| ABOUT | LIBRARY | PROJECTS | COMMUNICATION |
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Our ServicesThe PRH Consulting practice is committed to helping our clients
leverage their know-how to enable employees to be more productive
and effective. Work today can be complex, involving a wide range of
tasks and people. Product and technology teams (and regulatory
agencies) are continuously creating (or requiring) new tools and
processes. New hires need to get "up to speed" quickly without
risking customer satisfaction or exposing the organization to the
risks of poor performance. Experienced people need to further their
careers, specialize, handle more difficult challenges...and even
transfer their capability to others. |
To Contact Us
20 Danada Square West, #102 |
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Business Intent:
Leveraging Know-How for Performance
Continue for more detail... Projects: A Defined Beginning and End All the systems above rely heavily on a clear, accurate, and agreed-to definition of the work performance itself. The first step in any project is an analysis of the current situation, opportunities/problems, and business goals and constraints. Solutions are then designed to address the specific immediate issues while also building toward future needs. We usually set up engagements as projects. This gives everyone the benefit of a defined beginning and end. Below is a diagram of an overall project process, though a project can consist of one or more stages. The model, similar to many design processes, is fairly self-explanatory.
At the beginning, a scope is defined. As the project goes forward, that scope serves as the guiding vision. If it is to be changed, it is done on purpose, not by default. The most important decision is figuring out what solution will be implemented. Figuring Out the "What"There are always more opportunities and ideas than there are resources to take advantage of them. Key to any engagement is determining what the business issues are, and what we should do about them. This process begins by collecting data, from evaluating current vs. desired performance to analyzing process steps and measures, and even including detailed task analysis. The solution needs to be based on solid business rationale, but it also needs to fit other factors and constraints, such as available resources, what has been tried before, organizational culture, and others. Figuring out what to do is only the beginning. Too often, people jump from deciding on the solution to beginning to build it, like deciding you want a two-story home and then going to the lumberyard to buy wood! The design process plays a critical role in figuring out and communicating specifically how the solution(s) will work so that problems are addressed upfront, rather than showing up as fires and "gotcha's" later. Like any other system engineering approach, we also believe in testing, roll-out, and communication so that the system(s), and the people using it, can get up and running (and tuned up if needed) effectively. Systems engineering and design are familiar to companies that manufacture complex products, such as computers or airplanes. But, human performance solutions require the same level of attention (though not as much resource) as human performance solutions are also complex and have a number of interrelated components. Our expertise is assessing, designing, building, and implementing effective human performance support systems. Training and Knowledge Management System DesignMany companies waste a lot of resource building and operating ineffective training and knowledge management systems. Many others waste more by leaving training and knowledge support to chance. Employees gain the capability to perform by learning. Either they learn before they are hired, they learn by experience (that is, by making mistakes the first time and avoiding them in the future), they work with a coach and "watch and learn," or they are formally trained in advance being expected to perform. Most of the time, it is a combination of all of the above. What is the best approach? It depends. Most new employees need to learn a lot. But, even experienced employees need to learn when the job changes, such as when new products are introduced, when processes or tools are changed, or even if the underlying skills for the job change. How much training is enough? It depends. What the employees must learn is a combination of information, knowledge, and skills. In total, they need to develop the capability to perform the job. Capability is relative. Some jobs can tolerate more variability in capability than others. Some jobs require less capability because of information or performance support tools. Some require a great deal of skill while others require expert knowledge. What is the best way to ensure your workforce has the capability it needs? It depends. Question: Training is pretty straightforward isn't it? What has to be designed? Answer: There are a number of related systems and processes that work together to deliver content to your audience groups. You need plan out how new content will be treated in each system (or even if new systems are needed). A list of the key systems is shown in the table below.
Question: Training and knowledge management (KMS) aren't the same thing, are they? Answer: Actually, they are very closely related, or at least they should be. KMS deals with the creation, codification, storage, distribution, and maintenance of "knowledge." But, knowledge sounds too academic and seems to focus on only information. KMS should include a broad range of things, including information, "know-how," intellectual property, ideas, and a host of other categories. A good label is "useful patterns of thinking, communicating, or acting." Training, defined broadly, is really just the intentional transfer of behaviors to a learner. Any effective strategy for implementing KMS must include how the knowledge is to be transferred to others. Any effective strategy for training must include provision for keeping the content current, addressing the needs of experienced employees, and make use of tools available in the workplace (for example, knowledge repositories). In short, training and KMS are so closely related that they should be addressed in the same solution design. The bottom line is that training and KMS designed and built by PRH Consulting will effectively build capability to perform, in the near term and downstream. Qualification and/or Certification System Design
When it comes right down to it, it isn't what you know but it isn't who you know either. It is what you can do that counts! Just having knowledge or skill is no guarantee an employee can perform. Performance means pulling together the right set of information, knowledge, and skills and applying them to the task at hand. In many jobs, performance has to happen in "real time" in challenging environments! Too often, companies really do not verify that employees have the necessary capability to perform. Instead, they make assumptions based on the training their people have completed or the length of time they have been on the job. That may not be enough. In jobs where poor performance can lead to serious problems, or in environments where rigorous process management is required, it is definitely not enough. Question: Doesn't qualification create a lot of extra work for the supervisor? Answer: Actually, a well-designed qualification system will help the supervisor and the employee. By defining the specific expectations, a qualification system reduces the amount of subjectivity in assigning work, creating development plans, and even addressing customer concerns about capability. It may mean that new hires require more supervisory (or coach) attention than normal, if the normal approach is to put people into a "sink or swim" environment. If the risks of sinking are too great, however, in most cases a qualification system will reduce "spin-up time" needed for new employees (or employees changing their role). PRH Consulting uses a structured design process to define both the qualification/certification system and the individual instruments (whether tests, performance observation checklists, etc.) used for verification. The diagram below indicates the key components of a performance-based qualification system. Notice that it can be easily integrated with a performance-based training system to seamlessly allow you to train and qualify your people.
Defining expectations, providing a means for development, and verifying capability. This is the only way to ensure your people have the capability to perform. It only counts if you can do the job! Performance Measurement and Tracking What gets measured gets done. The simple but true sentiment is behind everything from sales incentive programs to balanced scorecard initiatives. Too often though, companies don't really measure performance very well. As you can see from the list of common faults below, measurement is difficult and not often done well.
Ideally, performance measures would be part of the overall set of systems that ensure capability to perform. Training gets people ready for the job, qualification verifies that the people are able to do the work, knowledge management and support tools help while doing the job. If performance measures were based on the important parts of the performance (and the training and qualification also focused on those areas) performers would have the greatest likelihood of success...and so would your organization. Even if you can't have a fully integrated performance system, you can still design a set of measures that allows employees and managers to monitor the right performance and make the necessary adjustments. PRH Consulting can help you design an effective system of measures for a task, process, job, or system (which could be an organization). We can do this as a standalone project or as an add-on to a training or qualification design effort and leverage the data collected during the analysis phase. Content and Simulation Development Much of the above emphasizes the design of the systems that support performance. Designing the system is only one part of the answer, however. A large part of success is in the implementation, that is, actually building the content. For example, effective training has to have information that is clearly communicated, organized for the user, and accurate. It has to have skill-building exercises where needed. It needs to employ instructional processes that really work. It has to be constructed to work at the detailed level. Going even further, often solid, "straight-stick" training and infoware isn't enough. Sometimes you need to pull together all the elements (the task, the output, the knowledge and skills, and even the environmental "noise") of the real job performance. Simulations are an effective way to do this--they require the learner to recall what they have learned and use it in a situation that is similar to the job. Simulations can be used as part of the training process (as application exercises), as part of the qualification process (as a "test" to verify capability), and even as a way to try out new processes, procedures, or tools. They can be targeted at specific performance areas or can span large parts of the job. They can be conducted in groups or as individual exercises, with or without using computers. Designing simulations, like every other solution described, starts with an analysis of the job, which is followed by a design process to identify the key characteristics of the performance to be simulated. Once designed, development is much like any training development effort-it requires observation, interviews, and creativity in putting the information into an appropriate form for the learner/user. We can leverage our experience to build realistic simulations and salient content to build capability in your organization. Question: Do you provide "rapid prototyping" or other accelerated development approaches? Answer: We build content very quickly. But, we use upfront design of the content (along with strategic checkpoints for review) to ensure that we understand the requirements and expectations. We do have our own library of templates, formats, and tools that help us move fast. We also have the skills and experience to collect data rapidly and efficiently from your subject matter experts. On another level, if you have a large workforce, you may want your content to be developed and stored in an inventory so you can later share content between different audiences and/or deliverables (e.g., documents, web pages, courses, etc.) where appropriate. Or, you may need to be able to quickly and easily find content when things change and you need to make an update. Our solution would be to create a content inventory that makes sense for your organization's needs and use downstream. These inventories must be based on content, not audience or media, characteristics. We have experience doing this and we know that it will only work if you are able to invest the effort to design
If you can get these key enablers in place, you will have the potential to reduce the content development cycle time for the enterprise, benefits you will reap on every successive project! Because our core competency is leveraging know-how to improve performance, we can get involved in a wide range of projects. Some example are listed below.
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For more information...
Projects keep everyone focused on meeting objectives with fewer distractions.
Verifying Capability to Perform!!!
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