Improving performance

Shifting from training to performance development

It’s all very well knowing that you need to develop partners, fee-earners and support staff. Jo Larbie discusses the essential elements of a successful performance development programme and the common problems to avoid.

Times are changing and transformations are occurring within the profession of human resource development (HRD). Trainers have concentrated on enhancing the skills and knowledge of employees, managers and others with whom they work. The primary vehicle for achieving this output was the design and delivery of training programmes. The trend labelled ‘shift from providing training to improving performance’ means that we are moving away from providing skills or knowledge and towards focus on performance improvement. But just what does this mean in practice?

What do we mean by performance development?

Performance development (PD) has been defined as “the science of improving human performance in the workplace through analysis and the design, selection and implementation of appropriate interventions.”

Performance needs are the determined through the job requirements describing what people must do if the business objectives are to be achieved. Performance needs clarify what people must actually do to achieve desired results. On the other hand, learning needs define the skills or knowledge that people must have in order to perform successfully. Work environment needs identify the systems and processes that surround performers in their work environment. In essence, learning and work environment needs are enablers of performance – the actions required to improve performance are derived from these two sets of needs.

Clearly, the focus on performance is not new. What is new are two elements that are receiving greater emphasis due to the needs of business. First, the need for partnership with management. Training functions have traditionally operated more in parallel to management than in partnership with them. In today’s fast changing environment this cannot continue. Second, linkage to business needs. The identification of performance development needs should begin with the present and future needs, business objectives and goals of the firm at the forefront. Once the business goals are defined, a PD consultant works with key partners to answer the question, “What must people do more, better, or differently if this business goal is to be achieved?” In this way, the performance requirements that are defined and addressed are certain to be linked to the business and operational goals. The second benefit is that by focusing on business needs, you begin to adopt a more strategic and proactive manner, rather than reactive mode. This is because entering at the business-driven needs level reduces the probability that solutions regarding how to improve performance have already been decided. The situation is solution-free until a realistic assessment has been made.

Imagine a group or department has decided that it is going to move into a new market, for example. Where are its people going to get knowledge of that market from? What are the new legal knowledge and skills they will need? By approaching it in this way, PD becomes integral to the success of the team and the business. This is a performance focus approach in action and illustrates the critical need for HRD consultants to work closely with key partners.

In designing a PD programme, therefore, you need to start by bringing performance improvement back to the strategic goals of the business. It is still the case that many firms think of ‘training’ from a regulatory point of view – what they have to do, rather than what they need to do for the development of their business as a whole. PD should be planned and structured.

Even in a small firm, you need to have a committee where people come together regularly to discuss common and specialist needs. Otherwise you could be organising what is potentially a very good course, but one that is not actually relevant to where the business is going. Beware, however, of solely focusing PD activity on qualified staff. You need to take a longer-term view and ensure that performance and management development covers all employees.

There should always be somebody within each department who takes ownership and responsibility for getting involved in both performance improvement needs analysis and the implementation of PD programmes. You need someone on the ground with technical know-how, such as a professional support lawyer (PSL) who has a working knowledge of the individuals in that department and who can act as a channel for ideas so people get involved and committed.

Common problems

There are many common problems that crop up when designing PD programmes, such as those associated with using internal lawyers to present performance improvement sessions. For instance, they may know their subject, but be poor communicators, or they may be in such demand in terms of their client work that they cancel, so that internal PD ends up with a poor image. There is also the quality issue – you might save money by using an internal presenter, but the audience might not receive any fresh ideas. This is not to say that using external presenters is entirely problem free. If PD managers have not clearly thought out what they want, presenters can be poorly briefed, leading to an image problem of ‘irrelevant’ courses. The more you can get partners and other fee-earners involved, therefore, in terms of telling you what they need, the more relevant and focused their learning is going to be.

There are also senior practitioners who have an attitude of ’there’s nothing you can teach me’. Ask yourself, would you go to see a go doctor who has not updated their knowledge and skills since leaving medical school? So, how do you meet their PD needs? Think about one-to-one coaching that will enable them to specifically tackle the things which they need to know, whether it’s how to manage conflict or personal organisational skills. If you have the resources, specialist ‘clinics’ for senior practitioners provide exceptionally good value and raise the profile of those who participate. Get a prominent specialist in their field to present and chair the ‘masterclass’.

Another method that works well is to have somebody come in and work with your senior people, either in a small group or one-to-one setting. Again, this depends on your resources, but as long as it’s what senior practitioners want, it’s worthwhile. Smaller firms should be asking themselves if there are other local firms which might be interested in joint programmes with them, thereby sharing the cost.

Essential elements

PD must be competence-driven, so there will be core knowledge and skills appropriate to staff at different levels. What do you expect a one-year-qualified lawyer to be able to do? A modular approach works well. It provides a foundation on which you can build knowledge and skills. It also has the advantages of a rolling programme – you can accommodate new joiners and it also helps with recruitment and retention, which in today’s legal market is a real issue.

Investing in people is not always about money. Establishing individual career development plans for everyone in the firm might sound idealistic, but it can make a real difference to morale and motivation within a firm if you actually invest time once a year sitting down with everybody. Link it to the performance review, management system and your business goals. Even the most cynical practitioner welcomes the opportunity to talk about their development needs. It is also essential to follow up such initiatives every six months.

Do not forget to benchmark outside of the legal profession – not just to see what potential competitors are doing, but because there is also a lot of best practice that can be incorporated into law firms. Our tendency as a profession is to have a real block on looking outside the law.

The staff-wide survey mentioned in Ray Franks’ article (Managing Partner, September 2000) could also be of benefit in law firms. The responses of partners and staff would provide a wealth of information on their performance and management development needs. This data plus the individual and firm business driven PD needs would enable the firm to produce a more relevant and effective programme that address the behaviours that impacts on firms’ productivity and profitability.

Once you have a strong quality programme, you might want to think about promoting it to clients, either by inviting them to attend or to contribute directly. As I said at the beginning, lawyers need to be more client-focused – and the more they can find out about their clients’ business, the better.

In order to structure and manage career development within your firm, you have to recognise that learning happens in many different ways. Given that PD can often be viewed as an overhead, you also have to look at what types of approaches and methods suit your time and work constraints.

Because the same approach is not going to work for everybody, you need a degree of flexibility. Coaching, mentoring, masterclass, group courses, there are many forms available. Whatever you do, your business objectives and goals should always drive whatever you do.

Jo Larbie is a solicitor and director of ValuePlus specialists in performance and management development services for professional services firms. Jo can be contacted on 0115 9623450 or jo.larbie@valueplusconsultants.co.uk.