The document discusses effective people and productivity management in businesses. It addresses measuring the financial value of human capital, maximizing the productivity of employees, and fostering profitability. Specific topics covered include quantifying the real costs of staff turnover, the importance of investing in training and developing employees, using metrics to improve performance, and leveraging employees at different levels to increase profit margins. The document emphasizes developing an integrated strategy to make the best use of people resources through leadership, delegation, teamwork and talent retention.

1. Effective people and
productivity management
Peter Scott
Peter Scott Consulting

2. Effective people and productivity
management
• Measuring the financial value of human
capital
• Making best use of your people to
increase profitability
• Partners and profitability

3. Measuring the financial
value of human capital

4. Is your business leaking money
like a sieve?

5. Leaking like a sieve?
because you do not have the
right…..

6. ….leadership and influencing
skills to get the best out of your
people?

7. Is this you?

8. ….people environment to make
your business a real success?

9. Are we all going in the same
direction?

10. ….mechanisms to prevent the
attrition of high quality
performers?

11. This will happen to your talent
unless…
TALENT €

12. ….systems to manage
relationship conflict?

13. “Heavyweight gorilla”
“You can’t
manage me.
I’m a big biller!”

14. ….systems to manage the
people risks in your business?

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Com iness
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Law Firm Risks
Pe
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Regulat
ory

16. 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

17. ….culture to support high
performance levels?

18. Building a performance culture
Values
Skills & Behaviours
Performance Metrics – Qual/Quant
Performance Review
Closing the Performance Gap
Learning & Development Strategy

19. What is the real cost of replacing
people?

20. The real cost of replacing people
• Disruption
• Recruitment fees
• Training of new recruits
• Effect on morale of people leaving
• Loss of relationships / clients

21. How to retain and get the best
out of your people?
Help them maximise their full potential –
This requires investment in your people

22. Investment in your people?
For example
Who has a ‘New Partner Programme’
designed
- to bring people through to partnership?
- and which continues throughout
partnership?

23. Investment in your people
requires?
- Leadership and vision
- Values
- Training
- Mentoring
- Coaching
- Empowering
- Supporting

24. Are you investing sufficient in
your people to realise their
financial value to your
business?

25. Building profitability through
people management
• Stop leaking money like a sieve!
• Building people performance
• Make best use of your people resource

26. 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”

27. Your greatest resource?
Your people

28. Building people performance
Values
Skills & Behaviours
Performance Metrics – Qual/Quant
Performance Review
Closing the Performance Gap
Learning & Development Strategy

29. 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?

30. An integrated strategy to best
use your people resources
leverage delegation

31. 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

32. Leverage - you need to be aiming
for this
Equity partners
Other fee earners

33. Not this
Equity partners
Other fee earners

34. 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

35. 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

36. High Value – Added Services
High value- added services – strategic
impact on client – generally
wisdom/experience driven
• Focus on specific client types/work types
• Seek leadership in a few, cohesive segments
• Nurture wisdom/experience within the firm

37. Low Value – Added Services
Low value –added firms will compete on
processes and price – technology driven
services with minimum professional
input
• Value enhanced by
–Driving down cost – ensure lowest cost
–Investing in standardising processes
–Facilitating implementation of solutions

38. 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”

39. But greater leverage requires
more risk management
• Supervision
• Training
• Case management systems
• ‘Knowledge’ on part of management

40. And leverage and delegation
involve teamworking
Why are teams important?
Together
Each
Achieves
More

41. Teams provide…
Support
Ability to delegate
Continuity of service delivery
Sense of purpose
Accountability / peer pressure
Esprit de corps

42. Are all your people ‘team
players’?

43. 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’

44. “Do own thing”
“That’s a great idea…
…for the rest of you”

45. 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

46. Balancing your profit and
your partner numbers

47. 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

48. Your partners?
• Are you getting the best out of your
partners?
• Who does NOT have an underperforming
partner?

49. How much is partner
underperformance costing you?
• Direct financial loss?
• Loss of good partners and staff?
• Loss of morale?
• Loss of relationships / clients?

50. What are you now going to do to stop
your firm leaking money like a sieve?