Case Study: Major Canadian Bank
Business Pain
A major Canadian bank was concerned about their performance and learning organization for their firm. The client was concerned that their current reporting done primarily on learning initiatives tended to be very data-intensive. The information was all stored in large excel spreadsheets that were difficult to read and interpret. In addition, they felt that the reporting did not do a good job of showing the impact of learning on performance upon completion.
Business Request
The VP of the performance and learning for the firm asked EP to interview team members within all parts of the organization. From these interviews, EP hoped to identify and gather data on the core problem and perceived areas of improvement.
Project Response
EP responded by putting together a plan for an Organizational Alignment. Essentially to interview several team members from all sections of the organization, analyze the data and present recommendations back to the client.
Key Findings
The team found that there were four main problems that needed to be solved. Requesting reports from the training team had been made into an arduous process that prohibited team members in the field from getting the necessary information. In addition, existing data-intensive reports were formatted incorrectly, so there was no executive summary for employees to learn from. The third problem was that actual content being pulled into existing reports was often incorrect or formatted incorrectly. And finally, current employees felt that the actual design of the learning programs was incomplete, focusing more on theoretical information than actual knowledge needed in day-to-day business.
Recommendations:
- Designed sample reports that could be leveraged by all business lines.
- Included two separate levels of data on all reports so that they were easier to read.
- Held working sessions with the business lines to obtain a buy-in.
- Reviewed existing business lines and the way requests were managed from one section of the firm to another.
- Provided a Performance Consulting model for the entire business.
Results
Direct results:
- Employees reported that there was no longer a problem retrieving information from other sections of the firm.
- Employees reported that reports were now easier to read.
- New employees reported that they were adequately prepared for the job with the new training.
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Interview: “The Right Atmosphere” in The Suit, with Dr. Paul Elliott. Read Now
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UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
April 21, 2012 – Dr. Elliott, Dr. Folsom and Joe Harless will be presenting, “An Ounce of Analysis–The Legacy of Joe Harless” at the International ISPI conference in Toronto Canada. Joe Harless’s seminal work– An Ounce of Analysis –has shaped the thinking of performance improvement over much of ISPI’s history. This session will review the underlying premises of performance analysis, the value of an accomplishment-based approach, the robust nature of the data that are captured, and the impact when the analysis results serve as the basis for designing high-performance work systems.
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Nancy Q. Smith will be moderating the panel presentation, Developing Supply Chain Talent at the 97th Annual Institute for Supply Management International Supply Management Conference on May 7, 2012, 3:00 – 4:15 p.m. in Baltimore, MD.
AVAILABLE WEBCASTS
- Performance Consulting Tips: Ask Powerful Questions to Achieve Results presented on October 25, 2011 by Nancy Q. Smith and Monica Drakes
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