Effective people and productivity management
Peter Scott
Peter Scott Consulting
Effective people and productivity management
• Measuring the financial value of human capital
• Making best use of your people to increase profitability
• Partners and profitability
Measuring the financial value of human capital
Is your business leaking money like a sieve?
Leaking like a sieve?
because you do not have the
right…..
….leadership and influencing skills to get the best out of your
people?
Is this you?Is this you?
….people environment to make your business a real success?
Are we all going in the same direction?
….mechanisms to prevent the attrition of high quality
performers?
This will happen to your talent unless…
This will happen to your talent unless…
TALENT€
….systems to manage relationship conflict?
“Heavyweight gorilla”
“You can’t manage me.
I’m a big biller!”
….systems to manage the people risks in your business?
Law Firm Risks
Peop
le
Op
eration
alRegulatory
IT
Co
mp
etit
ion
/bu
sin
ess
Eco
no
mic
,p
olit
ical
,fi
scal
Financial
Asset
Reputational
Management
Examples of People Risks• Advice/client care/client matters
• Client relationships
• Loss of teams/partners
• Real cost of staff turnover/recruitment
• Regulatory regimes–Equal opportunities–Age and Sex discrimination & harassment–Disability–Racial equality–Dismissals–Maternity–Working time regulations–Pensions Management
….culture to support high performance levels?
Values
Skills & Behaviours
Performance Metrics – Qual/Quant
Performance Review
Closing the Performance Gap
Learning & Development Strategy
Building a performance culture
What is the real cost of replacing people?
The real cost of replacing people
• Disruption
• Recruitment fees
• Training of new recruits
• Effect on morale of people leaving
• Loss of relationships / clients
How to retain and get the best out of your people?
Help them maximise their full potential –
This requires investment in your people
Investment in your people?
For example
Who has a ‘New Partner Programme’ designed
- to bring people through to partnership?
- and which continues throughout partnership?
Investment in your people requires?
- Leadership and vision
- Values
- Training
- Mentoring
- Coaching
- Empowering
- Supporting
Are you investing sufficient in your people to realise their
financial value to your business?
Building profitability through people management
• Stop leaking money like a sieve!
• Building people performance
• Make best use of your people resource
To do this you will need a strategy
“Strategy is a realistic plan or course of
action to gain competitive advantage which
has clear and achievable objectives and
uses available resources”
Your greatest resource?
Your people
Values
Skills & Behaviours
Performance Metrics – Qual/Quant
Performance Review
Closing the Performance Gap
Learning & Development Strategy
Building people performance
What does it take to succeed at your firm?
• What do you value?
• Do you invest in what you value?
• Do you reward what you value?
leverage delegation
An integrated strategy to best use your people resources
Delegation is key to profitability
• Be a better boss by doing less work!
• Match the level of work to the appropriate level of expertise / cost
• Sell at the right price!
= improved margin
Leverage - you need to be aiming for this
Equity partners
Other fee earners
Not this
Equity partners
Other fee earners
Leverage will differ from firm to firm
Will depend on:
• A firm’s work type / client type mix
• How a firm ‘adds value’ to its clients
You will add value if…
• You provide clients with what they want – and more
• At prices they perceive to be value for money; and
• You do this better than the competition
High Value – Added Services
• Focus on specific client types/work types• Seek leadership in a few, cohesive segments• Nurture wisdom/experience within the firm
High value- added services – strategic impact on client – generally wisdom/experience driven
Low Value – Added Services
• Value enhanced by–Driving down cost – ensure lowest cost–Investing in standardising processes–Facilitating implementation of solutions
Low value –added firms will compete on processes and price – technology driven services with minimum professional input
Low Value – Added Services
• To be successful firms need to
–constantly squeeze out more value for same cost
–Ensure financial strength to stay the course–Avoid creating the perception of reduced “quality”
But greater leverage requires more risk management
• Supervision
• Training
• Case management systems
• ‘Knowledge’ on part of management
And leverage and delegation involve teamworking
Why are teams important?
Together
Each
Achieves
More
Teams provide…
Support
Ability to delegate
Continuity of service delivery
Sense of purpose
Accountability / peer pressure
Esprit de corps
Are all your people ‘team players’?
How not to be a team player?
‘we have no room for those who put their personal agenda ahead of the interests of the clients or the office’
David Maister’s ‘Predictive package’
“Do own thing”
“That’s a great idea… …for the rest of you”
But people resources are scarce
• Cannot be all things to all men
• Need to build focus into your business
• Focus on
- work types
- client types
in order to gain competitive advantage
Balancing your profit and your partner numbers
How many equity partners should you have to maximise
profit?
Every firm is different – but factors to be
considered may include:
• Your work type / client type mix
• How a firm best adds value
• Ability to supervise and manage
• Culture of firm / financial ambitions
Your partners?
• Are you getting the best out of your partners?
• Who does NOT have an underperforming partner?
How much is partner underperformance costing you?
• Direct financial loss?
• Loss of good partners and staff?
• Loss of morale?
• Loss of relationships / clients?
What are you now going to do to stop your firm leaking money like a sieve?
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