Case Studies

Case Study: An Electronics Distributor

The need:

A successful electronics manufacturer sold the company to one of their suppliers in Asia, moved manufacturing oversees and turned the California based company into a distributor. 3 years later, the 80 employee division was experiencing significant growth through mass marketing retailers and new product development. As such, the “new” company needed to fulfill its vision and ambitions by executing to higher standards in order to meet the new customer demands. this meant consistently creating higher expectations, setting highly demanding goals, and consistently achieving excellent results.

The company partnered with Employers Edge, Inc. an organizational development and performance management company that specializes in assessing, training, organizing, and coaching employees. After Senior Leaders and Managers were trained in the core leadership competencies necessary to fulfill the vision, and strategic planning was conducted to identify the mission, values, and strategic goals for the company, Employers Edge implemented the following Performance Management program process outlined below in the objectives, expectations and deliverables.

What is Performance Management?

Performance Management is a defined process for aligning organizational, team and individual goals, and for continually improving team and individual performance.

The mere mention of performance management (PM) elicits negative responses from all parties involved. supervisors dread giving negative feedback and dealing with disgruntled employees. Employees often feel attacked and unappreciated, and are concerned about whether or not they are being treated fairly. Given all the pain associated with this process, why do the vast majority of organizations continue to put their staffs through it? The answer is simple: Without performance management, there is little accountability for performing at acceptable levels. A well-executed Performance Management program can provide the tools to make that happen.

The Objectives:

Implement a Performance Management program in order to increase levels of accountability, and employee performance and engagement. By ensuring that everyone is clear about the company’s goals and that decisions are made based on those goals, managers can create a culture of accountability and optimize business results
Identify and implement a new performance appraisal process, forms, and performance management software system that tracks employee performance reviews and goal/project completion
Create job descriptions, job competencies, and metrics to evaluate departments and employees
Develop an improved “on-boarding” program so that employees are selected based on the needs of the understood job, developed criteria, and job expectations. this includes developing interview scripts and training managers how to select and train new employees
Provide on-going follow up accountability to the training and development provided earlier in the year
Develop the Executive team to think and act like “owners of the business”. This includes developing leadership skills, identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses and developing strategies to address improvements needed
Hold executives, managers and supervisors accountable to the continuous development of individual and department goals that aligns with the overall strategic plan
Drive an accountable team culture by conducting Teamwork Builders and Blockers training for all employees which focus on developing departmental team trust, communication, goals, accountability and results
Deliver continued management/supervisory training in 3 additional key areas: 1)Developing Metrics and Performance Measurements, 2)Delivering effective performance appraisals, and 3)Interviewing and Selection skills

Expectations and Deliverables: Project/Activities

Research Performance Management Software and present options to CEO
Review, coordinate with managers, and develop job descripti9ons for all positions (approx. 50 positions)
Set up 360 Assessment Evaluation for 3 Executives
Develop job competencies for all positions (approximately 50 positions)
Assess all employees (who have not completed the PXT) in preparation of Team Training and for use in developing competencies and training development plans (approx. 60). Set up client with Profiles Assessment Center
Research and create a 3 hour training program on “Creating Metrics and Performance Measurements”
Conduct 3 hour training program for ALL managers at client facility
Develop “behavioral based interview scripts” for all positions (approx. 50 positions)
Create materials to be used to roll-out culture change, teamwork program for all employees
Deliver Teamwork Builders and Blockers 1.4 days of training on Trust, Communication, and Accountability with Operations team of 26 and Sales and Marketing team of 16 simultaneously with 2 EE trainers
One-on-One Coaching for Executives
Develop new performance review process and new evaluation form based on 15 key job function areas
Deliver Teamwork Builders and Blockers 1.5 days of training on Trust, Communication and Accountability with Admin team of 20 and Engineering team (these are 2 separate meetings)
Executive Development, feedback, and problem solving meeting with Executive Team
Deliver training session for ALL managers on “Delivering Effective Performance Appraisals”
One-on-One Coaching for Executives
Deliver training session for ALL managers on “Interviewing and Selections Skills”
Executive Development, feedback and problem solving meeting with Executive Team
Feedback meeting with CEO
Follow-up One-on-One Phone Coaching session with executives

Case Study: Franchisor Who Increased Royalty Fees by 10.2%

A Printing Franchise Company(franchisor) wanted to provide an opportunity for franchisees to grow their franchises through the proper results driven hiring, training, and managing of sales staff. They qualified franchisees in the western region by total sales volume, and hired Employers Edge to implement a training plan in 5 regions – Southern California, Northern California, Seattle, Phoenix, and Denver. After 2 years of monthly accountability follow up with franchisees and their sales staff, the franchisor sent out a survey to identify why the western region was returning a 10.2% increase in royalty fees back to the franchisor, and the central and eastern regions were down .2%. The survey results indicated that the reason for increased sales performance was due to “the Employers Edge program”.

Here is what Employers Edge did to improve results:

Developed a hiring plan for sales people focused on job fit. Employers Edge qualified the sales people, assessed the sales people, and hired the sales staff.
Assessed top and bottom performing franchisees using the ProfileXT assessment provide by Employers Edge to identify common performance characteristics, and then developed a benchmark to be used for qualifying franchisees into the EE program as well as into the franchise system. One key differentiation between the top performing franchisees and bottom performing franchisees, was that top performers had high interest scores in Enterprising and People Service, while the bottom performers all had their highest score in Mechanical Interest. This high interest score in mechanical is why they bought the franchise (to working with the presses), but was the very thing holding them back from growing their business. Other key characteristics recognized in the assessment was that top performing Franchisees had a natural ability to handle conflict, lead a staff, would follow a proven system, and were decisive.
Assessed top and bottom performing printing sales staff using the Profile XT to identify common performance characteristics, then developed a benchmark to be used for significantly more accurate hiring of salespeople for each printing franchisee.
Conducted monthly franchisee training sessions in the 5 regions. These half day training sessions with franchise owners included training and accountability in: Strategic planning, Delegation, Motivating staff, Holding staff accountable for results, Behavioral Interviewing Skills,Delivering Performance Reviews,Communication Strategies,Developing Staff,Compensation Programs, and more
Conducted monthly sales training sessions in the 5 regions. These half day training sessions with sales staff included training and accountability on: Prospecting, Consultative Selling, Handling Objections and Closing, Time and Territory management, Building Client Relationships, Creative Marketing Approaches, Sales planning and goal setting, and more
Developed sales staff effectiveness by accompanying them individually on sales calls to assess their performance and coach them for improvement.

Feedback from our client:

“For more than a year now, you have been working with me and my people to develop us into a professional sales organization. The results over this time have been amazing. Objectively, our sales have increased over 25% however subjectively, the added bit of professionalism has carried over into our regular routine of doing business and it show! Your proven programs of pre and post measurement, training and control have shown excellent results in our organization and I dare say have applicability to virtually any size firm.”

Paul G. Nelson, Print and Imaging

“In the course of working with EE, much credit is due to my own improved sales results (a 278% increase over my previous year) as well as the many other centers in our system with whom I have witnessed similar results. I personally have been provided with a wealth of new and innovative ideas, and have enjoyed one-on-one coaching as well. I have found that EE has formulated an excellent balance of the needed components to facilitate any type of business. Quite honestly, I have been through other sales training and I have found that EE is consistent with what is happening in today’s business world and remain on the leading edge of their field.”

Mark Belvedere, Sales

Case Study: Mountain States Health Care Alliance

Overview: Mountain States receives 130,000 applications per year for approximately 1000 positions

Problem:

High Turnover especially in the Registered Nurse (RN) and Certified Nurse’s Assistant (CNA) levels

Solution:

Utilize a high reliability assessment to develop a high performance model to determine applicant job fit*.

Results:

First year anniversary turnover decreased from 35% down to 15% which saved the company $8M annually.
Improved disqualified applicant hard stop at HR earlier in the hiring process.
Cost reduction in OD training.
Cost reduction in overtime.
Reduced time to hire down to 30 days.
Reduced manager time dedicated to new hire initiation.
Decreased applicant dismissal. People don’t always apply for the right job and can be redirected which saves job search repetition.
Assessment was also used for scholarship award.

These results are just one indication why the Profile XT Assessment and related complimentary assessments can save companies real dollars in tight economies.

Health Care