PerformanceMATTERS

Solutions That PerformTmV O L 3 | I S S U E T H R E E | 2 0 0 9

RETURN ON INVESTMENT:

The Missing Link in Sustainment?

ARE YOU PREPARED FOR DAY 2?

What Happens after the “Go-Live” Date?

FROM DR. DEUTSCH

ROI & Sustainment: The True Measure

of Success

NURTURE AND GROW YOUR

INVESTMENT FOR LASTING

RESULTS

Achieving Sustainment

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

PErfOrmancEMATTERS

Sustainment and ROI: The True Measure of Success

There’s no question that roll-outs and go-lives are

exciting times that get the old adrenaline pumping. But these “opening nights” don’t mean much if they don’t pay off in the long run. Sustaining a project and ensuring the ROI that keeps everyone happy are what it’s really all about. And that’s what this issue of Performance Matters is devoted to.

In their lead article, Mal Poulin and Tom Sterling ask what needs to happen after “opening night.” They describe in compelling detail

the five steps to successful sustainment: Evaluation-based improvement planning; management empowerment; process optimization; employee empowerment; and continued IT involvement.

Jack Sexton addresses the need for an ROI approach in securing funding sustainment for training projects—and tells how to make it happen. Rick Contel also considers ROI in his article about RWD’s Integrated Job Performance Model, which helps clients maximize their training dollars.

Lastly, Mike Brown provides a fascinating overview of how RWD’s efforts in process improvement help hospitals achieve continuous

improvement—in everything from patient satisfaction to ROI.

Even as the economy seems to be stabilizing, companies are not going to go back to investing in training purely for training’s sake. These enterprises are not going to carry projects along that don’t pull their own weight. Senior management rightly expects projects that sustain themselves and produce good ROI. And few organizations are better positioned to help them achieve these goals than RWD.

A MESSAgE FROM Dr. Robert W. Deutsch

V O L 3 | I S S U E T H R E E | 2 0 0 9

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��7 ROI: The Missing Link in Sustainment? A successful strategy takes care and nurturing for lasting returns.

10 Sustainable goal Setting Don’t give up! Your goals can be realistic and attainable!

11 Open the DOORS of Process Improvement A case study in sustaining lean in healthcare shows you the key.

14 Applause, please! RWD receives industry kudos.

14 New and Improved! RWD launches the Performance Matters eLearning site with new features.

14 You going? See what’s coming up in the conference schedule.

1 Message from Dr. Robert W. Deutsch Sustainment and ROI: The True Measure of Success.

2 Are You Prepared for Day 2? It’s all about what happens after Go Live!

5 Integrated Job Performance Model Making learning and training stick long after “school.”

5

Sue Varner | editor

Kayla Hartford | aSSociate editor

Corporate Marketing & Communications

For questions and additional information on the content of this newsletter contact Sue Varner at �.800.677.3688 or svarner@rwd.com.

Copyright ©2009 RWD Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Dr. robert W. Deutsch

chairman

More than ever before in my career I am being asked questions like, “Will it produce revenue? What value does it provide the company?” My favorite is, “How many leads do you think it will generate?” Since I know I’m going to have to demonstrate expected ROI, I’m usually prepared with stats and data to support my request with NO real knowledge of whether my program or campaign will truly produce a nickel… or any value whatsoever to my company. There is increasing demand to demonstrate ROI in almost all aspects of business these days. There are tools and techniques available to help analyze, calculate, and validate. I compare it to various methodologies used to improve operational performance… some techniques will get you immediate results but no sustainability or mechanism to continuously improve while other methodologies like the Toyota Production System that consider culture as part of the overall long-term success.

It is with this thought, ROI and long-term sustainability, that the authors featured in this issue write about from their experience. We’ve also offered some everyday advice on how to develop sustainable personal goals and if you’re like most people, you’ll appreciate it.

The holidays are around the corner. Enjoy! We will talk to you again next year!

��

These changes may come in the form of business

process improvements, system installations and upgrades, product innovations, or acquisitions. Often though momentum leading up to the implementation date wanes once the date passes and attention shifts to the next big event on a corporate strategy checklist. Ongoing demands in day-to-day business challenge organizations to maintain this momentum and the infrastructure necessary to support these newly implemented changes. With strong sustainment strategies that optimize investments, organizations can realize their return on that investment and business value. Success on Day Two and all the days that follow is enhanced by implementing sustainment strategies focusing on business, processes, people and technology.

Evaluate the current state of the initiative

The first step in enacting successful sustainment strategies is evaluating performance in relation to the business, processes, people and technology. Here are some questions to consider:

• Does the organization optimize and maintain business processes?

• Are employees provided with

Are You Prepared for Day 2?Organizations spend large amounts of time,

resources, and energy to reach an established

“go-live” date after a significant business or

technology change.

opportunities to continually learn and increase proficiency?

• Is the organization utilizing the technology to its fullest potential?

This evaluation can be done by using self-evaluation techniques and tools or by partnering with a consulting company experienced in evaluating organizations. Diversifying the methods used to analyze an organization’s performance is one key to successfully discovering the needs and gaps as well as successes. Some diversification methods include personally addressing and interviewing business stakeholders, surveying team members throughout the organization to validate the adoption of the initiative,

and integrating objective data regarding employee performance, proficiency, and compliance.

Once the information from these sources has been gathered, organizations can design a plan to make improvements that will continue to demonstrate return on investment for every implementation and business initiative. For example, a large consumer packaged goods company is implementing a global ERP system over three years. As part of its sustainment strategy, the company will evaluate how to help the organization continue to improve human performance with the ERP system and further integrate it into business processes. By discovering and analyzing where the organization needs to focus attention on learning and performance support, leadership will be able to immediately develop and deploy content supporting

employee performance and continue to realize value from the investment. By integrating the analysis of employee performance with information derived from production reports and business intelligence, the business owners can constantly take the pulse of their business units and ensure the success and value of their ERP rollouts.

Empower the business

A successful sustainment strategy starts with a clear vision of business success, which is why it is imperative to design and implement specific leadership and management interventions for the organization. These interventions are based on business and performance metrics that are critical to your business model that was envisioned at the start. Creating a shared clarity in purpose, consistency in methods, and predictability in results requires governance and rigor. Factors that lend themselves to the development of that governance and management are a deep expertise in human, group and organizational dynamics.

Evidence of success in implementing this strategy is represented in fast and effective implementation of projects/initiatives/strategies, alignment on issues to avoid delays

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WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE “gO-LIVE” DATE BY MAL POULIN AND TOM STERLINg

Success on Day Two,

and all the days that

follow, is enhanced

by implementing

sustainment

strategies focusing

on business,

processes, people

and technology.

and increased costs, concise definitions and expectations within the business and teams, clarity around business priorities, and relevant metrics established to evaluate business impact.

Executive management and stakeholders must establish a clear vision in order to enable the results listed above. Once “go live” has passed, it is more important than ever that those managing the business are empowered to do so with the most information possible. Helping managers manage their business using the power of the new systems, processes, or organization is a necessary component of a successful strategy.

Optimize the processes

When all employees understand the processes they perform in order to meet their business goals after an implementation, they are more likely to take ownership of the work.

Therefore, not only must business stakeholders identify and communicate these processes to their employees, they must also assign and publicize ownership. Employees who possess a sense of ownership of specific processes increase responsibility and accountability throughout the workforce.

In a manufacturing environment, specifically on the assembly line, process optimization and compliance are the keys to a profitable business. This is just as true in all aspects of the business. As the saying goes, “time is money.” In order for the processes a company employs to be analyzed and optimized, it is important that there is clear ownership and accountability. The success of the strategy rests with those process owners. They are the stakeholders and subject matter experts who make a difference.

As with the analysis of

employee performance, understanding the efficiency of the processes that run the business is essential to making the bold moves necessary to optimize overall business performance. Methodical and consistent activities can greatly reduce the time and effort to analyze business process efficiency. Just as the economy changes externally, so does the internal economy of a business. The criteria used to analyze and optimize business processes changes as well, therefore a strategy that supports constant, real-time analysis will be a winner.

Changes are a natural part of business and should be expected instead of a surprise. As the organization progresses and changes, processes will need improvement and modification to adjust to new technologies and investments. A crucial way to continuously improve business processes is establishing communities of practice. Depending on the nature of an employee’s daily activities, he or she is learning skills pertaining to processes or technologies at different rates and different times. Communities of practice provide an arena in which employees can collaborate and share their experience and what they have learned, which enables a powerful but

informal learning environment. As processes are updated through ongoing evaluation, the organization’s leaders have the potential to create changes to enhance business value and increase efficiency. As a result employee and business performance overall will improve. One way in which organizations seek to improve processes is by implementing a lean strategy.

In the case of St. Luke’s Hospital, the organization needed to have reliable, optimized processes. This includes eliminating waste and creating employee engagement. St. Luke’s Hospital implemented a lean strategy to optimize process and hospital operations. The optimization process included examining and streamlining activities to make a more efficient work environment, higher customer satisfaction, and better business overall.

Empower the people

Employee attrition is normal throughout the rollout and post “go-live” period. It is important that the organization is prepared to provide initial learning opportunities for new hires and ongoing learning and performance support for all. Relying solely on training events can be a dangerous proposition. The workforce may

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Just as the economy changes

externally, so does the internal

economy of a business. The criteria

used to analyze and optimize

business processes changes as well,

therefore a strategy that supports

constant, real-time analysis will

be a winner.

�

be considered prepared after training events; however, they will require more exposure and learning opportunities in order to be considered “experts.”

A strategy focusing on performance and ongoing learning is vital for people to be proficient in current roles and transition rapidly to new roles effectively. When employees need to “shift” to a new seat in the process due to staffing changes, it is crucial they are able to move quickly and still perform. Additionally, today companies need to prepare for economic and business changes internally and externally. Continually supporting learning on the job helps people understand the entire process in which they perform their individual tasks and improve overall proficiency.

For example, our company recently partnered with a large supplier of office products. By developing and deploying busi-ness simulations, new employ-ees were able to benefit from material already created. In the classroom, the instructor pre-sented demonstrations of pro-cedures and then participants could practice the correspond-ing processes in a simulated en-vironment. This “learn then do” approach significantly reduced the demand on the IT staff and also provided a very flexible ongoing support model. New employees could immediately access these same assets and existing employees had these simulations and job aids.

Good work is more than know-ing which buttons to push or transactions to execute within a business process. It is important for employees to be proficient with their tasks and transactions on day one of the “go live” but it is vital that people are able to continue to grow skills and be able to fill roles as the business and economy demands on Day Two and beyond.

Align with enabling technology

During the implementation of a significant software business application, the IT department typically owns the project, its successes and its failures. However, once the rollout to the business or operations group is complete, value and ownership is transferred to those in the business employing the application. The value from any initiative such as business software implementations or process optimizations belongs to the business itself. However, in most cases today, the IT organization enables that value to be recognized. The ongoing infrastructure and software ownership belongs to IT. Ensuring that there is a thriving, constructive relationship between the business and IT is one of the keys to the success of a strategy to sustain business value after investing in any major initiative.

The help desk and support team are crucial members of any organization. The processes that run these teams, regarding the new investment, need to be established and updated after a technology is implemented and rolled out. Relieving the IT support desk of calls and inquiries that start with the words “How do I” is vital. A significant part of a sound strategy to support employee learning and performance also enables the help desk. By establishing processes and practices to support employees in the business, we are reducing the dependence on the help desk and optimizing the related expenses. Empowering the help desk with methods and technologies to streamline their operations also raises the company bottom line. Using applications to provide visibility into actual usage of business applications allows the help desk personnel to be more

proactive instead of reactive in solving problems and expensive delays in productivity.

This visibility can be shared with the stakeholders in the business so that this constant view to performance, utilization, and proficiency can empower companies to take actions to improve performance, business value, and always raise that bottom line.

Summary

The business, processes, people and technology all need to work in concert following the “go live” date of a new implementation or strategic business initiative. The organization must address updating and changing processes, continued learning and further integration of technology. If these aspects fall to the wayside due to distraction or lack of attention, the value originally expected of the initial investments will

not be realized. A sustainment strategy is fundamental to ensuring that these aspects are addressed. All too often today, we hear the need to do more with less. With the best sustainment strategies, we can realize more but do less.

WHO IS MAL POULIN? mal Poulin

has been in corporate learning and

performance for over 29 years. currently,

as enterprise market Director for rWD

Technologies, mal’s focus continues to

be helping clients achieve the greatest

value from rWD performance solutions.

Just prior, mal spent 9 years in Business

Development in SaP education.

WHO IS TOM STERLINg? Tom has over

30 years of business management and

consulting experience. He joined rWD

Technologies 9 years ago to provide

organizational change management

and Sustainment Strategy solutions for

erP clients. His strong background in

business strategy, process improvement

and erP implementations has equipped

him to provide the long-term focus

needed to achieve business value from

technology implementations.

In order to gauge your ability to grow and sustain employee performance, here are some questions to ask:

• are people recognized for their agility within

the business?

• are people encouraged to reach beyond their

current responsibilities?

• are people compensated for increased

responsibilities and capabilities?

The sustainment strategy related to people in the

business is enabled by the positive answers

to these questions.

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This was the conclusion of a study done in �997 by

Ford & Weissbein and has been reinforced by numerous studies since. How do you sustain performance, how do you get Return on Investment (ROI) from your training expenditures if 90 percent of what you spent your time and money on doesn’t make it to the job to impact performance?

In difficult economic times, people in the training profes-sion lament about training bud-gets getting cut. However, as Jay Cross (author of Informal Learning) has suggested, maybe it’s because executives realize they don’t get business value from their formal train-ing dollar expenditures. This is why there is so much emphasis now in areas such as informal learning, social media, and collaboration. We learn how to really do our jobs on the job, so this is where our sustainment focus should be placed (if not our initial focus as well).

After all, business value is re-ally not about training. It’s not even about learning. It’s about performance. RWD has devel-oped a model that describes what every organization should consider if they are intent on improving human performance on the job and sustaining it. (See Figure 1.)

This model is built on the premise that performers have three places to look for the help they need to perform their jobs:

• Information they have retained in memory for recall

• Information that has been written down so they don’t have to remember it

• Information not written down but stored in the memories of others

Our traditional reliance on formal training, events that attempt to make information memory resident, to improve performance is misplaced. We just can’t remember enough of it long enough to make use of it. Real ROI comes from addressing each of the components in this model in a balanced way:

• Learning—Information that is retained in memory for re-call at the time of need can be called “learned.” Learning can occur formally in the class room or informally on the job.

• Performance Support—Information that has been written down so performers don’t have to remember it is called “performance support.” Typically these are elements that are dynamic or complex and better stored outside of memory for on-the-job look up.

• Collaboration—Information and knowledge that is not written down, but stored in the memories of others in the organization to be accessed through collaboration.

• Contextual Change Management—Preparation that ensures the performers understand why their performance is important and the support they will have.

• Facilitative Leadership—Support provided in the workplace by leadership and the organization.

When you design interventions

to improve the performance of your people and you want those performance improvements to last, consider the following:

• Learning (formal) • Events designed to ensure

learning (memory reten-tion) occurs

• Learning is measured • Remediation is provided

until measurements are satisfactory

• Recommended for informa-tion that has a long “shelf life”

• Performance Support • Guides to support proper

execution of job tasks, in-tended for use at the time of need

at least 90 percent of american industry’s

spending on training fails to result in transfer to

the job. Think about that for a moment.

Integrated Job Performance ModelMAKINg A REAL IMPACT

BY RICK CONTEL

Figure 1. Integrated job performance model

• Not designed to “teach” or for learning—however, learning can occur after repetitive use

• Performance rather than learning is measured

• Recommended for informa-tion that is too complex, too risky or too difficult to remember

• Collaboration • Informal events • Designed for information

exchange—however, learn-ing can occur based on the ability of the performer to retain the information

• Recommended for information that is dynamic

Sustaining and continuously improving performance and getting real return in on-the-job impact for every dollar spent are critical in every business. Thinking about the model described above will help you put your time and effort in the appropriate places to maximize your business benefit.

WHO IS RICK CONTEL? rick is the Director of Strategic Initiatives for rWD Technologies. over the last 20 years, he has been deeply involved in the field of learning and human performance improvement as a practitioner, thought leader and business builder. as Director of Strategic Initiatives, rick currently helps identify and bring new product and service offerings to market.

6

forget what you learned in school?Our traditional reliance on formal training—events that attempt to make information memory- resident—to improve performance is misplaced. We just can’t remember enough of it, long enough, to make use of it.

6

In the example of a real organization we’ll refer to in

this discussion as “Company A,” it wasn’t easy and not without its share of lessons learned. However, during challenging times it is possible to achieve funding sustainment with the use of a return on investment (ROI) strategy. In fact, the argument could be made that ROI is the “missing link” to successful L&D financial sustainment.

ROI has been missing from the sustainment strategies of corporate L&D organizations for several reasons. The operating values of many L&D

organizations have their roots in the academic world, where education has its own intrinsic value and minimal, if any, demand for short-term financial ROI. For Company A, this meant an annual L&D budget was submitted each year based on the training planned for the next year. Barring any major financial crisis within the organization, the budget would be approved after several rounds of give and take between corporate finance and L&D management. The training would then be scheduled and delivered, hopefully consuming the entire budget, as the finance group would

take back any unused funds. Consuming the entire budget was also important so that the following year’s funds would not be reduced by the remaining amount. For Company A, training performance metrics were focused on volume: the total number of employees trained and total number of training hours delivered. The L&D organization’s success was measured by the increased budget requested for the upcoming year to finance the additional staff needed to keep up with the increasing demand of new trainees and new training courses.

Then things changed. The “metrics” that had carried L&D organizations, and Company A through the �990s began to shift in the early 2000’s. Corporate expectations were moving from “training performance by volume” to the types of financial metrics applied to other areas of the organization. This can be traced

to the growing role that CFOs and other finance executives play in corporate planning, due to increasing competition, shrinking markets, rising costs for labor, raw materials, and energy. For Company A, this meant new reporting requirements would now be centered on the question: “What are we getting for the funding we’re providing and how does this help us build products faster, at lower cost and with higher quality?”

These were questions most traditional L&D organizations had not been asked in the past. In benchmarking several corporate L&D organizations faced with similar challenges, Company A determined that the ROI methodology offered the best strategy. A staff person was assigned to begin the task of adapting an ROI methodology for their specific business model. After receiving training in the ROI methodology, the analyst and management team developed an implementation plan to begin capturing data from L&D engagements to demonstrate the business financial impact to executive leadership.

Implementation began by communicating the process to the entire staff via awareness level training. This training described the ROI process, how it was going to be implemented and each person’s role in making the process a success. As part of their annual evaluation, management was given specific, quarterly ROI financial goals. By adding ROI goals to each manager’s annual evaluation, L&D executive leadership was telling everyone that ROI was important to the organization. Each manager’s ROI goals were, in turn, portioned out to the manager’s team leaders and staff based on their specific assignments.

Staff persons were actively sought out who had skills, such

How can a corporate learning and development

organization successfully transform from a

traditional training delivery structure, into a

performance consulting driven organization,

reporting return on investment equaling 45 percent

of annual operating budget?

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ROITHE MISSINg

LINK IN

SUSTAINMENT?BY JACK SExTON

Sustainment: To provide for by

furnishing means or funds. So, how does

return On Investment figure into a sustainment strategy?

8

as collecting and analyzing data, useful to moving the ROI process forward. These skill sets could be leveraged to assist the ROI analyst in increasing both the number and size of ROI studies that could be concurrently conducted. In some instances, the staff was able to identify additional ROI opportunities for analysis that might not have been captured had they not been included in the process.

So, what does all of this have to do with the concept of sustainment? Everything. The ROI documentation and communication of the financial impact of the services meant that the L&D organization would continue to “provide for” their corporate learning community (customers) “by furnishing means” (training and performance improvement engagements) as a result of the continued receipt of corporate “funding.” The L&D organization’s corporate funding success was improved by its ability to demonstrate the financial ROI of their engagements and services.

At Company A, the ROI documentation grew from a modest $200K at the outset of the ROI initiative in 2002 to over six million dollars in ROI by 2007. The six million dollar ROI in 2007 was significant as it equaled over �5 percent of the entire L&D organization’s budget for that year.

So, does this mean that your L&D organization is threatened with financial extinction if you don’t begin capturing ROI data on your project engagements tomorrow? A growing trend is for Chief Learning Officers (CLO’s), whom most L&D organizations report to, to now report to a Chief Financial Officer (CFO). If you’re not already doing so, you should give serious thought to identifying one or two engagements where an

ROI outcome could be applied. Even if you haven’t been asked to provide this type of data, you’ll have the benefit of learning how to successfully apply ROI to your organization, and you’ll have an ROI plan in place. However, if you don’t prepare and you are later asked to account for the ROI of an engagement, it may already be too late. You probably won’t have the luxury of an ROI “learning curve” to respond in the time needed. If that scenario hasn’t happened yet, there’s still time for you to act rather than react.

There are several elements that characterize a successful ROI implementation. These elements were used to grow Company A’s ROI from $200K to $6 million. They can work for you:

1. Plan for success

Establish an ROI strategy before the engagement begins. This allows you to set up an orderly process for defining and collecting the data you need to show improvement and the priority for the engagements you need to measure first. You should also be able to gather data showing the existing status of things before the engagement is initiated. You’ll need this data to compare to your “after the engagement” data. Too often, the request is made to measure an engagement’s impact half way through its implementation. By this time, it’s usually too late to capture the “before” data. Similar to weight loss testimonials, you already know no one is interested in an improvement if they can’t see what the person looked like before. The same principle applies to ROI.

2. Understand your audience

Before you initiate any ROI activities, make sure you know what’s important to the

people to whom you will be communicating your findings. Typically, senior executive management is the recipient of most ROI studies. Since these people impact budget funding, they are usually the people most interested in seeing financial results. If you don’t already know the business-related issue(s) an engagement is designed to resolve, you’ll need to communicate with one or several of these individuals to gain their insight. They may also be able to help define potential financial expectations from the engagement. By involving executive leadership in the ROI discussion, you’ve also improved the odds that they will “buy-in” to the final study findings. You should also understand that the final report format in the Company A example needed to be summarized on one page. If you couldn’t communicate your findings in one page, it wouldn’t get read.

3. Keep it simple

Avoid creating large, compli-cated studies that can quickly exceed the constraints of time, funding and staff resources. Studies like these typically generate more data than can be effectively analyzed and ex-plained to senior level manage-ment, especially within a one page report summary. Limit your ROI measurement efforts to one or two key business impacts of an engagement. Use

easy to understand calculations to explain your findings.

4. Leverage your resources

Collecting and organizing the before and after ROI data for an engagement, even when you’ve limited the scope, can be a daunting task. Like most of us, you probably have other assignments competing for your time. If you are the only person conducting the study, involving others in the process can prove to be invaluable. Individuals familiar with the work environ-ment you’re trying to document improvements for can often shorten the time it would take for you to learn how to obtain it. Make sure the data they’re collecting is accurate. Time spent training someone in data collection techniques over the course of an ROI study lays the groundwork for expanding the scope of as well as the number of future projects that can be conducted concurrently. In the case of Company A, over time, approximately 25 percent of the staff directly contributed to the ROI process. Their participa-tion in data collection, measure-ment, and the identification of additional ROI opportunities played a major role in the suc-cess of growing ROI from $200K to $6 million. To paraphrase an old saying; it really does “take a village” to raise an ROI effort.

5. Claim only what’s yours

This should be a logical conse-quence of planning for success

1. Plan for Success

Establish an rOI strategy before the engagement

begins. This allows you to set up an orderly

process for defining and collecting the data you

need to show improvement and the priority for the

engagements you need to measure first.

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and keeping it simple, but it’s important to mention here. In ROI terms, it’s called “isolating the effect.” Before you can claim any cost savings or improve-ments for the engagement, you want to ensure your engage-ment is the reason and not other, unrelated factors. This becomes more difficult as the scope of an ROI study increas-es. Sometimes, estimates of the final impact are the only way to document the improvements. When this is the case, the esti-mates published should come from credible sources, typically the recipients or customers of the training engagement and

How L & D Organizations measure alignment and Organizational Effectiveness

What measures do you collect routinely?

most

companies focus

primarily on utilization

measures (e.g., environments, hours

delivered, and utilization rates); but, surprisingly,

only 50 percent regularly measure course

utilization—a highly actionable and very important

measure in today’s economy.

the claims should be stated conservatively.

6. Deduct the costs

When calculating ROI savings, ensure that you’ve deducted all costs associated with imple-menting the improvement. For example, if you’re measuring the ROI of a blended learning solution that has both eLearn-ing and instructor-led delivery, you’ll need to deduct the cost of the instructor’s delivery time as well as any travel ex-penses. The cost of developing and delivering the eLearning, consumable materials costs, such as training manuals and

worksheets and the cost for each trainee’s time off the job also need to be deducted from the cost benefits derived from the engagement.

7. ROI isn’t everything

Although the focus of this article is ROI, there are other important improvement mea-surements to make. Make sure you’re also cap-turing and reporting any of Fitzpatrick’s levels �–� evalu-ation: (�. reaction/satisfaction, 2. learning, 3. application, �. impact) that may not have an ROI monetary value associated with the outcome. The impact

of these improvements can often be more important than the ROI. In the Company A example, there were times when the ROI

outcome was minor in com-parison to the level 3 learning application gain or level �, busi-ness impact improvements that were made. The significance of the level 3 and � outcomes was emphasized and the ROI was downplayed. In other cases there was no ROI, but the level 2 through � outcomes were significant enough to warrant reporting. Your goal should be to report as complete a picture of an engagement’s outcomes as possible, given the resources at hand.

Summary

If you’re having difficulty in securing funding, or at a loss for documentation of the business value of your L&D engagements, ROI can have significant, positive impact. Carefully and skillfully applied, it can provide proof to senior level management that an L&D organization is making a con-sistent, significant business and financial impact. If you plan for success, understand your audience, keep it simple, lever-age your resources, claim only what’s yours, deduct the costs and report all of the outcomes, you can demonstrate the return on the investment your orga-nization is making. Through repeated and consistent docu-mentation and communication of ROI, you’ll help your L&D organization achieve long-term sustainment at the corporate funding table.

WHO IS JACK SExTON? Jack Sexton is a Senior analyst for rWD Technologies, based in Troy, michigan. His focus is to provide performance measurement consulting services for rWD’s clients. at rWD, he has also served as an instructional designer, eLearning developer and manager for an automotive stamping training team. Prior to working for rWD, Jack was a Senior Project manager for Boeing commercial airplane in Seattle, Washington. Jack is a Bersin and associates certified consultant for enterprise Learning.

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If you find that the above often happens to you, you

don’t need to tell me that it’s frustrating and that it makes you want to not bother with doing whatever you set out to do. This could be because you don’t know where to start or because you have tried before and not found success. At the beginning of your journey, you may have a goal like “I want to get out of debt” or “I want to lose X pounds”. Well, if you are being squashed by $32,000 in debt or are looking to lose more than 5 pounds, finding a starting spot may be difficult. Now that your goals are there, you need to think about how you can go about achieving them.

You’ve got your goal, and you want to get out of debt. Making the goal manageable is your first step. We know that if we get discouraged, our goals seem larger than they truly are, and therefore giving up will be the easier option. Making your goal realistic will give you a taste of success, and allow you to think that you can, indeed accomplish your broader goal.

Let’s say that you’ve got $32,000 of debt, in the following form: $7,000 in credit card, $�5,000 in student loans, and the remaining $�0,000 on an auto loan. Your first pick

could be the credit card, due to the fact that it’s the lowest balance, but due to current circumstances, you can only contribute $500/month. Instead of saying you want to have your credit card paid off in �5 months, it would be easier for you to break up your goals in three month segments. For example, you say that you’d like to get your balance below $6,000 by December �5, 2009. This goal involves paying the $500 you have three times, and can be reached much easier than doing it for �5 months straight. Once the three months is up, check your situation and see if the goals have worked, or if you can contribute more money to paying down debt.

This is not only for your finances, but can also apply to other areas of your life. The next to be discussed is your health. A lot of people have a personal goal of losing weight. It does not matter if it’s �0 pounds or �00, a lot of people share this goal in common. This goal would also be best taken broken into little chunks, say you want to lose 3 pounds a month for 9 months (27 lbs) before upping that to five pounds in the next 3 months. There you have a seemingly simple plan to lose about �0 pounds in a year. As usual,

re-evaluating your goals in a reasonable amount of time is paramount.

Where you can really make some headway is by taking your goals: To save money, to lose weight or become healthier, and maybe to do something good for the environment. A perfect example of this is riding your bike to work (and this may not be feasible for everyone). Riding your bike to work will allow you to save money on gas, get a workout in while you were normally just sitting around, and can take cars off the road and its associated pollutants. Way to go! You have reached three goals with just one simple change!

Here are � easy ways to reach multiple goals:

1 Look for connections—Part of the problem is that many people see one problem and

think of one solution. What if you could solve multiple problems with the same solution. Riding your bike for errands would be good for the health of you, your bank account and the earth. Most problems are related, and can be solved with one simple solution—look for it.

2 Get out of your own way—Two is crucial. Don’t try and make big changes

right away. Start small, getting rid of bad habits or anything else that can hinder future goals. Once the “foundation” is in place, get started!

3 Get all your stuff in the same place—This is important because if you

can’t visualize what you’ve got, it will be difficult for you to visualize where you want to be. If you want to get out of debt, get all your bills, and put them in the same spot. Figure out the total monthly cost, then, find bills you can do without and cancel the service.

4 Get help—No, I don’t mean rehab. Talk to your friends, neighbors,

etc. See what goals they have. Maybe both of you are looking to ride your bike more, and work in the same area…Ride to/from work together, become better friends and enjoy working on your goals with a partner! WHO IS JEFF FRUHWIRTH? Jeff fruhwirth lives and works in Wyoming and is interested in all things that are truly sustainable. His blog talks about being sustainable in all facets of life: your finances, your health, and the health of the earth. He can be contacted at: info@sustainablelifeblog.com, or visit his blog at: www.sustainablelifeblog.com

Sustainable Goal Setting

SPEAKINg OF SUSTAINMENT…

BY JEFF FRUHWIRTH

Setting goals is probably the most important thing

you can do. Without a specific goal, you can easily

find yourself lost in the wind and scattered due to

your lack of a common goal or focus.

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The Keys to the Door

Obliterate waste

Develop an understanding

Observe the current state

Stimulate continuous improvement

Reconstruct the process

Most facilities have already done benchmarking, and

purchased newer and better technology solutions, however the gains were small to non-existent. Why? Because the core of the issue was not impacted. In order to improve, you must unlock the D.O.O.R.S. to improvement.

Develop an understanding

The first step toward increasing the efficiency of your hospital is to develop an understanding of what is actually happening every day in the areas where work is being performed. To do this, select a specific area and focus on the main repeatable tasks that the individuals are performing daily, not the 20% of variation. Of course there will be exceptions, but let’s first attack the norms. Meet with the affected area to introduce the objective, and give them an introduction to the 7 wastes. The understanding of the 7 wastes will help them more readily identify opportunities available to the team. (See Figure 1, next page.)

Do a quick sketch of the work area, noting equipment, patient, and materials locations. Observe what is occurring in the area, not what

you think should be, or what could be, but what the actual condition is during your observation. Go to the area where the work is being performed, and spend a day observing the processes as they are being done. You do not need to bring a stop watch, just your eyes, ears, and mind. Stay out of the way of the staff, and minimize interruptions to only those times where you need clarification or a vantage point.

Observe the current state

Once you understand the influences and basic tasks of the area, you can begin the process review. First verify the tasks being performed by the person doing the work, “the process expert,” include all aspects of it, including the walk and wait times. Once the steps are documented and agreed upon, you now have a standard flow for the process. Armed with this standard flow, you can begin to determine the lowest repeatable time for each of the tasks. The lowest repeatable time is simply the lowest time observed, that is repeated more than once in the measured cycle. Take your list of the steps and go back to the process and time each of them, take the

lowest repeatable time and use that as your time for the step. Complete this cycle on all steps, until all the process steps are timed.

Go back to your sketch of the area and trace the movement of staff, physicians, support staff, and patients within, through, and around the process. This will become helpful when going into the waste reduced state. This tool is commonly referred to as a spaghetti diagram.

Obliterate waste

After all of the steps have the associated times allocated to them, lay out the processes on a yamazumi board. This will allow the team to review each of the processes against the designated takt time in a visual fashion to aid in opportunity identification.

Label all identified waste in the process with the color red to aid in the team focus. Review the elements of the yamazumi board with the team to identify areas of opportunity using the 7 wastes as your guide. Remove as much of the 7 wastes from your steps as possible, not through technology or new equipment, but through those items that require no investment beyond coordination, staff buy-in, and hard work.

The types of items typically range from walking to a printer, to moving shelves while gathering supplies. The saving of seconds multiplied across functions and steps results in

large amounts of savings in not only increased efficiency and utilization, but also in staff satisfaction, as their efforts are now more focused on providing value, and less working around obstructions to good work flow. The process of small incremental change is similar to the power of compounded interest; it builds upon itself and becomes infinitely more valuable as it progresses through the steps of the process.

Reconstruct the process

Now the steps can be reas-sembled with the lowest repeat-able times to set the standard from which to base future improvements upon. The waste has been removed from the process steps by the team, and the work has been reallocated among the remaining team members. Standard work docu-ments should now be created to aid in team member training and management auditing func-tions. These documents should outline the time required to complete, as well as the correct sequence of the steps. The time to complete the steps should now be verified, and trialed in the new arrangement. This new arrangement of steps can now be placed on the yamazumi board and kept visible in the area to aid in the continuous improvement efforts that will need to be ongoing by the staff.

Stimulate continuous improvement

The initial improvement is

as hospitals move to reduce

cost and increase utilization and

efficiency of all areas in the facilities,

without impacting the safety or satisfaction

of patients, staff, or physicians, the question

is often—how can this be accomplished?

the DOORS of Process Improvement

BY MIKE BROWN

A CASE STUDY IN SUSTAININg LEAN IN HEALTHCARE

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Observe the current state

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Once you understand the influences and basic

tasks of the area, you can begin the process review. You can then

identify wastes and develop solutions.

One key to opening DOOrS? Identify and obliterate waste!

Figure 1. focus: 7 Wastes + 1to trial them, and communicating the results via data. Once every employee is focused on daily observation of each element of the process, the improvement potential is astronomical.

WHO IS MICHAEL BROWN? michael r. Brown joined rWD in 2000 and was named director of rWD’s Performance Solutions Practice in 2005. He brings 20 years of experience in the adoption, training and implementation of the Toyota management System. He helps clients in strategic planning and design of hospital operating systems to provide excellence in patient care. In addition, Brown provides executive coaching and mentoring in implementing Toyota management principles.

only the first step, next you need to develop a continuously improving workforce. In order to ensure that team members want to be actively engaged in improving the workplace, as management, you must first make sure they have the required information to do so. This means that the staff has to have an in depth understanding of not only the hospital’s goals, but how their specific areas contribute to those goals. For instance, if the hospital goal is to reduce costs by �0 million over the next year there are a few questions you can ask to determine to what extent you are allowing your staff to succeed in this endeavor. How much of the hospital goal will each specific area contribute to? Do all members understand the costs associated with the area? How are the targets communicated to each of the team members? At what frequency are they reviewed with the staff? In order to facilitate a continuous improvement mindset, the staff must be armed with the training and tools in order to effectively participate in the change process daily. Make the problem solving process simple, standard and formal. Track important metrics and trends at the department level, and in the affected area so the team can review not only the issue, but the impact they are making daily. Most importantly, have the management staff focus on the process of improvement, allowing others to bring forth ideas in an organized manner, having the strength

Defects/rework medication errors, wrong patients, wrong procedures, redraws, missing information

movement Searching for patients, information, supplies, charts, etc. Gathering tools, supplies, and handling

Waiting Waiting for bed assignments, patient information, testing, treatment, discharge

Inventory Pharmacy stock, lab supplies, specimens waiting for analysis, patients in beds

overproduction Testing ahead of time to fit lab schedule, treatments done to balance hospital staff

Transportation Searching for meds, charts, patients. Handling paperwork and gathering supplies.

Processing multiple bed moves, retesting, excessive paperwork, multiple testing

People not using people’s abilities to their fullest potential

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Platts Global Energy Awards (conference) December 3, 2009 new York , nY

IHI’s 21st National Forum (conference)

December 6-9, 2009 orlando, fL

every year, the national forum refuels the tanks of leaders of change, from executives to the front line. This year, it will be a once-in-a lifetime moment. While the nation debates about health care reform, those of us who are committed to health care improvement must regain focus on what matters most – providing safe, effective patient care at a reasonable cost. There has never

been a more crucial time for us to be together, share ideas, take stock, and begin making the changes the nation needs now.

National Guard Bureau Joint Information Technology Conference 2009 (conference)December 7-10, 2009 orlando, fLThe 9th annual national Guard Bureau Joint Information Technology conference is supported by the air national Guard and the army national Guard.

You going? We’ve got great learning experiences and practical advice on tap.

The Latest Approach to Learning Development and Collaboration For Your Employees (Webinar) December 9, 2009 Baltimore , mD

APPLAUSE, PLEASE! RWD Technologies Has Been

Recognized in the Magic Quadrant for Corporate Learning

Systems*

We are excited to announce that we will be launching our new and improved Performance matters eLearning site in January!

With so many off-the-shelf eLearning options available, it can be hard to determine if you are purchasing the value-added learning that you need.

Developing custom eLearning can often be necessary and exactly what you need, but in today’s economy, businesses need to find ways to stretch their learning and performance support dollars. off-the-shelf eLearning courses can provide that cost effective option while still providing top-notch training. Performance matters eLearning allows you to purchase multiple licenses for courses and register, track, and report on users’ progress. It also allows you to come to the site with your credit card and purchase courses as an individual or integrate them into another LmS.

Look for more information in the next issue of Performance matters.

Niche eLearning in our areas of expertise.

Great news! RWD Technologies has been

recognized in the Magic Quadrant for Corporate Learning Systems. You will notice we are listed as a Niche Player. There is a brief profile of our learning system as well as our strengths and cautions according to Gartner.

* Gartner, Inc. “magic Quadrant for corporate Learning Systems” by carol rozwell, September 10, 2009

ABOUT THE MAGIC QUADRANT. The magic

Quadrant is copyrighted 2009 by Gartner, Inc.

and is reused with permission. The magic

Quadrant is a graphical representation of a

marketplace at and for a specific time period.

It depicts Gartner’s analysis of how certain

vendors measure against criteria for that

marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner

does not endorse any vendor, product or

service depicted in the

magic Quadrant,

and does not advise

technology users

to select only those

vendors placed in the

“Leaders” quadrant. The

magic Quadrant is intended

solely as a research tool, and is

not meant to be a specific guide

to action. Gartner disclaims all

warranties, express or implied, with

respect to this research, including any

warranties of merchantability or fitness for a

particular purpose.

Please visit http://www.rwd.com/newsroom.aspx

for more information on our events.

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PErfOrmancEMATTERS

rWD Technologies5521 research Park Drive

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