3. How will the MP2 Training Program benefit senior employees, junior employees and the firm as a whole?

It was 7:00 p.m. on April 25, 2007 and Clark Loon only had three days left to show the executive board of lons Consulting Services (ICS) that his newly developed Mentoring Management Project for Professionals (MP2) training program was indeed worth the cost, the time and the resources to implement it across the company. Loon, the newly hired human resources director for ICS, was in charge of developing and implementing a training program that would meet the company's needs of transferring knowledge from older, more experienced project consultants to the junior, inexperienced associates. Loon envisioned that the MP2 program would reshape the company's training practices and retain employees over the long term. However, implementing the program proved to be much more difficult than he ever imagined. Clark turned on his computer and started to replay in his mind the meetings he had during the day. He wondered how to assess the success of the program, how to convince the board that it would work and whether there was anything that he should be doing differently. CLARK LOON Clark Loon had worked in the consulting industry for over 20 years, with experience at six different consulting firms in various cities across North America. At the outset of his career, he never intended to move quickly from one firm to the next, but he longed to experience living in different parts of the continent. Prior to joining ICS as the human resources director. Loon worked as a project management consultant for three years at a small advisory services firm in Detroit, Michigan. He attracted several bluechip clients to the company's portfolio, considerably enhancing the firm's profile and reputation. However, as time went on, he became less happy being based in Detroit, which prompted him to look for another opportunity. Ultimately, he returned to ICS in his hometown of Vancouver. Loon was familiar with ICS because he had worked there 14 years previously as an associate consultant, when the firm was just beginning its operation. Although he decided to leave ICS after six years of service - for reasons of geographic relocation - he continued to maintain close ties with the president of the company. Ultimately, his close relationship with the president is what helped him land his current position as human resources director. However. at no time in the eight months that he had been there did Loon feel at ease. Loon felt that the company had changed for the worse in the 14 years of his absence, and was facing severe human resource chatlenges. IONS CONSULTING SERVICES (ICS) ICS started in 1989 in downtown Vancouver with the concept of offering superior solutions that enabled client organizations to improve project execution with regards to budget. schedule and efficiency. Over the years. ICS had achieved success by developing its client portfolio primarily with health care and telecom companies, assisting them in various IT-related projects. ICS's core competence lay in IT project solutions, including system integration, network management, custom application development and ecommerce development. Founded by three experienced aspiring individuals, ICS grew quickly. In 2003, three years prior to Loon re-joining the company, ICS had added offices in two different Canadian cities (Winnipeg and Toronto) in addition to their Vancouver office. At the same time, the firm grew to just over 60 employees. A recent downturn in the IT market had forced ICS to lay off some of its employees in an effort to reduce costs. By the time Loon re-joined the company in 2006, the total number of employees across the three offices had been reduced to approximately 40 employees. As a result, employee morale was low, and the employee turnover rate was the highest it had ever been. The recent downsizing not only had detrimental effects on the low-performing employees that were let go. but also on some of the high-performing employees, who no longer wanted to remain with the firm because of perceived job insecurity. Amongst the layoff survivors, employees began to look for jobs elsewhere. Soon enough, the turnover rate soared and the firm was beginning to lose its edge on delivering quality solutions to its customers, as their top performing professional consultants bolted for jobs with competitors. When Loon re-joined ICS in 2006 , nearly 60 per cent of the employees in the company had less than five years of consulting experience. This was a stark contrast to 2001 , when the company makeup was a 70 to 30 ratio in favor of employees with five or more years of experience. ICS's competitive advantage came from having a large pool of experienced consultants. High-profile clients often stated that their satisfaction with ICS resulted from the experienced consultants who produced dynamic results. Unfortunately. ICS had recently been hiring based on availability rather than on consulting experience (that is, they needed "bodies"). This often meant hiring lower paid and less experienced consultants to fill the void, reducing the quality of work provided to the customers. ICS's former director of human resources was blamed for these results. and was asked to resign. Clark Loon joined the firm to replace her. LOON'S MP^2 TRAINING PROGRAM Drawing on his past experience, Loon believed that the best way to improve the quality of consultants would be to create a dynamic training program that would assist not only the inexperienced newcomers. but also the experienced professionals in the organization. Loon warted to ereate a program that would facilitate teamwork amongst the employees, provide skill upgrades and improve the quality of client service. Furthermore, Loon hoped that his new initiative would increase job satisfaction and commitment in order to combat the low morale and rising turnover rates of the company. Loon's MPA2 program was designed to pair experienced consultants with inexperienced associates to work on complex and expensive projects for ICS elicnts. The benefitiz of this mentoring training program would be two-fold, as inexperienced associates would gain the opportunity to learn from experienced consuitants in a structured, supported environment; and the experienced consultants would now have more resources and assistance to complete major projects as required. The MPn2 program provided an opportunity for allowing associates to obtain vahable training in the presence of experienced consultants. in a mentoring relationship. The inexperienced associates would receive a small-scale project (within a major project) and work under the guidance and leadership of a mentor. Each time associates completed a task, they would be awarded a certain number of credits based on their contributions and the complexity of the task. This program was designed in such a way that each newcomer with less than three years of experience had to earn 30 credits before having the opportunity to lead a project on their own. Loon expected that the average time for an incoming associate to complete 30 credits would be approximately two to three years. Furthermore. the mentor was required to provide regular feedback and evaluations to his or her junior associates in order to further guide their development as a consultant. LOON'S MPA2 PROPOSAL Before the program was launched, Loon shared his MP 2 plan with some of the members of the firm to generate feedback. However. to Loon's surprise, the MP`2 proposal was met with great resistance from both the executive board and from the employees: Senior VP of Operations Dale Ellis: "We can't afford to have 80 per cent of our employees tied up in projects. If we go with this plan, we are really going to reduce our client portfolio and drive ourselves to the ground! We need to let even the less experienced lead projects on their own." Managing Director of Client Services, Ray Rones: "What's wrong with our current training program? Our problem isn't training; it's about hiring and retaining the right people." Senior Consultant Bob Dowry: "I am already overworked with my own projects. I don't have time to hand-hold and look over the work of the new recruits. Some of this stuff is complicated, and 1 just don't have the time to teach them everything. I want to help, but it's not realistic." Senior Consultant Jane Platt: "What's the point of helping them when they are going to leave anyway after they have built up their contacts and padded their resumes? But on the other hand, 1 guess I can use some help in some areas." Senior Consultant Larry Lay: "I don't need help. They're just going to slow me down. And what if I don't want to be a mentor... what are you going to do? Fire me? After working here for 10 years. I wouldn't be surprised if you do!" Third year Associate Consultant Sue Kay: "How is this program going to benefit me? I don't want to do someone else's dirty work. Let me get out there and work. I can do it. I can prove to you that I am capable of managing big projects. I really don't want to put in the unnecessary time." Incoming Associate Jin Chang: "Three years is a long time before I actually get to do something." 3 MPA 2 DEPLOYMENT Despite facing great resistance from some of the board members and the employees, Loon remained persistent in deploying the MPA2 program. Eventually, the board collectively agreed on a pilot launch of the MP'2 program. The board decided on having a few mentors work with several inexperienced associates and they would observe the results. They decided that the company-wide depioyment of the MP2 would ultimately be based on the success of this initial pilot study. After a four-month trial period. Loon's program received mixed reviews: Senior Vice-president Operations Dale Ellis: "Despite my initial reservations ... having more members working on a single project has improved the efficiency and the speed of service. But l still believe we are tying up too many employees on single projects and missing out on new potential projects as a result of this program." Managing Director of Client Services Ray Rones: "I haven't heard anything different from our clients. Have you?" Senior Consultant Bob Dowry: "Having to look over three members is way too tough. I feel extremely overworked and burnt out. I'm having trouble looking over the work of the new recruits. let alone focusing on my own work, which 1 think is more important!" Senior Consultant Jane Platt: "The associates have been very pleasant to work with. I was extremely impressed with how well they responded to the tasks that were given to them. I really felt like we were a team working together to heip our clients reach their goal. I certainly want to work with them again! And I will certainly recommend this program to my colleagues." Senior Consultant Larry Lay: "They can't do it. They just can't do the work. These young recruits are useless!" Third year Associate Consultant Sue Kay: "What a waste of my time. My son, who is in high school. could do the type of work that I'm being asked to do. Also, my mentor doesn't seem to listen to anything that I say ... well ... not that we ever talk much ... and just between you and me. I think he is utterly incompetent. By the way, after all this is over, how about giving me some 'real' work?' Incoming Associate Jin Chang: "Wow, I was initially worried that I wasn't going to be involved or actually get to do anything. But my mentor really challenged me to get certain things done. I am just beginning to realize that I have lots more to learn before I can get really comfortable leading a project on my own." MAKING CHANGES? Once the four-month trial period was over, Loon had only three days left to revise the program, if necessary, and suggest a format that would guarantee the success of the MP`2 training program. The fiscal year end was approaching. and the executive board would have to approve adding this project into next year's budget. However, after having reviewed the feedback (most of which echoed the comments shown above), Loon couldn't really tell whether the program was working or failing. Loon also didn't know if this program had the potential to resolve the recent turnover issues of the firm. He had to decide what revisions, if any, he should make in his project proposal. Assuming the board gave him the go-ahead. he 4 still had to take steps to ensure employee acceptance of the program. If this program faced employee rejection, it would never work. Thinking about employee acceptance led Loon to muse over the benefits of the MP' 2 program, and he wondered what benefits he should focus on when telling senior and junior employees about it. A final issue of concern for Loon was just how to measure the success of a program like MP 2. Indeed, it was going to be a long night