EVALUATION
Regardless of the models and tools we use, seasoned performance improvement professionals position our work in the context of critical business goals, requirements, or initiatives, and clearly tie what we do to one or all of these.
Identify the Business Requirements
We begin with the end in mind by learning from the client what critical business, process, or individual issues are of concern and how improved performance can impact what the client identifies as most important. This is what the client values, and to call out these elements at the beginning of an engagement is a hallmark of success in performance improvement. One colleague begins every project by identifying the related business requirements and posting them at his desk as a reminder throughout the engagement (in conversation with Lane, 2004).
Evaluation Planning
With the business need clearly identified, we move ahead with the performance improvement project and plan what and when we will evaluate. This advance planning is key to successful evaluation. Legions of practitioners wait until implementation to go hunting for baseline information to compare to results. Then they attempt to evaluate those results only to discover the near impossibility of doing so at the end of the project.
The best to time plan how you will evaluate a solution is when you and your client agree on the action(s) to be taken. Experienced performance improvement specialists design evaluation to:
• Show that the solution closes the identified performance gap
• Relate to the business requirements
• Have value and meaning for all groups that have a stake in the performance issue
• Compare results to the baseline information collected at project inception
Formative Evaluation. Successful performance improvement initiatives usually include formative evaluation in the project plan. Wise performance consultants evaluate their projects at each milestone—a practice that keeps everyone on track and helps to identify any needed revisions early so that they can be made before additional expenses are incurred.
Summative Evaluation. This is the evaluation that determines whether or not a solution will be implemented, revised, or discontinued. It is usually conducted at the conclusion of the pilot or after a limited implementation. It marks the “go/no go” decision point.
Return on Investment. Finally, we want to provide our client with meaningful measures to show that the investment the organization made to improve performance has paid off. If we accurately identify the Critical Business Issue (Rummler, 2004) at the organizational level, the Critical Job Issue at the worker or individual level, and/or the Critical Process Issue at the work or process level, we will have the necessary metrics to measure success.
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