book club. The manager group signed up for readings and group discussions of a selection of landmark books on the topic of decision science. This was a low-effort, low-cost, high-impact way of accomplishing training that could not be accomplished as part of the day-to-day execution of the business.

Another often-overlooked source of training is simple networking and involvement in outside industry groups. Professionals can get significant advice and new viewpoints from discussing issues they are facing in the management of their firm or delivery of their service with others in the same or similar businesses. Professional networking groups that facilitate such meetings are easy to locate for a given geography and profession and can generate a large return on the time invested in them.

Certain professions or roles may have specific certifications that are helpful (or essential). The technology services business is rife with certifications; the fields of law, accounting, real estate, and architecture have a variety of professional certifications that are required or are helpful. As with training, the firm may elect to link the achievement or retention of certain certifications to promotion and advancement.

Finally, firms of a certain size may elect to create a department or group dedicated to professional training. Firms with more than 100 professionals may consider having at least one resource dedicated to internal training. Other factors determining the need for dedicated internal training resources include highly specific skills or knowledge needed to deliver firm services and high attrition rates resulting in large numbers of new staff over a long period of time.

Management Coaching

Much of the day-to-day professional development in a services firm comes from direct manager feedback to staff, delivered on an ongoing basis. This informal, real-time feedback is an important kind of training for staff; therefore, managers should be aware of the best ways to work with their teams in providing feedback.

Robert S. Bailey of the Center for Creative Leadership has developed a framework for guiding manager feedback styles for employees based on their current performance. The framework highlights that the management style most appropriate for underperforming employees is different for moderate-performing employees and again different for high-performing employees.3

The matrix, adapted here from The Architects Handbook of Professional Practice, is shown in Exhibit 10.3. The distribution of employee performance falls roughly on a normal curve, placing employees in one of four quadrants. The most appropriate management style for each employee type is outlined in each quadrant.

A final management coaching issue for professional staff to be aware of is the challenges created for staff as they transition from individual producer

Appropriate behaviors

Adaptable

Coaching

Energetic

Interactive

Involving

Resourceful

Appropriate behaviors Decisive Directing Determined Forceful Initiating Structuring

The arrows and box numbers 1 through 4 show the progression both you and the employee intend and hope for. At any time performance falls off, drop to the next lower box.

Lets Go

CD $3

Appropriate behaviors Appreciative Considerate Encouraging Patient Supportive Understanding

Appropriate behaviors Analytical Delegating Deliberate Methodical Organized Reflective

Note: Unless you are managing in this area of task controlling, you are probably not training your successor -its your future competitor, instead!

Performance level of the employee

Exhibit 10.3 Manager Feedback Approach Matrix

roles to roles that incorporate management responsibilities. This can be a difficult transition, particularly in professional services firms, which tend to value high levels of output for entry-level and early-career professionals. These staff tend to fall back on individual producer habits, even after promotion to manager. Eventually, the amount of work required cannot be completed by an individual, making leverage and management expertise critical. Training and monitoring new managers to learn how to effectively achieve results from their teams is a critical part of helping the new manager to succeed and avoid burnout.

Summary

The professional development mechanism, compensation structure, and career plan for professional and administrative staff are one of the most important

predictors of overall staff satisfaction and retention. These areas, however, often get overlooked in the daily focus on sales, delivery, and firm operations experienced by the growing professional services practice. It requires dedication and long-term planning on the part of the senior management team of the firm to ensure that these areas are properly addressed.

The elements of an effective career plan should include clearly defined levels, responsibilities at each level, and promotion criteria for achieving the next level. Compensation ranges (and components) at each level should be delineated as well. Compensation should be benchmarked periodically against market rates and adjusted accordingly.

The skills required for each level as well as promotion criteria should be consistently reflected in the appraisal process. The appraisal process itself should take place annually for all professional and administrative staff. New staffshould be reviewed at the three- or six-month point as well.

While compensation, benefits, career planning, and professional development are a challenge to manage in the face of urgently competing sales and delivery priorities, the near and long-term benefits of increased staff satisfaction, performance, and retention will reward the attention paid to these topics by the professional services firm.

RESOURCES

David H. Maister, Managing the Professional Services Firm (New York, New York: Free Press, 1993).

NOTES

1. Ruth Benedict, as quoted by Margaret Meade in An Anthropologist at Work, part 1 (1959).

2. Cuba Gooding Jr. as Rod Tidwell in Jerry Maguire, written and directed by Cameron Crowe (1996).

3. Joseph A. Demkin and The American Institute of Architects, The Architects Handbook of Professional Practice (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2001).