Recent results from our 10^th Annual Learning Excellence and Innovation Benchmark Study (10^th Annual study) show that expert companies that use a consistent performance consulting methodology enjoy more leadership support for organizational learning than those that do not. In CorpU’s research brief, CorpU 10th Annual Research-Performance Consulting Building Relationships, we explore the data behind this statement and pose a possible reason – performance consulting provides a structured way to ensure the right people are being asked the right questions regularly, thus increasing leaders’ support and alignment of learning with the business. However, it doesn’t answer the question of which comes first – the use of performance consulting practices to engage leaders in a conversation, thus increasing alignment, or a strong foundation of alignment with and support from senior leaders that already exists, thus enabling the use of performance consulting practices?

This question follows the pattern of one of the oldest questions in history, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” You could argue that either is the case. The same kind of argument applies here. One could say that performance consulting, especially the increased communication that occurs through its use, definitively increases leader support. However, it can also be argued that performance consulting will not be accepted as a methodology, and neither will non-training solutions, without an already well-laid foundation of trust.

Read more »