Resource Performance Evaluation Process

Overall Project Mission

The overall project mission involved the implementation of a standardized evaluation process for all Associate Principals in this global management consulting firm. Traditionally, most of the evaluation process was conducted on an office or practice basis. The results of the office or practice process were then submitted to a global committee to determine the final assessment.  However, the office/practice process resulted in inconsistent evaluations and was highly inefficient. By implementing a standardized process, these issues would be addressed.

The Change Management Challenge

The implementation of the new evaluation process significantly affected multiple groups and thousands of people across the firm.  Each of these groups had different roles in the evaluation process, were located in various countries, and some were often at a client site.  For the new process to be successful, these varied groups needed to adopt and embrace the change.

The Program

The overall change management program was designed to manage organizational issues.  These issues were identified using stakeholder analysis to identify; the key stakeholders, the level of influence they have on the process, their key concerns, and how to address them.  The resulting change management program consisted of four phases to ensure that communication was tailored to the desired goals of the phase and according to each stakeholder.

Call for Support - The support of the global committee was key in ensuring the support of other stakeholders.  Thus, several meetings were held with the committee chair and other members to ensure they were fully aware of the potential benefits and the need for their support in the implementation.  With their buy-in, the team drafted emails for the chair to send to a number of key stakeholders about the new process.

Information Sharing - The team developed a tiered communication plan to share information with the large number of stakeholders.  The plan took into account the most effective sender and mediums of communication. 

Call for Action - When the time came to start using the new process, the team developed training materials and rolled out the new process. Given that most of the users of the system were non-technical, the team ensured that technology would not be a barrier to adoption by providing email and telephone support on a global basis.

Reinforcement - During the process, the team requested the global committee to ensure adherence from senior executives in the organization. Additionally, to alleviate administrative workload, the team conducted conference calls and demos with the administrative assistants of the global committee members and other senior executives.