The GMarie Group has completed literally hundreds of performance improvement projects for our clients. Here are some brief desciptions of recent projects:
| Performance Issues |
Services & Solutions |
| Employee Development: Training |
Classroom-Based Training: needs assessment,
instructional design and training materials development.
A national retailer, with over 1,500 store locations across the US,
required standardized training for all site managers, due to outdated
training materials and approaches. The task was complicated by the
fact that different processes and systems were used in different regions
of the country. |
- Conducted a needs assessment to determine what
skills were required for the position of Site Manager, what existing
training methodologies could be leveraged and what systemic variables
existed which might impact the success of standardized training
- Suggested a training curriculum, including topics,
methods and sequence
- Developed detailed design documents for each
training component
- Designed training materials: Participant Guides,
Leader Guides and visuals
|
Self-Study Training: instructional
design and development.
A major financial institution, with over 132,000 employees, determined
that paper-based self-study materials were necessary to instruct
customer service associates how to appropriately process specific
loan types, according to federal regulations and company policy. |
- Developed detailed design documents for each self-study module
- Designed training materials, using the financial institution's internal materials templates
|
Web-Based Training: needs assessment, instructional design and storyboard development.
A lending institution, focused on increasing its Web-Based training offerings, needed to update associates on proper procedures, due to a system change that resulted in shifting of job responsibilities and process changes. |
- Conducted a needs assessment to determine how
job responsibilities were changing, how system changes impacted
current job tasks and how existing training materials could be
used as a template from which to develop new materials
- Suggested a training curriculum, including
topics and sequence
- Developed detailed design documents for each
Web-Based module
- Designed storyboards for each module
- Consulted with the designers as the Web modules
were programmed
|
| Employee Development: Coaching |
Workshop: Train-the-Coach
The training and development community in a large metropolitan area indicated that their organizations could benefit from the use of coaching methodologies and approaches with their front-line staff. The mid-level managers, it was believed, could use coaching techniques to maximize the application of skills and concepts learned in training, as well as for performance management. |
- Developed a half-day workshop focused on a particular
set of coaching skills
- Conducted the workshop for an audience of training
and development professionals
- Provided 1:1 coaching with the workshop attendees,
to assist them in implementing the techniques with mid-level managers
|
Presentation: using coaching skills for needs assessment.
A local chapter of a national professional organization requested a presentation about the experience of working in a firm consulting with large organizations. Noting a major performance gap for many training and development professionals is in the area of needs assessment, this topic was the focus of the presentation. |
- Developed a presentation on the use of coaching
skills to conduct more thorough and effective needs assessment
discussions
- Designed interactive exercises to allow practice
of the coaching skills
- Delivered presentation, facilitated exercises
and conducted group discussions of concepts
- Provided 1:1 coaching and consultation with
presentation attendees
|
| Communication |
Team Meeting Design & Facilitation
The procurement organization of a global petroleum company was conducting a three-day meeting of its management staff to engage managers in modeling company leadership behaviors, determining methods for maximizing department effectiveness and developing approaches for implementing business improvement plans for the coming year. |
- Worked with procurement executives to determine meeting
outcomes and develop meeting design
- Provided consulting/direction on collateral materials
distributed or presented at the meeting
- Facilitated the three-day meeting
- Documented the meeting outcomes
|
Meeting Design & Facilitation
A national insurance company sought to develop a talent pool of associates, skilled and available to be promoted into supervisory positions. Their desire to develop this talent pool grew out of their experience of supervisor-hiring being a lengthy and sometimes ineffective process. |
- Co-developed a process determining criteria to identify
potential members of the "talent pool"
- Co-developed tools for applying these criteria
- Facilitated meetings with existing supervisors to
use the tools to identify the talent pool
- Assisted in designing a development program for the
final members of the talent pool
- Mentored and supervised the implementation of the
development plans for these individuals
|
Message Development
The Communications Department of a major oil company had recently updated and changed its corporate communication policy. They wanted to convey the essence of the policy to all 10,000 employees, worldwide, in a cost-effective, user-friendly manner. |
- Researched options to disseminate information worldwide
and developed recommendations
- Created a detailed design, using key points of the
policy and application scenarios
- Developed an on-line, interactive presentation
|
| Performance Standardization |
Process Documentation/ Procedure Development
The fraud unit of a large financial institution relocated associates from
one location to another. Associates in the first location completed tasks
for a significant amount of time, were hired one-at-a-time and were "trained"
via on-the-job observation and through peer coaching. With the move, multiple
associates would be trained at once, making it necessary to document all
processes and procedures to provide content for training development. |
- Worked on-site with the current associates to determine
processes requiring documentation
- Developed over 80 procedures, using the financial
institution's procedure template
|
Job Aid Design and Development
A multinational travel and financial services organization was implementing customer service, consulting and sales skills training for their large staff of phone-based associates taking travel-related phone inquiries. The instructor-led training followed a standard model of introducing concepts, providing examples and demonstrations, conducting practice/feedback sessions and assessment. While the training was effective, the organization was concerned associates would fail to use the skills consistently. |
- Developed a series of job aids to provide step-by-step
instructions in how to apply skills
- Summarized large amounts of information into small,
user-friendly packages
- Developed "scripted" responses associates
could easily access and use
|
Reference Guide Design/Development
A global petroleum company was implementing an employee opinion survey and utilizing their front-line managers to interpret survey results for their teams. Action plans were to be developed based on the results. The training materials provided by the vendor were expensive and cumbersome to use. The petroleum company required brief, user-friendly training and documentation to support the managers in their new roles. |
- Analyzed the employee opinion survey vendor’s
materials to determine key points necessary for manager success
- Developed a manager’s reference guide to support
employee opinion survey responsibilities
- Designed graphics and reference tools to increase
ease of understanding
|
| Project Management |
Large Scale Instructional Design
A large insurance firm was recruiting new college graduates and placing them in a nine-month training program that included classroom learning, application experiences and on-the-job work experience. The design of the associate training program was complete, but the development of the materials needed to be managed to an aggressive timeline and according on the needs of the internal client. |
- Developed a process for materials development, review,
approval and production
- Developed a project plan (dates, roles, responsibilities,
assignments)
- Managed a multi-person design team to deadlines, content
requirements and materials standards
- Consulted with project owner ensuring participation,
compliance and understanding of issues and roadblocks
- Successfully managed the completion of training materials
for nearly 80 modules, on time and per client standards
|
If you would like more detail about any of these projects, or would like to see a detailed Case Study of a project type not listed here, please contact us.
