Effective people and productivity management

Peter Scott

Peter Scott Consulting

Effective people and productivity management

• Measuring the financial value of human capital

• Making best use of your people to increase profitability

• Partners and profitability

Measuring the financial value of human capital

Is your business leaking money like a sieve?

Leaking like a sieve?

because you do not have the

right…..

….leadership and influencing skills to get the best out of your

people?

Is this you?Is this you?

….people environment to make your business a real success?

Are we all going in the same direction?

….mechanisms to prevent the attrition of high quality

performers?

This will happen to your talent unless…

This will happen to your talent unless…

TALENT€

….systems to manage relationship conflict?

“Heavyweight gorilla”

“You can’t manage me.

I’m a big biller!”

….systems to manage the people risks in your business?

Law Firm Risks

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IT

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Financial

Asset

Reputational

Management

Examples of People Risks• Advice/client care/client matters

• Client relationships

• Loss of teams/partners

• Real cost of staff turnover/recruitment

• Regulatory regimes–Equal opportunities–Age and Sex discrimination & harassment–Disability–Racial equality–Dismissals–Maternity–Working time regulations–Pensions Management

….culture to support high performance levels?

Values

Skills & Behaviours

Performance Metrics – Qual/Quant

Performance Review

Closing the Performance Gap

Learning & Development Strategy

Building a performance culture

What is the real cost of replacing people?

The real cost of replacing people

• Disruption

• Recruitment fees

• Training of new recruits

• Effect on morale of people leaving

• Loss of relationships / clients

How to retain and get the best out of your people?

Help them maximise their full potential –

This requires investment in your people

Investment in your people?

For example

Who has a ‘New Partner Programme’ designed

- to bring people through to partnership?

- and which continues throughout partnership?

Investment in your people requires?

- Leadership and vision

- Values

- Training

- Mentoring

- Coaching

- Empowering

- Supporting

Are you investing sufficient in your people to realise their

financial value to your business?

Building profitability through people management

• Stop leaking money like a sieve!

• Building people performance

• Make best use of your people resource

To do this you will need a strategy

“Strategy is a realistic plan or course of

action to gain competitive advantage which

has clear and achievable objectives and

uses available resources”

Your greatest resource?

Your people

Values

Skills & Behaviours

Performance Metrics – Qual/Quant

Performance Review

Closing the Performance Gap

Learning & Development Strategy

Building people performance

What does it take to succeed at your firm?

• What do you value?

• Do you invest in what you value?

• Do you reward what you value?

leverage delegation

An integrated strategy to best use your people resources

Delegation is key to profitability

• Be a better boss by doing less work!

• Match the level of work to the appropriate level of expertise / cost

• Sell at the right price!

= improved margin

Leverage - you need to be aiming for this

Equity partners

Other fee earners

Not this

Equity partners

Other fee earners

Leverage will differ from firm to firm

Will depend on:

• A firm’s work type / client type mix

• How a firm ‘adds value’ to its clients

You will add value if…

• You provide clients with what they want – and more

• At prices they perceive to be value for money; and

• You do this better than the competition

High Value – Added Services

• Focus on specific client types/work types• Seek leadership in a few, cohesive segments• Nurture wisdom/experience within the firm

High value- added services – strategic impact on client – generally wisdom/experience driven

Low Value – Added Services

• Value enhanced by–Driving down cost – ensure lowest cost–Investing in standardising processes–Facilitating implementation of solutions

Low value –added firms will compete on processes and price – technology driven services with minimum professional input

Low Value – Added Services

• To be successful firms need to

–constantly squeeze out more value for same cost

–Ensure financial strength to stay the course–Avoid creating the perception of reduced “quality”

But greater leverage requires more risk management

• Supervision

• Training

• Case management systems

• ‘Knowledge’ on part of management

And leverage and delegation involve teamworking

Why are teams important?

Together

Each

Achieves

More

Teams provide…

Support

Ability to delegate

Continuity of service delivery

Sense of purpose

Accountability / peer pressure

Esprit de corps

Are all your people ‘team players’?

How not to be a team player?

‘we have no room for those who put their personal agenda ahead of the interests of the clients or the office’

David Maister’s ‘Predictive package’

“Do own thing”

“That’s a great idea… …for the rest of you”

But people resources are scarce

• Cannot be all things to all men

• Need to build focus into your business

• Focus on

- work types

- client types

in order to gain competitive advantage

Balancing your profit and your partner numbers

How many equity partners should you have to maximise

profit?

Every firm is different – but factors to be

considered may include:

• Your work type / client type mix

• How a firm best adds value

• Ability to supervise and manage

• Culture of firm / financial ambitions

Your partners?

• Are you getting the best out of your partners?

• Who does NOT have an underperforming partner?

How much is partner underperformance costing you?

• Direct financial loss?

• Loss of good partners and staff?

• Loss of morale?

• Loss of relationships / clients?

What are you now going to do to stop your firm leaking money like a sieve?