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 To facilitate is to make easy or easier. Expert facilitation is as much art as it is skill. Great facilitators possess just the right blend of process smarts and people smarts. They build consensus, maximize participation, and create momentum, often to the amazement of group participants. Use Dave Caskey/Caskey Consulting when … o A group is faced with an opportunity or challenge and out-of-the-box thinking is required to generate innovative options; o A group is engaging in strategic planning and needs everyone’s participation, including its leader and others who might normally facilitate; o A group is in conflict with itself, with its leaders, or with the organization around it, and the level of conflict is affecting performance; o Executives are in need of a stand-in leader who has no agenda other than to help them deal with their immediate issues and do their best work. My success stories … o I facilitated a workgroup made up of senior leaders from the Department of Defense tasked with reengineering the agency’s human resources compensation systems for more than 700,000 civilian personnel. This high profile project, authorized by Congress in 2003 and known as the National Security Personnel System, is expected to drive historic culture change through all branches of the military. o I facilitated a strategic planning session for a national non-profit organization that united leaders behind a shared vision of the future and yielded three concrete goals for growth. o I guided the Boards of two fledgling non-profit organizations through the creation and adoption of formal bylaws and policy manuals.
Organizational development is not about the work an organization does, but how the organization does its work. It’s about shedding light on often elusive root causes, re-thinking structures and processes, and shifting values and perspectives. The focus is on building healthy relationships between individuals and groups and on helping organizations initiate and manage change. Use Dave Caskey/Caskey Consulting when … o A group or organization knows it needs fixing but is stuck in an elusive problem-solving loop that is draining valuable time and energy; o A group or organization knows exactly what is wrong but is unsure of what to do or even how to talk about it; o A group or organization is performing well and wants to explore how to reach even higher heights; o Executives need help planning and implementing initiatives to drive strategic change in an organization’s structure, culture, or work processes. My success stories … o I developed and implemented change management interventions to facilitate the success of two large-scale, mission-critical technology implementations. At Georgia-Pacific, I partnered with human resources directors and managers to assess the impact of an SAP implementation on existing policies and procedures. At Delta Technology (a Delta Air Lines company), I completed a needs assessment for the Airport Renewal/E-Ticketing Project that highlighted organizational readiness issues, including job design impacts, training, and the need for new employee performance metrics. o I facilitated a process for the executive leadership team and staff of an association management company that allowed participants to reflect on the organization’s rapid growth and the impact of that growth on work processes and organizational culture. o I facilitated a Myers-Briggs workshop for the IT department of a mid-size association in the Washington DC area to strengthen team problem-solving skills and enhance relationships with internal clients.
The number one reason employees cite when leaving a job is “my manager”. Effective management is an essential key to organizational success. It makes good business sense for an organization to invest in developing the people and task management skills of its managers. A well-rounded management development program includes assessment and feedback, basic supervisory skills training, and ongoing professional development. Use Dave Caskey/Caskey Consulting when … o Your organization is considering implementing a management development program and needs guidance on where and how to start; o New supervisors need training on how to set performance expectations, provide effective feedback, resolve conflict between employees, interview job candidates, and more; o Your organization wants to provide worthwhile development opportunities to managers who say they have no time for learning. My success stories … o I am certified to teach all courses in Development Dimensions International’s management and leadership development curriculum. o I teach a class on employee relations at Cornell University where I serve as an adjunct faculty member. This class includes modules on organizational culture, communication skills, and coaching/counseling, and is part of the core curriculum for the Human Resources Studies Certificate program. o I facilitated a series of workshops on writing SMART objectives to support the rollout of a new performance management system to more than 500 managers and directors.
o
I
designed a course and developed job aids, including rating tools
and a question guide, to support the rollout of an innovative
interview team process to more than 200 supervisors.
A quality training solution begins and ends with assessment, and effective assessment considers many factors. Performance expectations, skill, motivation, the work environment - all should be considered before training begins, and reconsidered after training ends. Taking a systems approach to training - using a performance consulting model - guarantees the training will both stick and yield the highest return on investment (ROI) possible. My success stories … o I mapped competencies for more than 1500 Unisource call center employees nationwide as a first step in their transition from traditional customer service to in-house sales support. o I restructured the human resources training program at the American Psychological Association to strategically align all course offerings with the organization’s core performance management competencies.
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I
piloted the use of customer satisfaction surveys by Delta
Technology Field Services managers to measure organizational
performance and the effectiveness of performance improvement
initiatives.
Effective training improves skill, builds confidence, and measurably enhances job performance. That requires more than dropping content into a slide presentation. It requires clear performance and learning objectives, materials and media that engage participants, activities that reinforce learning, and an instructor who can bring it all home. My success stories … o I taught a two-week course on instructional design and presentation skills, as a subcontractor for Northrop Grumman, to officers of the Algerian military. These first-time instructors will serve as faculty for a new technical training institute under development in Algeria. o I developed training materials and job aids to support the implementation of a new time entry system for more than 500 employees and supervisors at the American Psychological Association. o I launched the in-house development of web-based training products at Georgia-Pacific, curbing the high cost of outsourcing courseware development while simultaneously insuring the consistent application of courseware development standards.
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I
helped develop a new hire training program for Delta Technology
that succeeded in reducing the average time to minimal
proficiency on the job from 6 months to 2 weeks.
Training, like any other business function, has budgets to be managed and deadlines to be met. The bigger the project, the greater the need for an experienced project manager who will develop a detailed project plan, negotiate vendor contracts, oversee interim staff, coordinate logistics, and manage expectations through appropriate reporting and communication. My success stories … o I spearheaded the development and delivery of a $1.8 million curriculum to support the Airport Renewal/E-Ticketing Project, a multi-year initiative to replace Delta Air Lines’ information technology structure worldwide. More than 1200 technicians were enrolled in this expansive curriculum that included instructor-led learning, technology-based training, and written certification exams. o I directed the development and delivery of training to support the acquisition, and conversion to SAP-HR, of both Unisource (10,000 employees) and Fort James (35,000 employees) by Georgia-Pacific. This training included a full curriculum of classes for SAP end-users as well as multiple weeklong workshops for hundreds of HR managers and staff from across the country. |
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