A Guide to Building a Scalable PS Organization and Avoiding Burnout of Your Best People
Background
Through our work with clients, RTM Consulting has been able to analyze the utilization data of a variety of Consulting and Professional Service Organizations (PSOs) - both large and small. In virtually every situation, we have seen that 10-20% of the population is 90% or more utilized. In a number of cases, 5-10% of the population was over 100% utilized. We all know that overtime and “going the distance” is part of the job, but in these cases, people were 100%+ utilized for a full year. What makes matters worse, anywhere from 20-40% of the population was less than 60% utilized.
How does this happen? Do these statements sound familiar?
Many PSOs start as small organizations. In small organizations, PS executives hire “experts” or employees develop into experts by necessity as there is no one else around to do the job. As the PSO grows, either organically or through acquisition, the same initial experts are still doing a majority of the work. The organization is systematically either unable or unwilling to mint a new generation of experts.
This document will provide a guide to building a scalable PS organization.
Why is This a Problem?
Amazingly, many PSOs do not fully recognize the extent of this problem. First of all, the problem is often masked at the executive level because:
- Somehow the work keeps getting accomplished; and
- Overall utilization is at or near the target for the organization.
The beauty of the typical pool of experts in PSOs is that they just keep on going. They thrive on being “in demand” and at the center of the action of the organization. Additionally, when the PSO executive looks at the data, the 10-20% of the PS employees with extremely high utilization helps to balance out the 20-40% with low utilization. The result is an organization that has net utilization in the high 60% range. When viewed in aggregate, executives see this utilization as “ok” and move on to other issues.
The issue is that one of two things will happen:
- The experts will eventually burn-out - and leave the organization; or
- The organization will not be able to scale to meet expanding needs (which only serves to accelerate the first point).
Breaking the Subject Matter Expert Shortage Cycle
The problem of a Subject Matter Expert (SME) shortage is often seen as a classic “chicken and egg” problem: an expert needs experience, but a resource cannot get experience without being an expert. That is, Account Teams do not want to invest the funds required to staff a junior resource on the project, but the junior resource will not become an expert without real world field experience.
I contend that the decision does not need to be seen as an “either, or” problem. Rather, by shifting their thinking to “developing” SMEs, PSO executives can break the SME shortage cycle. There are three key steps that PSO executives can take:
- Deploy a Career Coaching Model;
- Launch Comprehensive Development Programs; and
- Employ Strategic Staffing Assignments.
Career Coaching Model
Many of the PSOs we have seen operate in the traditional command and control, top down organization structure. Put more simply, each person on the organization chart works for the person that gives them their daily / weekly / monthly work tasks. However, in this model, the employee’s supervisor is not always the “expert” in the topic area of the employee. The supervisor is a supervisor.
To be successful in grooming new SMEs, new members to the PS team need to have a mentor, a coach, a person they can call to get their questions answered.
They also need someone looking out for their future assignments, helping chart out a course of assignments that help them build the necessary skills. Career Coaching is the foundation that provides the employee with a safe place to address their needs.
Comprehensive Development Programs
Training, Development, Knowledge Transfer. Call it what you want, we all know it needs to be done. However, we all rarely spend enough time, energy or money in this area. Yet, it is so critical. In our work doing Resource Management Diagnostics, a common refrain from most client organizations is that “We need more training.” These programs do not need to be expensive programs. Rather, it can be:
- Self paced training that is taken after normal work hours;
- Access to a well organized knowledge base that is accessible electronically; or
- A message board that is governed by other experts in the organization.
The resources you have hired are smart, intelligent people. Otherwise you would not have hired them. You simply need to give them the access to tools, knowledge base, reference guides that will help them along the way.
Strategic Staffing
Of the three recommendations, this is likely the cheapest to implement and most productive in developing future experts. As mentioned early in this paper, we often hear the refrain, “We need more experts. I am willing to let some new employees shadow a project - but I’m not going to pay for them.” The problem is, someone needs to pay, but few PSOs allocate the budget for idle resources.
To address this need, we have seen successful PSOs leverage the staffing assignment process to build new experts. As project needs are defined, they look at how to pair up more and less experienced resources. This could involve:
- Pairing up two new developers with a more seasoned developer;
- Staffing a new / junior project manager on a team of seasoned architects and analysts; or
- Assigning an expert architect to three projects and giving the expert the leverage of three to four junior architects across those projects.
The list of permutations and combinations could go on. The point is, by strategically staffing your teams you can create the opportunity to develop new experts. You may be throwing new people into an uncomfortable environment, but you are also surrounding them with the additional support that they need to get the job done - and learn from the experience.
Closing
We have all seen heroic delivery. Through the course of our progression up the PSO career ladder, we have likely exhibited some of these traits: going above and beyond; working 70+ hour work weeks; making it happen. These are all great traits in an individual - but difficult to scale in an organization.
Losing a hero can have a tremendous impact on a PSO. PSO executives need to make their experts expendable - by developing more experts. Developing people is a process and will take time; but, it’s better than the alternative of doing nothing and finding yourself without the right people.
About RTM Consulting
RTM Consulting, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, provides strategic and operational advice to assist technology companies increase revenues and grow margins, by leveraging professional and consulting services more effectively. Specializing in Global Resource Management and Professional Services Business Optimization, RTM Consulting helps IT hardware, software and pure consulting businesses achieve the benefits associated with a successful professional and consulting services portfolio. With its unique Business Acceleration Services and focus on operational excellence, RTM Consulting helps large, medium and small firms move beyond theory to practical application of industry best practices and achievement of exceptional results in the shortest possible period of time.
© 2008 RTM Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved.
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