IONS CONSULTING: THE MP^2 TRAINING PROGRAM

It was 7:00 p.m. on April 25, 2007 and Clark Loon only had three days left to show the executive
board of Ions Consulting Services (ICS) that his newly developed Mentoring Management Project
for Professionals (MP^2) training program was indeed worth the cost, the time and the resources
to implement it across the company. Loon, the newly hired human resources director for ICS, was
in charge of developing and implementing a training program that would meet the company’s
needs of transferring knowledge from older, more experienced project consultants to the junior,
inexperienced associates. Loon envisioned that the MP^2 program would reshape the company’s
training practices and retain employees over the long term. However, implementing the program
proved to be much more difficult than he ever imagined.

Clark turned on his computer and started to replay in his mind the meetings he had during the day.
He wondered how to assess the success of the program, how to convince the board that it would
work and whether there was anything that he should be doing differently.

CLARK LOON

Clark Loon had worked in the consulting industry for over 20 years, with experience at six different
consulting firms in various cities across North America. At the outset of his career, he never
intended to move quickly from one firm to the next, but he longed to experience living in different
parts of the continent. Prior to joining ICS as the human resources director, Loon worked as a
project management consultant for three years at a small advisory services firm in Detroit,
Michigan. He attracted several blue-chip clients to the company’s portfolio, considerably
enhancing the firm’s profile and reputation. However, as time went on, he became less happy being
based in Detroit, which prompted him to look for another opportunity.

Ultimately, he returned to ICS in his hometown of Vancouver. Loon was familiar with ICS because
he had worked there 14 years previously as an associate consultant, when the firm was just
beginning its operation. Although he decided to leave ICS after six years of service — for reasons
of geographic relocation — he continued to maintain close ties with the president of the company.
Ultimately, his close relationship with the president is what helped him land his current position
as human resources director. However, at no time in the eight months that he had been there did
Loon feel at ease. Loon felt that the company had changed for the worse in the14 years of his
absence and was facing severe human resource challenges.

IONS CONSULTING SERVICES (ICS)

ICS started in 1989 in downtown Vancouver with the concept of offering superior solutions that
enabled client organizations to improve project execution with regards to budget, schedule and
efficiency. Over the years, ICS had achieved success by developing its client portfolio primarily
with health care and telecom companies, assisting them in various IT-related projects. ICS’s core
competence lay in IT project solutions, including system integration, network management,
custom application development and e-commerce development.

Founded by three experienced aspiring individuals, ICS grew quickly. In 2003, three years prior
to Loon re-joining the company, ICS had added offices in two different Canadian cities (Winnipeg
and Toronto) in addition to their Vancouver office. At the same time, the firm grew to just over 60
employees. A recent downturn in the IT market had forced ICS to lay off some of its employees
in an effort to reduce costs. By the time Loon re-joined the company in 2006, the total number of
employees across the three offices had been reduced to approximately 40 employees. As a result,
employee morale was low, and the employee turnover rate was the highest it had ever been.

The recent downsizing not only had detrimental effects on the low-performing employees that
were let go, but also on some of the high-performing employees, who no longer wanted to remain
with the firm because of perceived job insecurity. Amongst the layoff survivors, employees began
to look for jobs elsewhere. Soon enough, the turnover rate soared, and the firm was beginning to
lose its edge on delivering quality solutions to its customers, as their top performing professional
consultants bolted for jobs with competitors. When Loon re-joined ICS in 2006, nearly 60 per cent
of the employees in the company had less than five years of consulting experience. This was a
stark contrast to 2001, when the company make-up was a 70 to 30 ratio in favor of employees with
five or more years of experience.

ICS’s competitive advantage came from having a large pool of experienced consultants. High-
profile clients often stated that their satisfaction with ICS resulted from the experienced consultants
who produced dynamic results. Unfortunately, ICS had recently been hiring based on availability
rather than on consulting experience (that is, they needed “bodies”). This often meant hiring lower
paid and less experienced consultants to fill the void, reducing the quality of work provided to the
customers. ICS’s former director of human resources was blamed for these results and was asked
to resign. Clark Loon joined the firm to replace her.

LOON’S MP^2 TRAINING PROGRAM

Drawing on his past experience, Loon believed that the best way to improve the quality of
consultants would be to create a dynamic training program that would assist not only the
inexperienced newcomers, but also the experienced professionals in the organization. Loon wanted
to create a program that would facilitate teamwork amongst the employees, provide skill upgrades
and improve the quality of client service. Furthermore, Loon hoped that his new initiative would
increase job satisfaction and commitment in order to combat the low morale and rising turnover
rates of the company.

Loon’s MP^2 program was designed to pair experienced consultants with inexperienced associates
to work on complex and expensive projects for ICS clients. The benefits of this mentoring training
program would be two-fold, as inexperienced associates would gain the opportunity to learn from
experienced consultants in a structured, supported environment; and the experienced consultants
would now have more resources and assistance to complete major projects as required.

The MP^2 program provided an opportunity for allowing associates to obtain valuable training in
the presence of experienced consultants, in a mentoring relationship. The inexperienced associates
would receive a small-scale project (within a major project) and work under the guidance and
leadership of a mentor. Each time associates completed a task, they would be awarded a certain
number of credits based on their contributions and the complexity of the task. This program was
designed in such a way that each newcomer with less than three years of experience had to earn
30 credits before having the opportunity to lead a project on their own. Loon expected that the
average time for an incoming associate to complete 30 credits would be approximately two to three
years. Furthermore, the mentor was required to provide regular feedback and evaluations to his or
her junior associates in order to further guide their development as a consultant.
LOON’S MP^2 PROPOSAL

Before the program was launched, Loon shared his MP^2 plan with some of the members of the
firm to generate feedback. However, to Loon’s surprise, the MP^2 proposal was met with great
resistance from both the executive board and from the employees:

Senior VP of Operations Dale Ellis: “We can’t afford to have 80 per cent of our employees tied up
in projects. If we go with this plan, we are really going to reduce our client portfolio and drive
ourselves to the ground! We need to let even the less experienced lead projects on their own.”

Managing Director of Client Services, Ray Rones: “What’s wrong with our current training
program? Our problem isn’t training; it’s about hiring and retaining the right people.”

Senior Consultant Bob Dowry: “I am already overworked with my own projects. I don’t have time
to hand-hold and look over the work of the new recruits. Some of this stuff is complicated, and I
just don’t have the time to teach them everything. I want to help, but it’s not realistic.”

Senior Consultant Jane Platt: “What’s the point of helping them when they are going to leave
anyway after they have built up their contacts and padded their resumes? But on the other hand, I
guess I can use some help in some areas.”

Senior Consultant Larry Lay: “I don’t need help. They’re just going to slow me down. And what
if I don’t want to be a mentor ... what are you going to do? Fire me? After working here for 10
years, I wouldn’t be surprised if you do!”

Third year Associate Consultant Sue Kay: “How is this program going to benefit me? I don’t want
to do someone else’s dirty work. Let me get out there and work. I can do it. I can prove to you that
I am capable of managing big projects. I really don’t want to put in the unnecessary time.”

Incoming Associate Jin Chang: “Three years is a long time before I actually get to do something.”

MP^2 DEPLOYMENT

Despite facing great resistance from some of the board members and the employees, Loon
remained persistent in deploying the MP^2 program. Eventually, the board collectively agreed on
a pilot launch of the MP^2 program. The board decided on having a few mentors work with several
inexperienced associates and they would observe the results. They decided that the company-wide
deployment of the MP^2 would ultimately be based on the success of this initial pilot study. After
a four-month trial period, Loon’s program received mixed reviews:

Senior Vice-president Operations Dale Ellis: “Despite my initial reservations ... having more
members working on a single project has improved the efficiency and the speed of service. But I
still believe we are tying up too many employees on single projects and missing out on new
potential projects as a result of this program.”

Managing Director of Client Services Ray Rones: “I haven’t heard anything different from our
clients. Have you?”

Senior Consultant Bob Dowry: “Having to look over three members is way too tough. I feel
extremely overworked and burnt out. I’m having trouble looking over the work of the new recruits,
let alone focusing on my own work, which I think is more important!”

Senior Consultant Jane Platt: “The associates have been very pleasant to work with. I was
extremely impressed with how well they responded to the tasks that were given to them. I really
felt like we were a team working together to help our clients reach their goal. I certainly want to
work with them again! And I will certainly recommend this program to my colleagues.”

Senior Consultant Larry Lay: “They can’t do it. They just can’t do the work. These young recruits
are useless!”

Third year Associate Consultant Sue Kay: “What a waste of my time. My son, who is in high
school, could do the type of work that I’m being asked to do. Also, my mentor doesn’t seem to
listen to anything that I say ... well ... not that we ever talk much ... and just between you and me,
I think he is utterly incompetent. By the way, after all this is over, how about giving me some ‘real’
work?”

Incoming Associate Jin Chang: “Wow, I was initially worried that I wasn’t going to be involved
or actually get to do anything. But my mentor really challenged me to get certain things done. I
am just beginning to realize that I have lots more to learn before I can get really comfortable
leading a project on my own.”
MAKING CHANGES?

Once the four-month trial period was over, Loon had only three days left to revise the program, if
necessary, and suggest a format that would guarantee the success of the MP^2 training program.
The fiscal year end was approaching, and the executive board would have to approve adding this
project into next year’s budget. However, after having reviewed the feedback (most of which
echoed the comments shown above), Loon couldn’t really tell whether the program was working
or failing. Loon also didn’t know if this program had the potential to resolve the recent turnover
issues of the firm. He had to decide what revisions, if any, he should make in his project proposal.
Assuming the board gave him the go-ahead, he still had to take steps to ensure employee
acceptance of the program. If this program faced employee rejection, it would never work.
Thinking about employee acceptance led Loon to muse over the benefits of the MP^2 program,
and he wondered what benefits he should focus on when telling senior and junior employees about
it. A final issue of concern for Loon was just how to measure the success of a program like MP^2.
Indeed, it was going to be a long night.
What kind of revisions should Loon make to the MP^2 Program?

How can he gain the acceptance of employees?

Will this be enough to convince the board to deploy the MP^2 Program company-wide?

How will the revised MP^2 Program benefit senior employees, the junior employees and the firm
as a whole?