Performance Assessment

What does “good” look like?

Performance Assessment is a set of information-gathering activities that result in defining and measuring individual and organizational performance. A comprehensive performance assessment:

• Defines the need, problem area, or opportunity for new or improved performance
• Determines or defines what “good” performance should/could be
• Defines the gap between current and desired performance
• Identifies supports needed and barriers to desired performance
• Identifies a solution or set of solutions for decision-makers to consider

We gather data through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and other methods. We also examine your organization’s systems and performance data to gain a comprehensive understanding of what’s happening. We are inclusive, finding ways to represent the voices of all key stakeholders.

We start with the end in mind (the measures of success) and work to find the best way to get there.

Learning and Talent Development Strategies

What should we be doing/not doing?

When an organization starts a new initiative or experiences a problem, part of the solution always involves learning and talent development. Your workforce needs to do different things or the same things in different ways. A sound strategy is based on your organization’s needs, and it answers these types of questions:

• What do learners need to be able to do?
• What knowledge and skills do people already have, and are they able to apply them as expected?
• What are the knowledge and skills that they don’t have that they need? What is the type and nature of the content they must learn? How will we know they are ready to perform?
• When and under what conditions will performance occur? How do these conditions impact what they need to know/do?
• What elements in the current learning/performance system are available to contribute to performance? Where are the gaps?
• How can we support and nurture the change?

Curriculum Architecture

How do we get people from “here” to “there”?

According to ATD’s State of the Industry Report (2019), the average organization spent $1299 per employee on learning. Does that spend yield results? Not always.

A performance-focused curriculum (or course) is not topic-focused. It is designed to provide the right knowledge and skills at the right time to support desired performance. A sound curriculum architecture is organized based on these types of questions:

• What are the performance outcomes for the curriculum?
• Who are the audiences and what are their needs and preferences? How are their needs similar/different?
• What organizational supports will help skills get traction in the organization?
• How will we determine the success of the curriculum?
• How much flexibility do we need in the curriculum?
• What learning experiences best match the needs we’ve identified? How will we provide sufficient practice and feedback to build mastery and fluency?
• How and when will learners demonstrate proficiency?
• What additional support will learners need?
• What are some practical considerations for the design/development/implementation?
• What future needs can we plan for today?
• How will we maintain the curriculum and foster continuous improvement in the assets?

Evaluation

Is it working?

“If it’s not being measured, it’s not being managed.”

A sound evaluation strategy gives you information to make decisions and take action with confidence. It allows you to preserve what’s working well and to change or adjust what can work better. We work with you to determine what you need to know, and then create a strategy. Important decisions include:

• Who uses the information from the evaluation? What do they do with it?
• What decisions do you need to make or actions you need to take?
• What information are you already gathering? Is it helpful? Are you using it?
• What’s missing?
• What results are easily quantifiable? What results are not easily quantifiable and what evidence is needed to make decisions?
• Are you hearing from everyone who should have a voice?
• Are you over- or under-sampling?
• Do you have the right mix of quantitative and qualitative data?
• Is there a way to capture what you need to know faster and easier?
• Are you taking full advantage of data from your organizational systems?
• Is the effort of the evaluation strategy proportional to the value of the solutions?
• Does your strategy meet the commonsense test?

Performance Coaching

Let’s talk about performance!

Sometimes you just need to talk with someone about performance or performance improvement and how different solutions may apply to your situation. We are here for you!

We have coached leaders through new initiatives as well as coached project teams through projects, providing targeted performance improvement content along with guidance and feedback. This is a great choice if you want to upskill your team!