Issue 24 - April 2009

Greetings from abdi
abdi ltd has a depth of experience unique in the UK in impact measurement and ROI studies to assess investment in human capital. abdi ltd undertakes external evaluations and trains key individuals in private and public sector organisations to measure return on investment in HR interventions of all sorts including learning and development, change programmes and international assignments. Check out our website www.abdi.eu.com

• Questions of impact
  
• Getenergy 2009
• Knowledge of ROI is spreading.....
• ROI in Scotland and Wales
  
• New abdi ROI awards
  
• Building a library - 5
• 2009 public courses
  

Every now and again The Times comes up with the reader's letter that makes you want to stand up and cheer. A few days ago a correspondent wrote to say that after something of a struggle he now knew what was meant by the term 'quantitative easing'. But he no longer understood the word 'money'.

This relationship between statements that teeter on the brink of either euphemism or jargon and simple hard statements of fact is something we grapple with all the time planning and carrying through ROI evaluations.

One of the learning tools we use with ROI students on their 2 day Foundation Course involves getting them to try to penetrate some of this 'planning and reporting' language. You can not use something in an evaluation unless you know both what it means, and what kind of meaning it has.

ROI is concerned with impact evaluation. So understanding whether something is or is not an impact is crucial.

And here the point is to understand the difference between someone just doing something different, and something new or additional happening as a result of the action.

So if I say that a new system for recording customer satisfaction is now producing reports on a weekly basis, is that an impact? No it is not. All I have done is changed some practice. I have no idea what the result will be.

If I say that my new system has recorded an annual rise in customer satisfaction of 5%, is that an impact? Yes it is. It would be an equally important impact if what was recorded was a 5% drop in customer satisfaction.  

Back to 'quantitative easing', which certainly does not qualify as an impact. The government, or more properly the Bank of England, has simply done something: embarked on a purchase of its own bonds, thereby in effect creating some more money and putting it into the system. But neither they nor we know yet what the result will be.
And as for 'money'...... perhaps we should put that one on hold for a bit.

Jane Massy


Getenergy 2009

On 17 March Jane Massy delivered an ROI workshop to a highly-engaged group of 45 energy company executives and learning professionals at the world Getenergy 2009 Conference at London's Business Design Centre.

An unusual aspect of Geternegy is that the organisers ban Powerpoints. The idea is to challenge speakers to think through ways of actively involving their audience rather than just switching onto autopilot. 

Jane had them working on quite a challenging retail sector problem from the US.  The problem was to design the needs and objectives for an interactive selling skills programme. They worked in small groups to draw up needs and objectives aligned with the ROI Levels. 

A far more demanding 1.5 hour session than most conferences can offer. It will be interesting to see how fast energy companies plug into the message that they can and should begin to track the impact of the many millions they spend on training and HR.

Knowledge of ROI is spreading......

In April the mind seems to turn to auditing - even if it is no longer the end of everyone's financial year. What has struck us this year is how rapidly knowledge and use of our ROI Methodology is now spreading in the UK.

Since March of 2008 we have delivered abdi ROI training to no fewer than 249 individuals.

Most of this happens in-house in client organisations, and in the same 12 month period we have delivered no fewer than 24 courses on the premises of our major clients, including Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority, Royal Bank of Scotland, Volkswagen, Warwickshire College and Nokia Siemens Networks Academy.


ROI in Scotland and Wales

In last month's newsletter we asked if there is a demand for running abdi ROI courses (the Foundation course in the first instance) in Scotland or Wales. We regularly have candidates from both who come to Cambridge, but will gladly respond to demand and deliver them closer to candidates' homes and work.

We have already had several positive responses from Scotland, and are looking carefully at the feasibility of running a Foundation Course there this year.  We hope to announce a major ROI event in Scotland within the next few weeks, and are currently following up a good deal of interest from key public sector organisations and companies.

Let us know if it would suit you. We will see what we can do.
If you want to suggest a non-Cambridge venue contact jeremy@abdi.eu.com

New abdi ROI awards

Many congratulations to the latest group of successful award candidates.

abdi ROI Foundation Award:
James Short - The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
 
abdi ROI Evaluator Award:
Jonathan Chamberlain – Nokia-Siemens Network Academy
Josef Haenseler – Nokia-Siemens Network Academy
Christoph Mueller – Nokia-Siemens Network Academy
Steven Whitford – Nokia-Siemens Network Academy
Lara Milioli – Nokia-Siemens Network Academy

And do not forget.....

......if you were ROI trained by us before the summer of 2008 and would like to see how you can get accreditation - you will not have to sit the course again. Get in touch through info@abdi.eu.com and we will talk to you about it.


Building a library - 5

Leading Change, John P Kotter, Harvard Business School Press, 1996

Time to start looking at some of the key books that ought to on the shelf alongside the important ROI texts.  And where better to start right now than with changed and leadership?

There is plenty of aspirational tripe talked about both change and leadership, but there are some excellent thinkers as well and John P Kotter, Harvard Business School professor and international speaker and writer, is one of them.

The reason he is good, and the reason we suggest that ROI practitioners read him, is that he goes easy on the charisma stuff and the win-win stuff, and writes well about the strength of reflective, evidence-based approaches to leadership.  He writes about a former classmate who has done very well leading and growing a company, but who did not much impress him when they were students.

'When faced with an unexpected downturn', he writes, 'he would often become angry or morose, but he would never give up or let defensiveness paralyze him.......he watched more closely and listened more carefully than did most others.....listening with an open mind, trying new things, reflecting honestly on successes and failures - none of this requires a high IQ, an MBA degree or a privileged background. Yet remarkably few people behave in these ways today, especially after age 35, and especially when they are doing well in their careers'.

Those who see that the real point of the ROI Methodology is its contribution to strategic planning and continuous performance improvement will appreciate Kotter's affirmation of the effectiveness of paying attention to the evidence base - what works and what does not - and his insistence on the importance building strong coalitions based on  good communication and accountability.

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