Success Stories

Productivity Dynamics worked collaboratively with the client and other stakeholders to develop and implement a robust evaluation strategy that:

• Mapped critical course learning outcomes to desired business results
• Identified and made recommendations around organizational obstacles or enablers to skill transfer
• Assessed the bottom-line business impact of the leadership initiative

Evaluation findings played a crucial role in transforming the program from a mere educational event into a strategic action-planning tool for management. The evaluation of the early deployment of the program showed that only 34% of the participants had applied what they learned in the program. After implementation of recommendations for removing skill transfer barriers, the application rate for later deployments of the program increased to 93%.

Productivity Dynamics collaborated with the client on the development of a comprehensive measurement system consisting of three components:

• Formative evaluation – to assess and improve interventions during development
• Summative evaluation – to assess learning and job effectiveness, and the business impact of interventions
• Organizational health diagnosis – to assess the vitality of the learning organization in responding to customer needs, achieving strategic objectives, using – and improving on – operational processes, and operating cost-effectively

Assessment highlighted the contributions made by the organization and promoted client confidence in the learning organization’s ability to deliver. Additionally, the blueprint that resulted was used to institutionalize a performance measurement system that provided on-demand accountability for each milestone in development and implementation. The new measurement system changed the perception of the training function from an expense to be managed and reduced to a business partner that contributes to achievement of business objectives.

Productivity Dynamics worked with all stakeholders in this effort – executives, managers, engineers, sales, and service professionals – to identify the business challenges confronting the organization, the employee behaviors essential for achieving business success, and the key skills that fuel these behaviors. Skill profiles were prepared for key roles in the organization. From these results, we then developed:

• A multi-tiered learning strategy in support of the business strategy
• A three-year implementation plan that identified and addressed a range of contingencies (thereby reducing risk)

Planning included an organizational structure for the training function as well as budgets, practices, and infrastructure requirements. This plan was used by the client to transform the training function into a strategic partner and a key contributor to the achievement of profitable growth of the company.

Productivity Dynamics worked cross-functionally to engage 35 business leaders from nine business units in defining future-oriented and business-essential skills for key roles in their business units and in designing a set of employee learning and performance improvement solutions that would allow the business to achieve its goal. The result:

• A series of skill development roadmaps that provided detailed formal and experiential learning recommendations for key roles in the organization
• A roadmap for removing employee performance obstacles and ensuring field buy-in
• An evaluation framework to measure the effectiveness and business impact of investment made in employee development along with recommendations for continuous improvement of the learning offerings

Productivity Dynamics worked with the vendor and host organization to:

• Define key skills needed by instructors and develop and implement assessment tools to determine instructor skill strengths and development needs
• Audit course delivery and provide informed feedback on style, consistency, and effectiveness
• Analyze course materials and delivery strategy for delivery usability, learning effectiveness, and student on-the-job support for participants

Our recommendations and designs became the cornerstone of the client’s learning solution development and instructor re-training workshops. Detailed reports were developed for instructors, including a set of internal training options that addressed gaps uncovered in the instructor assessments. To guide re-development of materials, Productivity Dynamics created a set of instructional prototypes as well as a set of guidelines for restructuring the courses.

Through extensive analysis of business requirements, field requirements, and the learning preferences of front-line supervisors, Productivity Dynamics worked with HR and regional management to develop and implement a comprehensive orientation program for new supervisors. Specifically, we:

• Worked with regional and line management, and representatives of the target audience to identify critical skills required for new managers in the newly merged organization
• Devised an instructional strategy that married in-class experience to post-training self-development
• Enlisted buy-in and validation of proposed training from all levels in the organization
• Trained facilitators and learning advocates and rolled-out the program, ensuring plan to ensure a good fit to local field contingencies

Based on our analysis and design, training time was reduced by 25% from 10 to 7.5 days, and the program was adapted for corporate-wide implementation.

The evaluation results of the program showed that:

• 90% of supervisors participated in the program
• 94% of participants accomplished the learning objectives of the program
• 100% of supervisors applied aspects of what they learned in the program
• 96% of new managers participating in the program reported that application of program learning had helped them access compliance resources they needed as supervisors and had helped them overall to fulfill their responsibilities more effectively

Productivity Dynamics used analysis to infuse established training practices with the authenticity and relevance required for effectiveness. Specifically, we:

• Worked with management and previous students to identify critical gaps within the existing course
• Developed a set of skill practice situations based on extensive interviews of line managers talking about job challenges and the situations they were confronting daily
• Re-designed the course to include an action-planning component that would encourage horizontal and vertical collaboration to address the demands of the new workplace

Following a successful pilot, the course became the launch point for a larger organizational improvement initiative involving all levels of management.

Productivity Dynamics worked collaboratively with the client and other stakeholders to develop and implement a robust evaluation strategy that:

• Mapped critical learning outcomes to desired business results
• Identified key business metrics and developed strategies to measure impact and track results
• Operationalized a performance value chain that objectively linked learning results to measurable business outcomes
• Developed a set of formulas for assessing and comparing conventional costs with solution costs to arrive at true price/performance metrics

This evaluation design has been institutionalized by the client into a set of practice requirements for monitoring and ensuring training effectiveness.

Productivity Dynamics collaborated with the opinion leaders and subject matter experts in each practice to define business requirements and needed skills to meet the requirements. We also conducted a skill gap analysis and developed a set of learning and development roadmaps for 15 newly created practices. The result:

• Required skill sets for various levels of consultants worldwide are accessible through the Training and Development Website
• Learning and development roadmaps with valid local learning opportunities are accessible to consultants worldwide

Now implemented, this program has received overwhelming positive feedback from consultants, their managers, and business leaders.