Downloadable Return on Investment Calculator

February 22, 2018

Recently, I have been chatting with business owners about their software needs. The consensus seems to be that technology is rapidly advancing and becoming more efficient. Moreover, businesses and organizations are looking into how to most effectively and economically invest in custom software. The needs of today’s businesses are very unique and robust and that is why many of them are investing in custom software.

The challenge is that not many people know the standard ROI (Return on Investment) for software development or how long it will take to make your money back. Because of these conversations I have been having, I have developed this easy to use Free Downloadable Software Development ROI Calculator. This tool is a great starting point for businesses and managers who are looking for a ballpark when it comes to custom software ROI.

Download Software Development Return on Investment Calculator.

Again, this tool is a great starting point, but if you have any more questions or want a free personal software needs analysis for your business, be sure to reach out to CoreSolutions via our Contact Page.

Please enjoy our new ROI Calculator!

Cheers,

The Cost of Not Making a Decision

February 15, 2018

There is a cost to not making a decision and here’s my story. I was once asked by a potential customer, “Who’s your biggest competitor?”

I thought to myself, was it a local consultant? Was it a specific technology? Could it be Salesforce or Access or even Excel spreadsheets? The answer I realized was none of the above.

The answer I went with was, “The company that does not make a decision and the customer who thinks the status quo is okay for now.” That’s my biggest competitor and the answer surprised the gentleman who asked the question. You see, I had been at his location over 2 years ago, chatting with this same individual about a potential project and in the end, no decision was made. Fast-forward over 730 days and we were still talking about the same project.

Think of it this way: I would not be on site having a meeting if the status quo was all right. Being in sales, you know that you are not going to win every sale. It is a strange logic that goes like this – if I am not going to win the deal, then at least tell me someone else has won the deal and let me know a decision has been made. When I hear silence or worse, the common phrase, “We have not made a decision at this time,” this tells me this company is going to try to ride it out for another year or 2 and stick with the status quo, while at the same time, crossing their fingers that the existing software workflow or hardware does not break down.

What Causes the Status Quo Customer Response?

Budget is lacking
Workflow is not defined
Timeline is too tight
Decision makers are unaware of the problem
Fear of change from user base
Influencers & stakeholders are not involved in the decision-making process

How Technology Companies Help Mitigate the Status Quo from Pushing Back Decisions With Projects

image of a laptop, an ipad and an iphone

Budget is lacking: The budget to any project needs to be defined at the first meeting. When I ask customers about a budget, it is not about trying to build a project to take up all funds. The reason we ask that question is to understand if there is enough funding for all stages of this project – ex. Does this project need to be built in phases & are we the right fit for this customer? Bottom line budget also needs to be defined and if it is not, then how serious can this customer be about fixing the issue(s)?

Workflow is not defined: In order to provide an accurate and complete estimate, a comprehensive understanding of workflow needs to be submitted to the consultant early in the estimate process. If a complete workflow is not finalized, then this can lead to either too high of an estimate due to unknowns or too low of an estimate as not all required functionality is listed.

How do we help with defining workflow? At CoreSolutions, we overcome this workflow challenge by:

Providing a template that helps capture basic workflow, reporting, & layout information in a “Project Discovery Document.”
Offering a service that helps define and build the workflow called the Business Requirements Definition (BRD). This is a billable service that comes in more than one type. For really complicated workflows, we will have a customer go through the BRD process.

Timeline is too tight: Timeline refers to when a project needs to begin or when it needs to reach final completion. The usual answer I hear is, “I need this yesterday.” Sometimes the time to define the workload or build the solution will take too long. Some companies have measurable busy cycles. Implementing a new project during the busiest time of the year will not lead to a successful implementation or adoption rate. In order to get past the timeline being the reason for not making a decision, some companies will work with the developer to determine the best time to have a new application implemented and tested.

Decision makers are unaware of the problem: Decision makers need be on the same page. This is sales 101 – the decision makers need to be in attendance at major meetings. But decision makers need to also understand the timelines involved, such as the commitment of time required by staff to build workflow and to test the different phases of applications. Successful solutions typically have decisions makers in the loop, so that they have an overall understanding of the project scope – including time, workflow and user defined needs.

Fear of change from user base: Change can be scary, especially if it is perceived that this is a change for the sake of change. Generally, to become more efficient, new systems will require different layouts, screens, reports or workflows. Fear by the user base can be overcome in a few ways:

The customer can nominate a few power users of the system who will test, deploy and have input on many of the new functions. In particular, screen layout and report creation.
Through hands-on training that can be provided for users either remotely or onsite.
By creating a User’s Guide with the customer’s guidance.

Influencers and stakeholders are not involved in the decision-making process: Inclusion of stakeholders and influencers is key to a project’s success. The bigger the project, the greater the odds that more than one department, process or manager will be involved. In medium to large scale projects, sometimes it’s only the people inputting data that have issues and want a new process in place. Their own colleagues or superiors may not know that an issue exists. One of the main reasons why defining workflow is so important is that this will determine whose departments will need input in a new application and potential new or modified process(es).

The Pitfalls of Sticking with the Status Quo

Maintaining the status quo isn’t always the best business decision. Oftentimes, it’s an emotional bias for the present set of circumstances (See – Status Quo Bias). Although you may avoid the challenge of having to retrain your staff in the present moment, the fact of the matter is that in the world of software, you’re bound to face the, “It’s time to upgrade your software,” scenario. If you don’t believe me, then you’re likely still running Windows 95 on your machine.

So what are the negative repercussions of sticking with the status quo? Well, here are a few:

You won’t be future-proofing your organization for forthcoming technological changes
Your clients & staff will view your company as a technology dinosaur – who wants their business to be viewed as lagging behind in anything?
You’ll have to add new features & additional functionality to your system as the years progress – in terms of development dollars & technical upkeep, this will cost more in the long run
Your time & your IT staff’s time spent managing the day-to-day operations of your software will skyrocket

Ready to Move Forward? Need Help Defining Your Project?

Let us assist you! At CoreSolutions, we’re determined to take you Beyond Software™ to make your next project a success! Whether you’re replacing old software or looking to purchase new software, we can help walk you through the process!

The first step is to complete a project profile form on our website & we’ll connect with you to learn more about how we can serve you best.

Why is Software Development so Expensive?

February 8, 2018

A conversation that many business owners have with their software development team is about the cost of software development and how it can be somewhat startling. Many businesses tend to underestimate the time and financial resources required to build quality, functional software applications. In reality, more goes into software development than you might think. Software requires an in-depth understanding of business processes combined with a variety of skilled individuals working together. Here are a few of the components of a development project.

Business Analysis

The first step to every development project is business analysis. Developers need to understand your specific workflows before they can actually start developing. Every business is different – some businesses have similar workflows, but almost every circumstance has unique requests. The business analysis works as the blueprint for your software and involves a commitment from both yourself and your development team. Every dollar that is spent during the business analysis phase comes back to you during the actual development phase.

Database Development

Next is the information management component. Both internal and external data needs to be managed. If businesses lack modern databases, then those need to be created.

Data Analysis

Developers need to ensure your data is being pulled correctly and transferred into usable results. Data analysis involves advanced mathematical, and in some cases scientific, calculations that drive business processes and decisions.

Research

Whenever software is developed, industry analysis must occur. If a software development team has never worked in the medical industry, but need to develop a system for nursing and medical information, then extensive research needs to be completed before they can completely dive in. Every industry has their own jargon, processes, standards and preferences that need to be considered.

UI/UX Design

Once a framework for a software system has been agreed upon, there needs to be time allocated to both user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design work. It is important that each client has a design that speaks to their business specifically. The design of a system must be both intuitive and visually appealing. The experience must be crisp and simple enough for everyone to utilize the new system without extensive training. This stage usually involves multiple mock-ups and prototypes.

Development Phase

Once business processes, information management and UI/UX design have been agreed upon by all involved parties, the “real” development begins. The complexity of your system will determine your total projected development time. Also, you will need to determine which development process your development team uses. Each process has their own pros and cons, can take more or less time, and involve extended or concentrated time commitments from the client.

QA Testing

Testing or Quality Assurance (QA) is critically important during development. QA is the aspirin – they relieve all of your headaches. QA constantly tests your custom software and ensures that everything is working correctly and they offer recommendations on how to make the experience better for your users.

Deployment

Software needs to run in an environment. This may mean your servers host the system or the development team hosts it for you. This system must be accessible and optimized on whichever specific environment fits your specific needs. If deployed on a new environment, tests will need to be run in order to ensure complete compatibility.

Training

You are now at the training stage – you are nearing the home stretch. Members of your development team will help train your staff or train your trainers that will in turn train your staff. Training may be a few afternoons over video chat or maybe it is a few days of in-class training. This is completely dependent on your software complexity and the workflows that you have had developed.

Post-Implementation Support

Congratulations, your software has been completed! Moving forward, your client-development team relationship continues. Support is vital for custom software and in building post-implementation relationships with clients. Support is usually phone-based and involves multiple levels of escalation. Post-implementation can be small bug fixes, additional feature development or more staff training. Businesses often overlook post-implementation. Post-implementation is not seen as an additional expense, but an additional investment into your software solution. Custom software is never deployed and then left alone – it is an ongoing process where both parties involved reap the benefits.

Changing Requirements

There may be a handful, but not many development projects stick 100% to their original blueprint. Features or workflows are discovered or uncovered and cause adjusted projections. It is bound to happen, but when it comes to software development, finding new features or bugs is not a bad thing. To mitigate the costs of changing requirements, you should have pre-planned alternate routes or software detours. These routes should have tiered off-ramps that allow you to save money and ensure your key features are included.

Why Software is So Expensive – Conclusion

Overall, the costs come from not just the development team, but the efforts of the designers, QA, data analysts and many others. The simple reason that software development is so expensive is because it takes a village to develop good software. For people and organizations that think custom software development is as simple as calling up their local software developers and asking for a system, you have overlooked the importance of the process.

The best software and the happiest customers are not created during the development process, but the planning process. The more an organization gives in terms of communication, the more the software solution will facilitate their specific needs and the more value they will receive. Software development involves research and feedback. It is a give and take relationship that goes much beyond purely transactional. A good development team sits down with their client and finds out what it is exactly that they need. Every business is unique and the processes that they go through on a day-to-day basis are ever-changing. This is why custom software is so expensive.

If this conversation speaks to you, don’t worry – you are not alone. The true benefits and value of custom software are often overlooked. Software development is not just lines of code. Software development is a partnership between a business and a developer that leads to improved processes and overall satisfaction. If a business wants to complete a specific goal, than off-the-shelf is a good choice. However, if your business wants a tailored solution, than custom development is a route you will want to consider.

Every business is unique and so is the software they need. Get your free Personal Needs Analysis today.

The “thinking the same” Paradox……

January 27, 2018

Paradox: a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory.

I need to look at things differently.

Everyone else is thinking the same way.

I better keeping thinking the same way, what if I’m wrong?

It seems to me that most of us are happy to be agreeable when it comes to our perspective about how the world works, especially in business. LinkedIn is a great example of individuals that find some sense of mental piece knowing that they think like the rest of the group. It’s like a fine line in the sand that very few are willing to cross, the question is “Why?”

I imagine that there are many reasons, but at the heart of it, I believe it’s the fear of being wrong, perhaps even being considered the, “Odd Duck.” LinkedIn is really a haven for the safe thinkers, those that aren’t or willing to challenge conventional wisdom. This became an epiphany for me several years ago when I started challenging everything that I had always believed and decided, what if I’m wrong and what if we are all wrong? When I came to this realization it was quite liberating. However, the down side was trying to open other people’s possibilities to thinking differently, that requires a monumental effort.

Here are some simple of examples of how my thinking has changed:

You can motivate people. Not really, and if you could, you’d be focusing your energy on the average performers – high performers are self-motivated
Employee engagement is necessary to move the organizational needle. No it’s not. You’re still focusing on mediocre performers, focus on hiring high performers
You can’t have a full understanding or appreciation for your professional discipline if you don’t take a macro look at what’s happening around the world, socially, environmentally, economically and the list goes on and on
If there was one thing your organization should do well, is have the ability to identify and hire high performers. Everything else really doesn’t matter as much. Your time investment will be cut significantly
If you don’t understand the Pareto Principle, you’re going to miss the opportunity to have an in-depth perspective on your organization
Leadership is innate. All you need to do is look at the supporting data – $45B invested in leadership training, however, the number of effective leaders hasn’t really grown
Just because you read something in a book, doesn’t make it true. Yes there are great writers, however look at the number of different opinions, stop trying to change your organization based on a book you read – it’s ridiculous
Your organization’s performance can’t improve without embracing some form of coaching. No feedback, no improvement
We don’t understand the fundamental principle of what trait is required for successful service organizations – friendly people. You can’t teach an unfriendly person to be friendly

Now, you could and probably would certainly disagree with some or all of what I’ve said. But here’s the problem – where’s your proof, where’s the supporting data?

I can defend my comments quite easily, but most individuals can’t. Now that doesn’t make me right in my thinking. I’m not interested in being right, I’m interested in doing the right thing.

Throughout my career I’ve made some very unusual predictions – many have come true, but at the time, I had an uphill battle trying to get others to see the world from a different perspective.

If you or if we, want to make a difference in our lives or in the lives of others, we need to challenge our thinking at every step. We used to say, if it isn’t broken, don’t break it, today, some of us would say, if it isn’t broken, break it and then rebuild it and make it better.

I don’t have to tell you the times in our history when people said, it can’t be done. There was a time where society believed the world was flat. I really don’t believe that much has changed. Many of us today still believe the world is somehow flat.

Do yourself a favor – don’t be afraid to cross that line in the sand, the other side can be very invigorating.

John Prpich, TalentBlueprint

Understanding IT ROI in 4 Minutes

January 25, 2018

Having been engaged in various aspects of the IT services business for over 30 years, it still confounds me how many people struggle with leveraging a REAL, QUANTIFIABLE Return on Investment (ROI) when acquiring technology “solutions”. Understanding IT ROI doesn’t have to be difficult, so I’m going to try and explain it in 4 minutes or less. Get your stopwatch out! I would like to explore some of the elements and perhaps provide some perspective that may assist in your decision making on your next technology acquisition. Everything else is just technology with flashy lights…

At a minimum, IT solutions should be able to answer “yes” to one of these questions:

Does it increase top line Revenue or Gross Margin?
Does it drive bottom-line performance?
Does it enhance the internal or external Customer Experience (CX)?

Let’s discuss each of these points…

Revenue/Margin Increase Potential

In the ever rapidly changing technology world, IT solutions are unlocking significant revenue potential. IT is creating active, long term growth for both old and new industries. The main objective in regards to increasing revenue and margin is:

Increased revenue with same or decreased net cost of goods
Reaching new markets/customers (sectors, geographies, etc.)
Increased revenue per existing client (new product penetration, awareness of other lines of business, larger less frequent transactions, reduced friction/cost per transaction)
Improved conversion/close ratios

Bottom Line Performance

This is often the most tangible and immediate benefit of IT solutions for an organization – Improved processes and workflow. It is also one of the most overlooked aspects of garnering a return on the investment.

Revenue growth while limiting incremental costs
Static revenue with reduced costs
Reducing the sales cycle to provide increased sales velocity
Reducing the cost of transacting business through process automation.

Improve “Customer” Experience

In the “U.S. Customer Experience Index, 2016,” Forrester’s Rick Parish says, “Customer Experience leaders grow revenue faster than CX laggards, drive higher brand preference, and can charge more for their products” (Forbes, “The State of The Customer Experience”).

IT solutions can:

Provide 7 x 24 access to services through automation
Go Mobile – your customers/users are always on smart devices. Give them the tools and information they need on the devices they use everyday
Engage the younger customer – if it is not available through a browser, it doesn’t exist for many of this generation
Reach everywhere – whether web or app, don’t limit your audience

Customers are very quickly starting to not only expect, but demand exemplary experiences 100% of the time.

Need Help Calculating Your ROI?

Figuring out an IT ROI doesn’t have to be daunting or complicated. Now that we have covered the fundamental elements of ROI, we will look at some of the financial metrics in my next blog (Everything You Need to Know about Software ROI).

At CoreSolutions, we build software solutions that help our clients improve their workflow, so if you still want more information, leave a comment below or contact us today and we’ll help you determine the best ROI for your organization.

Managing Committees with CoreUM Groups

January 23, 2018

Coordinating meetings between multiple people can be challenging. Each meeting attendee has their own busy schedule and finding the time that works can take more effort than the actual meeting itself. Now, imagine having to coordinate with multiple different groups of multiple individuals. Things can begin to get out of hand.

As an example, you may be a member of several committees. Each committee has many moving parts and finding times to meet with members becomes very daunting – especially when someone is responsible for coordinating meetings with more than one committee.

The best way to simplify your coordinating process, reduce stress, and save time is to use the Group Management feature in CoreUM. How Group Management works is simple – you create a group and then add all members to the corresponding group.

Here is an example…

A CoreUM user who is also a City Councillor is a member of several different council committees including: The Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, the Community and Protective Services Committee, and the Civic Works Committee. Now, there are scheduled sessions for each of these committees where all members are expected to attend, but if there is ever a need for a meeting outside of this allotted time, coordinating the schedules of all committee members is nearly impossible – until our City Councillor began to use CoreUM.

Our City Councillor added all of their contacts into CoreUM via a Microsoft Outlook integration and then created a group for each of the three committees that they were a part of and added all corresponding members.

Now, whenever, for example, the Civic Work Committee needed to meet, the Councillor simply creates a meeting invite in CoreUM, adds several possible meeting dates and times, and selects to send the invite to the Civic Works Committee Group that they had created in CoreUM.

Each committee member then choses the times that works best for them and CoreUM compiles the results and presents the best time for everyone. It is as simple as that – no back-and-forth email chains, no miscommunication, no schedule juggling – just a simple meeting time that works for everyone.

CoreUM is free to use. Try it today! And as a MuniServ member, we’ll give you the upgraded VIP subscription for 30 days.

Like it? Use coupon code “muniserv” at checkout to receive 20% off of your first year of corporate membership.

The CoreUM Team

9 Things to Consider When Starting Your Next Development Project

January 19, 2018

It’s time for your big development project, but first you should understand how to make your experience the best it can possibly be. We’ve done countless Custom Development projects over our 25 years and we would like to share our knowledge with you in order to help make your experience more worthwhile. This list gives you some suggestions that you can use to make your next development project go as smooth as silk.

Tip #1 – Determine Your (Projects) Workflow Process

Determine the methodology behind your project; it is important that this is decided on early in the process. There are many types of workflow designs, i.e. Agile, Waterfall, Incremental, Cleanroom, Spiral, etc., which is why careful consideration needs to be placed on the right workflow design for your project. At CoreSolutions, we use an Agile workflow because we feel it provides benefits such as constant testing and short feedback loops for our clients; our two-week sprint cycles, followed by a project demo for the client allow for constant communication and satisfied customers. All workflows have their individual benefits and downfalls; this is why choosing the right type for your project can go a long way toward the success of your custom development project.

Tip #2 – Before You Start, Gather Input from All Staff

Often there are many stakeholders in a project and you’ll need input from all of them in order to ensure a consistent vision. Nothing derails a project like scope creep and changing functionality. Everyone who is involved has their own needs & opinion to bring to the table and if everyone is given the opportunity to speak their mind, the project will have a much more cohesive end-result. And, a much happier you!

Tip #3 – Plan for the Future

Create a project that is future-proof. You don’t want to create your project and in two years it becomes outdated and you have to redesign. Build something with both a modern design and something that has longevity.

Tip #4 – Use Incremental Building

If unchecked, some projects may gain a life of their own and become much more overwhelming than originally anticipated. However, if managed correctly, the project can become a success in terms of both, project functionality and overall client approval. Incremental building lets you properly lay the foundation and allows your concept to healthily grow into the project you originally envisioned.

Tip #5 – Determine the Best Timing

Is now really the best time to start your project? Will your computers need to be upgraded? Are all of yours resources ready? Do you need other hardware or software to make this work? Do you have the proper staffing? Can your budget handle this project? You need to understand that if your budget, time or scope of the project change, all other factors will change along with it. Do not rush your project; plan your resources and time accordingly before you begin.

Tip #6 – Ensure a Comfort Level Throughout

Communication is Key! If there is anything you do not understand, ASK! Constant communication and updates with your team are vital in the custom development process. When using an Agile workflow, among others, you have to meet regularly with your team or project goals will not be accomplished. You have to be comfortable enough with the process in order to ensure there are no miscommunications.

Tip #7 – Testing and Using Throughout

Whether it be yourself or a team member, double-check functionality and design throughout the project. This will help iron out the rough patches as well as create a more unified final project. Some ideas for testing your project include…

- Schedule demos with your development team to experience the full functionality of your project.

- Avoid workflows with testing stages near the end of the process; stick to workflows that allow for constant testing and fine-tuning.

Get a second opinion; have users who will be using the custom development project or users who have used similar projects in the past to come test out the functionality and have some input.

Tip #8 – Break Project Down Into 2 Sub-Parts; Need-to-Have and Nice-to-Have

When you are originally planning your project, the potential is endless. There are so many possibilities and, like a kid in a candy store, you are probably full of intrigue and excitement. This is why it is extremely important to manage your Need-to-Haves and Nice-to-Haves. There are a lot of features that would be Nice-to-Haves; however, with the walls of your budget and the ceiling of your timeframe encasing your project, ensuring your Need-to-Haves are in order should be your top priority.

Tip #9 – Build Within Your Budget

Development projects are important. But, so is your well-being. Ensure that you have a determined budget and PLAN ACCORDINGLY! Just because the possibilities are endless does not mean your cheque book is as well.

With these 9 tips, your next Custom Development Project should go as smooth as possible.

Here at CoreSolutions Software, we’ve been in business for over 25 years and we understand that providing exceptional service and support, alongside our versatile customizable software applications, is what sets us apart from the competition. Our team is dedicated to delivering cost-effective, top quality products, on time and on budget – Guaranteed!

Have any questions or comments? We’d love to chat about your next development project, so call us today at 1-800-650-8882 or fill out a contact us form on our website.

If You Don’t Understand These Concepts You Don’t Understand Learning

January 18, 2018

Here’s some Key Learning & Development Concepts to Consider

Content is less important than you think, even poor content – the focus needs to be on what happens after the delivery.
If you’re not familiar with the Kirkpatrick or Phillips models of evaluation, then you will not understanding that Level 3 is a very critical level. What I see is most doing level one and two then wanting to jump to 4 or 5 depending on what model you follow
Everyone shouldn’t have access to learning, it should be a privilege that’s earned. Over $40B spent on learning, where’s the ROI? Did you ever notice that those who did well in your workshops were the high performers, not a coincidence
If building organizational competence is truly your mission, then don’t hire anyone that isn’t willing to learn on the companies time and their time.
If you don’t get to application after two weeks of the learning intervention, your attendees will lose 70% of they’ve learned, this is why application is so critical.
If you keep conducting the same classes or offering the same content and nothing has changed, stop doing that and move to another approach or different content
Most of you have forgotten about the 9 Box Transfer of Training Model, Vertical axis, Boss, Employee Trainer, Horizontal Access, Before, During and After. Box one and three, is the boss before and after, box 2 is the trainer delivering the knowledge to the employee. Guess what, 1 and 3 never happen, so nothing changes, this issue is one faced by every organization, I mean ever
Learning should be competency driven, that’s how you build organizational competence, you identify the core competencies that drive organizational results, guess what, your other talent systems, selection, performance management and succession planning are all competency-driven. Less than 50% of Fortune 500 companies use competency modeling, don’t know why
If you are using an LMS, make certain that you build in the Amazon 5 star rating approach. It helps drive others to the content and more importantly, tells you how your customer feels about the content
When your customer comes to you with a problem that requires your learning solution, don’t believe what they tell you. I’ve learned that my customers bring me symptoms, I ask a lot of good open-ended questions to ensure I’m dealing with the root cause. I passed this skill on to my team, you need to know how to consult
If your learning strategy is a push and not a pull, you’ll never be successful.
If you’re a learning department consider yourself to be a vendor and the currency of your customer to be time. You have to sell them on the idea of using your solutions, the best way to do that is have other customers talk about the effectiveness of your solutions. Remember, nothing beats a good testimonial and don’t be afraid to share those with the organization.
If the flipped classroom approach isn’t in your strategy, you’re missing the boat and the point. As I mentioned earlier, degreed has taken care of the content, you need to focus on getting the learner or a group focused on applying that learning in a real live project. Two things happen, you get real-time experience and you move the needle on the company’s results
If your goal is to build certain organizational competencies, remember, more is less. Instead of focusing on several, which forces you to go 10 miles wide and an inch deep, pick one or two and do a real deep dive, so that you’re a mile wide and 10 miles deep, a better return
Whose responsibility is the development of the company’s employees? If you said you are, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Employee development is and will always be the responsibility of the leader, you are merely the catalyst
Stop using meeting webinar solutions to deliver synchronous and asynchronous learning, look at products like Adobe Connect or Go To Training, there’s a big difference.

Where the field of learning has really failed in this country is that those in the discipline still continue to focus on the tools instead of the process. This is similar to those in the HR discipline when it comes to performance management. They focus on the tool and not the system or process.

If I gave you Rachel Ray’s cookware, do you think you could cook as good as she does, I don’t think so?

John Prpich, Learning Protagonist

Competency-Based Learning

January 2, 2018

One of the most significant opportunities being missed by most organizations today is the lack of a competency talent framework. I’ve always believed that the only true business differentiator is the competency of your organization. Everything else can typically be easily duplicated with financial resources.

The exact opposite is true for people. They are complex and require a great deal of effort and energy, however, if you can tap into their talents and keep them engaged in building their strengths, you will flourish. History has proven this time and time again.

When it comes to the term competency, it’s often confused with other words like talent, strengths, or skills. By definition, a competency is where, motivation, knowledge, and skill meet. A competency can be a talent and it can certainly be a strength, so let’s not get too hung up on the term. The goal is to identify the critical or core competencies that are drivers of your organization’s success. Typically, I encourage the organization to select anywhere from 8-12 competencies – more than 12 becomes difficult to manage.

Once they’ve been identified and agreed upon,(this requires feedback from all levels of the organization), you can then start to incorporate them into the other systems and processes that drive your talent framework – selection, performance management, succession planning, personal development, and organizational values. These competencies also become an integral part of your culture.

Marcus Buckingham, the author of, Go Put Your Strengths To Work, also advocates focusing on the people’s strengths and not their weaknesses. What I found compelling about his work was that it aligned with my experiences as a leader.

Most performance review processes focus on improving someone’s weakness but rarely have I seen an improvement. However, if they focused on a strength, I would see great strides being made. Even Dan Pink discussed this when he identified what motivates individuals – Mastery, Autonomy, and Purpose. The mastery of skills is aligned with focusing on strengths and that’s aligned with what Malcolm Gladwell shared in his book, Outliers, where he wrote that “ ten thousand hours is the magic of greatness.”

If you are going to build a competency-based organization, make certain that the learning opportunities you provide are tied to those competencies and incorporate them into everything you do.

On a final note, I’d like to suggest another philosophical opportunity. Would you hire a person that wasn’t willing to develop or improve themselves? You probably will tell me that you wouldn’t but we do it all the time. One important criterion that is missed in the selection process is assuring newcomers that if they join your organization, they have to be willing to continue to learn and develop. If not, why would you hire them?

If the competence of your employees is a business differentiator everyone has to be willing to continue to learn.

John Prpich, TalentBlueprint

Becoming a Learning Organization

December 29, 2017

During my 20 years in the business of learning and competency development, I’ve experienced a pattern that continues to plague organizations – confusing tools with strategy and process.

A good example of this can be found in performance management. Organizations focus all their energy on the tools and ignore the process, therefore the system has always failed. As the old saying goes, if I give you a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Developing an organizational mindset with a focus on behaviors necessary to ensure that the crystallization of the behaviors that will support the change you are looking for.

In the business of learning, organizations typically go directly to purchasing content or tools that will support the content – Learning Management Systems (LMS). Let’s remember if you buy a racing car that doesn’t make you a racing car driver. It just makes you someone with a racing car. If your goal is to build organizational competence, you need to understand how to bring that change about.

It isn’t easy. There are a series of questions you must ask yourself, here are some examples:

What does it mean to be a learning organization?
What are the benefits?
What are the challenges?
How does this align with our Mission, Vision, and Values?
What are the desired outcomes?
Who will champion this change?
How will this impact our goals?
What type of investment is involved?
How will this impact our culture?
How will this impact our ability to attract talent?
What behaviors are we trying to change?

As you can see, the list of questions will be very long and there’s a good reason. The average investment for a LMS today is around $100K, not including the learning content you would purchase or the overhead expense for managing the process. Take that and then factor in learning engagement trends, (30-40% of the organization), you’ll start to understand that this can easily be an expense instead of an investment.

Most organizations don’t realize the pre-work that proceeds getting ready to become a learning organization and they simply fail. Learning in North America is more of an expense than an investment. Billions of dollars are spent every year yet its rare for someone to articulate what happened or changed that impacted that expense that made it worthwhile. Part of this failure must do the lack of understanding of the model of learning evaluation (See Jack Phillips or Donald Kirkpatrick). Organizations should be developing Level 3 type evaluations to measure behavioral change. It isn’t difficult, but most don’t understand how.

The other challenge is the perspective you must take when it comes to learning as a support function should engage with internal customers. Most learning departments use a push strategy, trying to force their customers to engage in learning – this never works. You need to have the mindset that you are a vendor with a solution that can help your internal customers and the currency you are dealing with is time. How do you get your customers to invest their time in your solution? You must market your solution and you need testimonials from internal customers to encourage other customers to engage in your solution. This is a completely different mindset, but it works well. I’ve been doing it for 18 years.

The other two critical components that are always missing are the Communication and Change Management strategies. How many times have you observed your organization’s leadership announce a change without doing any ground work and then watched that change fail. People went back to work doing the same things they were doing before you told them what was going to change. We tend to forget the dangers in not explaining the Why’s of what we want to do and how that will positively impact the employee first, not the organization.

The other value of change management and communication is to get buy in. Remember, you want the leaders of the organization to drive the process and change, not the learning department.

John Prpich, Learning Protagonist

TalentBlueprint