should possess. This
then becomes your training plan and helps you identify (a) whether or not the
individual needs training, (b) what skills and knowledge he/she actually needs
training in, (c) what skills and knowledge he/she doesn't need training in, and
(d) which training program (and the type of training) would be most appropriate
to provide the required skills and knowledge. It also tells you who should be
trained, at what, to fill which function (or to be fully competent in a function
they are currently filling), and will provide you with the basis for measuring
whether or not they can actually apply the skills and knowledge on their return.
In short, it gives you the answer to all the questions you've posed.

This is a very brief overview of the new approach to competency-based training
and assessment and it allows trainers and educators to get away from the
traditional approach of having to take people and give them skills and knowledge
to do what the trainer or educator thinks they need to be able to do. It also
puts them in a position of being more concerned with managing the learning that
each person is achieving, whether through formal or informal learning or
training, on the job feedback and coaching, mentoring and guidance, or pure dumb
guesswork or trial and error.

I've got a spare copy of my book which I'll send you. It concentrates on the
assessment side of things but will give you a better idea of what I'm talking
about.

Regards

Phil Rutherford

Ghamdi, Saleh A wrote:
> Here are our objectives:
> (1) to select 50 of our professional employees (e.g., engineers) who have NO
> background in the area of training as such
> (2) to develop those 50 employees to become performance improvement
> consultants
> (3) to gradually phase in a new process of performance improvement
> consulting
> (4) to gradually phase out the obsolete process of training coordination
> My responsibility is to figure out how to achieve these objectives. I don't
> have firsthand experience in transforming a training "coordination" function
> into performance improvement consulting. I'm excited to figure out how to
> do it and how to do it right.
It strikes me that even before you get the "curriculum" (or package of
expert information about performance improvement so one can train on it,
etc.), you need some framework in which participants can learn together
and actually APPLY what they're learning so they really learn it. I
suggest then that you initially have some cohort arrangment where the 50
employees go through the training together, supporting each other along
the way and sharing their learning along the way and sharing. After all,
adults learn best when a) applying information (not just memorizing it
and taking tests on it) and b) sharing ongoing feedback around that
application. That's why graduate schools tend to have classmates go
through, e.g., an MBA program, together.

After years of management development experience, I think that Reginald
Revans Action Learning process is the most powerful, realistic and yet
easy-to-implement development framework that exists (other than life).
Basically, the process is 5-7 people who meet regularly, each has a
"project" (or major area to learn or problem to solve), each gets
individual time in the group to hear feedback, and each has to take some
action between meetings. Members evaluate their process at the end of
each meeting. The primary form of exchange in the group is questioning,
along with supportive challenges, etc.

I realize that Action Learning does not at all sound like the
traditional classroom training approach, but the classroom approach
tends to not work well when trying to help people develop new skills.

I suggest you read Action Learning literature by Ian McGill, Michael
Pedler or Kathryn Weinstein. Good luck! (You can also see the Leaders
Circle's model referenced below.)
>
> By the way, the 50 professional employees will be nominated by mid February
> '99.
>
> I am hoping that you would share your experience to help me meet this
> challenge. Any recommended plans of action with specific deliverables would
> be very much appreciated.
>
> Eagerly awaiting your reply.
>
> Saleh
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------------
> Saleh A. al-Ghamdi
> Corporate Learning Task Force
> C/O Aramco Box 9062
> Dhahran 31311 SAUDI ARABIA
> phone: + 966 5 580 7348
> email: ghamsa2n@hotmail.com
> email: ghamsa2n@aramco.com.sa
> home page: http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Thinktank/7952/
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------------

--

=================================================================
Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD (e-mail: mcnam007@tc.umn.edu)
- Leaders' Circles: networking, problem solving and support groups
that anyone can organize
(see http://www.mapnp.org/library/circles/ldrscrcl.htm )
- Free, Nonprofit Managers' Library at http://www.mapnp.org/library
- Free, on-line, 12-course management training program at
http://www.mapnp.org/library/mgmnt/mba_prog.htm

Saleh:

Please take this response as constructive feedback.

First, I am glad that someone figured out that your "training coordinators"
were successful at the wrong mission. However, your stated "objectives"
are a plan, not objectives; it appears to me that:
- your objectives are to improve the performance of your company
- your strategy is to do this through implementing an internal
performance improvement consulting group
- your plan is to (1) select 50 professionals with NO background in
training..., (2)..., etc.

Now, having said that, I question your plan. First, I think you may need
to better understand the kinds of issues your company faces with respect to
performance - do you have organizational issues, process issues, job
issues, systems issues, external (customer and supplier) relationship
issues, or a combination of these? Depending on the nature of the
problems, there's a different approach, and different skills/emphasis for
your "performance improvement consultants". In fact, you probably need a
diverse group of consultants - some who specialize in BPR, others who are
Organizational Development specialists, some Change Management people, some
Project Managers, and even some Trainers and training coordinators (so
don't let them all go - just focus them on the right task and use them when
appropriate).

Second, starting your consulting group with staff who have no experience at
performance consulting could be a mistake; while starting with trainers may
lead automatically to (sometimes innapropriate) training solutions, many of
your "50 professionals" may not cut it as performance consultants. Can't
you recruit experienced performance consultants?

Third, get someone on board who has done performance consulting and who has
gained senior management's trust; he/she should be involved from the start
in forming this consulting group, and should know how to do it. I don't
mean to be harshly critical and don't know much about your situtation -
just what you put in your post - but it sounds to me like the blind leading
the blind...

And finally, why 50 consultants? How big is your company? This seems like
an army... In general I would recommend starting smaller and growing as you
gain experience and a record of success.

Anyway, good luck. If I can be of more help, feel free to email me.

Richard S. Brooks, Ph.D. voice: (650) 725-7287
Director, Internal Consulting Services fax: (650) 725-7878
Stanford University
MSOB X143, MC 5460
Stanford, CA 94305-5460 email: Richard.Brooks@stanford.edu


>Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 10:00:22 +0300
>From: "Ghamdi, Saleh A" <ghamsa2n@aramco.com.sa>
>To: bpr-l@sepa.tudelft.nl
>Subject: Towards Performance Improvement Consulting
>Message-ID: <000e01be33c2$15a10a20$78040b0a@bc172347.aramco.com.sa>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>-------------------------Dear Colleagues,
>
>
>Season's greetings and best wishes for a happy new year.
>
>A request for assistance-I would welcome your recommendations for me to meet
>a challenge I'm facing.
>
>Please let me first share with you the nature of the work I am handling.
>
>Part of the training we provide for our employees is done in-house and
>another part is done outside. Our in-house training has mostly been
>classroom based. When an employee is sent to attend a training course no
>one makes sure that the employee actually needs to attend that course. When
>he or she is in the classroom, no one knows if he or she is learning
>anything of value to the organization. When he or she goes back to work no
>one knows if his or her performance on the job will be improved as a result
>of having attended the course. No one knows what is the return on
>investment, if any.
>
>We have training "coordinators" whose main job is to "find" training courses
>(in-house and out) and then to "send" employees to attend those courses
>(they do so in coordination with the supervisors of the concerned
>employees). That's their primary job and primary competence: namely, to
>"find" a training course and then to "send" employees to attend the course.
>
>Now we realize that what we need is performance improvement consultants-not
>training "coordinators."
>
>Here are our objectives:
>(1) to select 50 of our professional employees (e.g., engineers) who have NO
>background in the area of training as such
>(2) to develop those 50 employees to become performance improvement
>consultants
>(3) to gradually phase in a new process of performance improvement
>consulting
>(4) to gradually phase out the obsolete process of training coordination
>
>
>My responsibility is to figure out how to achieve these objectives. I don't
>have firsthand experience in transforming a training "coordination" function
>into performance improvement consulting. I'm excited to figure out how to
>do it and how to do it right.
>
>By the way, the 50 professional employees will be nominated by mid February
>'99.
>
>I am hoping that you would share your experience to help me meet this
>challenge. Any recommended plans of action with specific deliverables would
>be very much appreciated.
>
>Eagerly awaiting your reply.
>
>Saleh
>
>--------------------------------------------------------
>Saleh A. al-Ghamdi
>Corporate Learning Task Force
>C/O Aramco Box 9062
>Dhahran 31311 SAUDI ARABIA
>phone: + 966 5 580 7348
>email: ghamsa2n@hotmail.com
>email: ghamsa2n@aramco.com.sa
>home page: http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Thinktank/7952/
>--------------------------------------------------------


----------
Richard S. Brooks, Ph.D. voice: (650) 725-7287
Director, Internal Consulting Services fax: (650) 725-7878
Stanford University
MSOB X143, MC 5460
Stanford, CA 94305-5460 email: Richard.Brooks@stanford.edu