Chapter 2 Value Proposition

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, American writer

Value Proposition is a term used by organizations to define the benefits delivered to their customers and stakeholders through their product and service offerings. In this chapter, the value proposition is your offering of your skills and competencies as an individual professional, to your employer, clients and other stakeholders. While the focus of the value proposition is in the context of an employee’s career steps in an organization, the principles are equally applicable to independent contractors providing services to their clients. Your value proposition is your own “brand.” You are responsible for creating, nurturing and enhancing it throughout your career.

The concept of career steps is applicable in all professions and industries and must be cultivated for self-development and career advancement. Educated and skilled people who are first hired at entry-level positions by organizations are given employment contracts that are based on their knowledge, skills and abilities to perform specific jobs that may include multiple roles or activities. At the entry-level stage, these employees are individual contributors and would be considered as the “managers of self” as shown in Figure 2.1. The value proposition of these individuals is measured on their competency in delivering desired performance to their organizations.

The competencies are defined in two main categories: Functional Competencies and Effectiveness Competencies. The functional competencies include technical skills, while the effectiveness competencies include behavioral skills. The definition below describes what constitutes a competency. Reference Figure 1.8 (Competency Framework), in Chapter 1.

Figure 2.1 – Career Steps Framework

Knowledge + Skills + Attitude / Motivation = Behavior

For any topic or professional practice, one needs to acquire the knowledge and skills for “how to do it,” including learning through trial and error, in order to possess the abilities, motivation, and attitude for “doing it” (putting these attributes in practice).

The functional and effectiveness competencies are two sides of the same coin. The individual contributor, or manager of self, must demonstrate performance through the interplay of these two sets of competencies in all aspects of the role in order to be considered successful in delivering the value proposition to the organization.

For example, when a college graduate is hired to be a sales representative, she is expected to perform well in her functional role of knowing how to sell a product—to take and execute orders (functional competency). At the same time, she is expected to be effective in dealing with customers and to have the interpersonal skills to manage business relationships (effectiveness competency). The value proposition of the manager of self then is the performance she delivers for her organization in achieving the expected outcomes of her role.

Over time, this entry-level individual develops more business acumen and moves up one step to become the manager of others. Now, this manager must develop managerial competencies, both functional and effectiveness, which include managing other employees and coaching and mentoring them for delivering performance. This higher position calls for greater leadership competencies, and the execution of the responsibility is her value proposition. As with other career steps, the manager of others is recognized, rewarded and compensated according to the established compensation and benefit plans for that level in the organization.

Upon demonstrating leadership capabilities and competencies, the next logical career advancement is to become a manager of managers, a higher career step in the organization. The value proposition at this level is to create a vision for the organizational entities they are responsible for, and to develop and execute strategies to advance the mission of the organization. In a general sense these managers may have responsibilities equivalent to a director or vice president.

At this level, the paths of functional and effectiveness competencies may diverge. Some individuals may follow a functional/technical career path and others may choose to follow the executive role in an organization, thus becoming senior managers, a yet higher career step. Now, executives may be heads of business units and managers of global responsibilities and may have titles such as general manager, president, chief executive officer, and others. Their value proposition is the overall success of the organization for the owners, employees, and shareholders. In the case of government, these roles would include the head of governmental agencies.

The career steps described above are generic, yet they represent a profound way of describing how one enhances one’s own value proposition in every professional practice, a step at a time. However, there are many other factors such as opportunity, organizational culture and politics, and self-development that contribute to career advancement. Depending on the nature of the organizational line of business and the organizational culture of developing their employees, people may have a variety of experiences along the career steps of their chosen professions.

Enabling Competency: Facilitation

My purpose in this chapter is not to get into a deeper discussion of organizational employee development processes, but rather to introduce you to yet another type of competency that I call Enabling Competency. This is in addition to the functional/technical and effectiveness/behavioral competencies already discussed here.

The enabling competency is a set of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) that directly enable employees to leverage their functional and effectiveness competencies more effectively. This enabling competency is Facilitation. Reference Figure 1.2 (Mahal Facilitation Framework), in Chapter 1. To be successful at each of the career steps of organizational advancement, one has to facilitate various aspects of functional and effectiveness competencies in their realm of responsibility.

Facilitation includes developing strategies and solutions, executing programs and processes, providing learning and development, and promoting cooperation and collaboration to deliver enhanced value proposition. Thus, facilitation is a catalyst for advancement along the organizational career steps.

For example an industrial engineer has functional/technical competency in engineering obtained through a degree from a university. She is also expected to possess the necessary interpersonal and communication skills (behavioral/effectiveness competencies) for her position. In order to develop strategies and solutions for a given area of responsibility, she will need to gather requirements from various stakeholders, and with the help of variety of employees, design, test and implement a solution. All this requires facilitation of various aspects as discussed in Chapter 1, thus, is a key enabler to all her other abilities.

While many large organizations define their “competency models” for employees to adapt to and strive for, they seldom include facilitation as one of the core competencies in those models. It is almost by accident that some employees discover the importance of facilitation along their career journey. I believe that college students preparing to enter the work force must be educated and trained in facilitation. And organizations must recognize and incorporate facilitation as a core competency for all workers—particularly line managers and managers at all levels. This critical capability enhances the value proposition of employees and makes them more effective in their respective functional competencies—a win-win for the employees and for the organizations.

Facilitator’s Roles: What’s What

Employees at various levels of their organizations act as internal consultants and facilitators. This enabling competency is part of their role. Of course, external consultants and contractors are also facilitators in their chosen professional practices. Notwithstanding the facilitation competency that is discussed in Chapter 4 in the context of career steps, the following aspects constitute the enabling competency of facilitation:

• Education. The process of acquiring and imparting knowledge and skills through formal instruction especially in a skill, trade or a profession may be defined as education. The deliverer is known as an Educator.
• Training. The act of providing knowledge and skills on a unique topic using hands-on practice. In the case of adults, training is known as “learning transfer.” The deliverer is known as a Trainer.
• Consulting. The act of providing professional or expert advice and related services in a recognized discipline. The deliverer is known as a Consultant. The consultant may be internal to the organization, or external as a free-agent.
• Facilitation. The process of making “something easier.” In the context of organizations, it is the activity performed by a neutral individual who acts a catalyst for groups to solve problems and develop solutions. The deliverer is known as a Facilitator. The practice of facilitation includes consulting, education and training.
• Session/Workshop Leader. While delivering their services to any group, educators, trainers, consultants, and facilitators may be referred to as Session or Workshop Leaders. Part of the session leader’s role is to inspire and motivate the group being facilitated.

Strategy for Your Career Steps

In Chapter 4 there is a detailed description of facilitation skills and how to go about building this competency. To start with, however, you can assess where you are on the career steps of your chosen line of work and initiate your own developmental steps toward facilitation expertise:

1. Understand the career steps concepts outlined in this chapter along with the three types of competencies—with particular focus on facilitation as the enabler to other competencies.
2. Review your organization’s competency model and determine how you can align and leverage your self-development in facilitation skills. If you are in a leadership position then influence your human capital management group, such as human resources, to include facilitation in the organization’s core competency model.
3. Understand the facilitation framework in Chapter 1 and incorporate desired aspects of specialization in your own development plan. In organizations where there are no formal competency models, define your own set with the knowledge you now have of the career steps outlined in this chapter and the competency model to be defined in Chapter 4.

Facilitation Value Proposition for Organizations

The Facilitation Value Proposition is a two-sided coin: On one side of the coin are the individuals who learn and then use facilitation skills for success in their work and profession, and on the other side of the coin are the organizations who are the beneficiaries of the facilitation competency offered by the employees. Organizations make investments in any professional practice based, generally, on the ROI (Return on Investment). The ROI includes several aspects such as business growth, performance, market share, and more, providing tangible and intangible benefits. As the facilitation practice matures, organizations pay more attention to the benefits of facilitation. The International Association of Facilitators (IAF) has initiated the Facilitation Impact Awards (FIA) program to demonstrate the value of facilitation at the organization level.

The IAF Facilitation Impact Awards are the most prestigious international awards honoring excellence in facilitation and its positive, measurable impact on organizations around the world. The award recipients come from the business, non-profit and government sectors. Each recipient demonstrates evidence of achievement through significant tangible and intangible results by the descriptions of their processes. Additional information about the application process, submission guidelines, evaluation methodology, governance policy, and project charter can be found at www.iaf-fia.org (http://www.iaf-world.org/FacilitationImpactAwards.aspx).

Facilitation Impact Awards (FIA) Purpose

The overall purpose of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Facilitation Impact Awards initiative is to provide a vehicle for:

• Promoting the awareness of the role of facilitation in achieving positive, impactful results
• Rewarding the use of facilitation within organizations and communities
• Recognizing excellence in facilitation practices
• Acknowledging outstanding contributions by IAF members
• Promoting IAF and its conferences as vehicles for advancing the profession of facilitation.

The FIA website outlines examples of results achieved by various types of organizations:

• Two hundred and thirty employee-facilitated events exploring workplace issues generating a savings of nearly $500,000 (Defense, Human Resources)
• Management commitment to develop a core of full time, trained facilitators; 117 issues addressed with 300 employees directly involved; heavy equipment utilization increased from 28 percent to 92 percent, resulting in increased productivity due to a drop in wait times (Hydro/Energy)
• Estimated to achieve 40 percent to 45 percent reduction in time and effort spent on initiating projects, netting a significant savings in 2013; shortened project lead time enabling businesses to start realizing benefits earlier (Insurance)
• Employee grievances down 50 percent; 13 internal staff promoted or advanced in their career paths; 79 new recognition awards given to staff for showing initiative (Property Group)
• “Uncontentious structural change” in a major institution; shift from top-down decision making and silos toward a collaborative culture (University)
• Reduced turnaround times from a highly variable five hours to a consistent three hours; several million pounds of additional product sales, reduced per unit costs of production (Agriculture/Farm)
• Nineteen innovative ideas generated and shared; computing design improvements resulting in greater than 25 percent increase in performance (Semiconductors)
• Accelerated the pace of growth on all fronts including revenue, number of customers and development of intellectual capital; built buy-in and commitment of team toward a common vision (Consultant Services)
• A workforce focused on outcomes for citizens and working together to make that happen; more than 20 different previously autonomous change initiatives aligned; a new definition of success for staff; more efficient and effective delivery of 500 different lines of business (City Management).

Facilitators in organizations and free agent facilitators in general are encouraged to measure and document the value of the facilitation service and participate in the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Facilitation Impact Awards initiative outlined here. This will help promote the awareness and value of facilitation practices, thus resulting in a win-win for both individuals and organizations.