HR Executive Case Study (September 2004) Executives are now placing more emphasis on accountability for results and

performance within their organizations (2004 Media Partners Nation-Wide Survey, Performance Improvement and Accountability was first among C level Executives). Conventional wisdom suggests the need to continue focusing on helping leaders acquire and develop the skills they need to take their companies to the next level of performance improvement. Recent and important research indicates that the path to what lies ahead for training and development may not rest primarily on the shoulders of leaders. Accelerating Personal Growth UBS sales team produces a 56% increase in revenues after working with Performance Connections International. There was already a feeling that this was going to be different for the Memphis-based sales team of UBS. They had been through a lot of training in the past and much of it didnt stick and it certainly didnt help with the reality of the difficult current market conditions and flat sales. UBS is one of the largest most trusted investment management organizations in the world. With 65,000 employees operating in 50 nations in North America and Europe, UBS focus is providing investments to high net worth individuals and institutional investors. The UBS brand is distinct and their success in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, foreign exchange, securities underwriting, corporate finance and mutual funds has helped drive their unprecedented growth, and UBS Financial Advisors enjoyed phenomenal success during the growth years. Since the stock markets three year decline, the entire investment community revenues have flattened, with UBS Financial Advisors being no exception. In fact, the Financial Advisors were feeling stretched to their limits, working harder than ever and making less money. They were discouraged and found it difficult to work wholeheartedly. John Santi, UBSs Managing Director, found no solace in everyone elses problems and knew he needed to take immediate action. He searched for ways to get his team back on track and grow the business without the buoyancy of the market. He thought about the usual array of leadership and sales programs and felt frustration from past training not having a lasting impact in his organization. The problem, explained Santi, was that these programs promoted behavior change to become a better person rather than behavior change to improve business results. Something was missing. For lack of a better word, it was accountability. He needed a better way to grow revenue without the markets help.

Santi began discussing the problem with Brad Federman, Executive V.P. with Performance Connections International (PCI; Mt. Kisco, NY www.performanceconnections.com) laying the groundwork for a plan to improve sales and revenues from this team without sacrificing an iota of integrity and service consistent with being a UBS trusted advisor. Federman described an enabling process where Financial Advisors reignite their purpose, passion and accountability by proactively managing their own performance without relying on the ability and availability of Santi and his management team, in other words, doing it for themselves. The process was called Accelerating Sales and Personal Growth. Working together, an execution plan was developed. The first step for PCI was to understand the teams perspective and existing practices, looking at past development tools, how (and how often) the business success was tracked, daily/weekly/monthly activity levels for each business area, and the way the culture was viewed and how the team worked together. What emerged was the perception by the team that their feeling of failure was due to the market and the companys product areas and while those were factors, each person had the ability to make an impact regardless of those issues. The team quickly agreed and the question became what can we change? Additionally, they needed to work in a team because no team member owns a client, but the needed a clear sense of individual accountability and clarity of roles. The second step was to work with the group to define the future vision and what needs to change. This is done behaviorally so there is no guesswork. David Brooks, UBS Senior Associate noted that a vital part of the launching pad for the program was for me to help Brad make sure the group was aligned from a core moral perspective based on integrity, trust and doing the right thing for the client. In that context, the group decided on two goals to leverage sales growth: Increase business with existing clients; and Create new revenue with new clients. Using PCIs Behavior Converter tool, the team looked at what each step would look like to achieve these goals. They decided on three ways to increase revenues. Strengthen referrals; Proactive call networking using existing knowledge and skills with a goal of a face-to-face meeting;

Review portfolios to present value add options to clients that reflect the rapid changes in the markets.

Where most developmental programs stop with a list of goals and some ways to achieve them, PCI behavioralized goals in such a way that each person knew who would do what , how they would do it, what they would say, how often it would happen and the potential outcome of each team members actions. These were then included in PCIs patented Execution Blueprint, which is a roadmap to the future for each team member to follow. This gave them a behavioral strategy that they could see, touch and feel a commitment to. The third step was utilizing PCIs ChangeReady model (see figure) for behavior change. Not all people are ready to change their behavior at the same time explains Federman. In fact, we know there are five levels of readiness to change and specific strategies people must use depending on which level they find themselves, and not all strategies work for all levels. After typical training activities, you can expect to see a big spike of success and then you expect to see some level of drop-off or bungee-back behaviors. Federman notes, less than 20% of participants are ready to make behavior change, leaving 80% either resistant or merely compliant. By placing people at one of the five levels, we covered 100% of the team and increase engagement up to 85%. This also takes the pressure off the performer and gave the coach the ability to work with each person individually, and more efficiently, based on the level they are at. Brooks worked with each team member to determine where they were in the ChangeReady model, and told the team we would meet with them at that level, whether zero intent or planning and preparation. Then each strategy becomes meaningful and easier to follow for each person. We dont tell them to change, or give them a prescriptive approach. Our process mirrors how people naturally change through a descriptive process, and they become their own personal change agent. This team understood how to move from a service culture to a proactive sales culture, and was anxious to make it work. The fourth step was changing the teams meeting structure with a PCI Jump-Start meeting with clear announcement of intent for the week. Each team member reported how they were going to use these new activities and behaviors and incorporate them into their core work, clearly announcing what they planned to accomplish. At weeks end, each member reported their progress and results with a clear sense of accountability coming from the PCI Accountability Scale the ability to create a system for personal accountability. Each person held themselves responsible and the team leader (Brooks) assumed the role of coach, helping support the personal learning environment of each team member. An important piece of the entire process addressed beliefs and attitudes and why they may help or hinder the behavior change process. This is more than focusing on a skill se-

driven process. If you try to build the skill set without dealing with those other things, it typically produces a poor result, Federman believes. Clarity of vision of their purpose and aligning their actions with the beliefs and values of the company was critical to UBS exceeding all of their goals. After about 45 days of detailed tracking of activity, number of calls, who answered, how many contacts and how many meetings were set, the team had empirical data that supported the need to make 150 calls per week to generate 3 new clients. Within 6 months the team realized these business results: 350% increase in outbound calls to initiate new sales cycles. 130% increase in referrals. 150% increase in contacts with new prospects. 112% increase in number of face-to-face meetings. 56% increase in new revenue. Like all teams, this one initially had no desire for additional training nor did they want to be micro managed. There was initial complacency as these team members were still making big money. Even as commissions had dropped off, they were in a fairly comfortable groove, which wasnt easy to overcome acknowledged Brooks and Santi. Some participant responses: Now I know why nothing worked in the past, we needed a process to change behavior. Its tough to break habits, but this worked for me. This seemed like it took longer to get started, but in a very short time is saving me time and Im really cooking. I love my job and my company, but was really depressed the last few years and now I know what my being responsible for my own success and being committed really feels like.