People, Productivity & Performance: Learning
from a Consultant’s Approach
Presenters:
Geri Lopker, Geri Lopker & Associates,
geri@consultant.com
Barbara Mizerek, Orange County Department of
Child Support Services, bmizerek@css.ocgov.com
Session Objectives
Learn and be able to apply a performance
improvement model in child support
agencies
Understand the challenges our agencies
have in implementing human performance
improvement and performance solutions
Learn ten tips for successful performancebased solutions
“Park your brain at the door. Do
what your manager tells you to
do. You are not here to think.”
Frederick Taylor, circa 1911
“No one holds government
accountable for efficiency.
Why not?”
Jan Sturla
Department Child Support Services
“Pit a good performer against a
bad system, and the system will
win almost every time.”
Geary Rummler
Human Performance Model
Business and Performance Analysis
Organizational
Mission, Strategy,
and Goals
(Business Need)
Desired
Workforce
Performance
Gap
Work,
Organizational, and
Competitive
Environment
Cause Analysis
Identify:
 Contributing Factors
 Root Causes
 Information
 Structure/Process
& Resources
 Incentives &
Consequences
 Motivation
 Capacity
 Knowledge/skills
 Opportunities for
improvement
Solution Selection
& Design
Select and design
interventions that affect
the following:
Individual Performers
Job Systems
Organizational Systems
Actual State of
Workforce
Performance
Evaluation:
Formative
Summative
Adapted from the ASTD HPI model and the ISPI HPT model
Implementation and
Change Management
Challenges to Performance
Directions:
1. On the 3x5 card,
write 1-3 challenges
to improving
performance in your
agency. Hand in.
2. Discuss your findings
with 2-3 of the
learning colleagues
sitting near to you!
General Challenges
The Business Need or Goal
[1]
[2]
What is the Business Need or Goal or Opportunity?
[3]
How will we measure the impact of the business goal? What
metrics will we use?
[4]
Who are the performers whose performance helps us
achieve this goal?
Who cares about achieving this business goal?
Case Study Example
Performance Analysis
[1]
What is the performer or performer group currently doing?
[2]
How is this level of performance impacting the unit’s
business goals?
[3]
What would/should the operational performance be if
everyone was performing at the desired level?
[4]
What should the performer do differently, more of, less of,
start doing or stop doing in order to meet this goal?
Case Study Example
Individual
Organization
Cause/Influence Analysis
Information
Structure,
Process, Tools &
Resources
Incentives &
Consequences
Knowledge &
Skills
Capacity &
Wellness
Motivation
Performance Solutions
Organization
Information
Standards
Feedback
Expectations
…
Individual
Knowledge & Skills
Onboarding &
orientation
Training, SOJT
Coaching
Job Aids
Structure, Process,
Tools & Resources
Logical processes
Tools, materials
Budget
…
Capacity &
Wellness
Match between
performer and job
Hiring and
promotion match to
performer
Balance between
work & life
Incentives &
Consequences
Linked to desired
performance
Work environment
Opportunity
Motivation
Internal desire
Satisfying work
Understanding of
incentives &
consequences
linked to
performance
Implementation & Change Management
– Start with “what are they
having to change or give
up?”
– Ask “what are the barriers to
implementing this change?”
– Ask “what are the informal
leaders saying about this
change?
– Provide an explanation of
why the change is needed
– Give them an inspiring
vision of the desired state
– Develop and use a
communication plan
– Collect data across the involved
departments
– Reassess over time;
government agencies have long
histories
– Don’t introduce change too
fast…even if you want to blow
up the boxes, most know that
the institution changes slowly
– Keep the desired state in front
with celebrations and
acknowledgements of the
progress
Evaluation and Metrics
•
•
•
Did the
intervention(s)
impact the work,
organizational and
community need?
Did the
intervention(s)
close the
performance gap?
If yes, stop
evaluating!
• If not, how big is
the current gap? Is
it important to
completely close
the gap?
• If not, what got in
the way of
achieving the
performance and
business goals?
Why?
“Profit in a government
agency means that we can
meet the needs faster or
more efficiently or more
effectively. We can put
Cheerios on the table and
sneakers on their feet.”
Steve Eldred
Child Support Services
Orange County
Case Study: Child Support
Services
• Business Goal Information:
Not collecting child support for
child and CPs (custodial parent)
• Costs at the project level:
Kids not getting court ordered child
support, parents not applying
• Costs organization-wide:
Not meeting Federal Measures for
collecting/distributing support
• Current performance:
50% time chasing incomplete apps
• Desired performance:
Less than that…did not know the
potential
Case Study: Child Support
Services
PERF DATA:
– 2002 Net Collections per FTE $165,437,312 with 735 FTEs
– 180 days from application to first check
– 50% application (24 pages) returned with errors, illegible, not
actionable
DESIRED PERFORMANCE:
– Increase Net Collections per FTE
– Decrease days from application to first check in CPs bank
– Reduce/eliminate errors in applications, redeploy the 2 FTEs
who were spending 100% of time reissuing lost checks
Case Study: Child Support Services
•Influences and causes of performance issues:
– 24-page paper application
– Wall of words—hard to complete
– Illegible handwriting when completed
– Checks lost in the mail
•Interventions:
– Convert to online application $50,000
– Create online tutorial $50,000
– Applicant could not continue until correct
answers entered into each question
– Streamlined 24 pages to 8 pages
•Change Management
– Communication Plan, employees
– CLAP, celebrate 45,000 more boxes of
Cheerios—make it real
Case Study: Child Support Services
•Evaluation:
– 37% increase in online applications (2000 NEW,
would not have applied)
– 2007 Net Collections per FTE $179,134,266 (from
$165K) with 592 FTEs (was 735 FTEs)
– Collected $1.3M in more support
– Saved $700K in court appearances
– From 50% of time chasing incomplete application to
ABSORBING 37% increase in volume with NO more
staff
– From 180 days to first check in bank to less than 30
“The constituents don’t care
about the number of potholes
you fill…they care about how
fast you filled their pothole.”
Steve Eldred
DCSS-Orange County
Case Study: Your Turn
– Business Goal
Information:
– Influences and causes
of performance issues:
– Cost at the
local level:
– Interventions:
– Evaluation:
– Costs
organizationwide:
– Change Management
Next Steps
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What can you measure?
Measure it…even if…
Find the performer
Measure the gap
Discover the enablers and barriers
to performance (root causes)
Match solutions to root causes
Implement and take change
management into account
Evaluate
Celebrate!
Ten Tips
1.
6.
2.
7.
3.
8.
4.
9.
5.
10.
Thank You!
Geri Lopker
Geri Lopker &
Associates
714-532-2802
geri@consultant.com
Lopker.com
Barbara Mizerek
Orange County
Dept. of Child Support
Services
714-347-8924
bmizerek@css.ocgov.com