Introduction to Performance Consulting

In the last couple of years, performance improvement has become a key focus area for organizations across the world. To maintain a competitive advantage and increase their company’s market share, business leaders are increasingly investing in performance consulting. But, what exactly is performance consulting? And why is it so important?

What is performance consulting?

Performance consulting is a process that produces business results by improving the performance of people in an organization. Performance consulting is results-focused and concentrates on the gaps that exist between business and performance results. The aim of a performance consulting process is to study and explain the “how” and the “what” that organization wants to accomplish, to ultimately enhance the organizations overall performance.

Why is performance consulting important?

Performance consulting is important because it helps organizations achieve their business goals. It is a systematic, performance-oriented approach that not only focuses on implementing solutions but also on achieving sustained results. It helps optimize performance in the workplace, thereby supporting company business goals.

Who are performance consultants?

Performance consultants are enablers who specialize in enhancing employees’ performance. They are experts in business, human performance technology, partnering and consulting, who collaborate with organizations to diagnose performance problems and recommend solutions.

The main role of a performance consultant is to identify and address the performance needs of employees, but performance consultants are also:

• Agents of Change
• Responsible for establishing and maintaining healthy partnerships with leaders of the organization
• Recorders of training results and non-training actions, to gauge any change in performance and cost benefits
• Consultants who use assessments to study performance gaps and the reasons that cause these gaps

Can performance consulting itself be measured?

Yes! You can measure the results from performance consulting initiatives using the following levels of evaluation (ref: Jack and Patti Phillips — ROI methodology):

• Level 1: Have employees responded favorably to the new initiatives?
• Level 2: Has the capability of employees and the organization enhanced since the initiatives were implemented?
• Level 3: Has the employees’ performance improved?
• Level 4: Has there been a positive impact to the business results that were focused on?
• Level 5: What is the return-on-investment of this performance consulting initiative?

Summary

Performance consulting initiatives benefit organizations in multiple ways — from a reduction in the cost of training (by eliminating unnecessary training) to better harmony between corporate learning and the business strategy.…….to better harmony between corporate learning and the business strategy. A good performance consultant wins when the organization they are consulting wins.

If you are interested in learning more, Infopro Learning breaks learning performance consulting into three main categories; Business and Performance Gap Analysis, Learning Strategy, and Learning Effectiveness Evaluation.