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Twenty Years’ Experience as “a Business Consultant Who Knows Instructional Design"
-Sue Johnson
Partner at Accenture
Editor’s Note:
I am sad to report that Sue Johnson, the author of this article, passed away in March, 2005. All of us who knew her will sorely miss her.
Bob Reiser
I am currently a Partner at Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Accenture employs approximately 90,000 people in 48 countries and company generated net revenues of US$11.8 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2003. I completed my coursework in Instructional Systems Design in 1984 and took a full-time job at the training center of Accenture, located, at that time, in St. Charles, Illinois.
My early days were spent designing industry training for Accenture employees. I specialized in the telecommunications and regulated utilities areas. In 1990, I transferred to Atlanta to provide Change Management Services, including design and development of training, to external clients.
I have done several great projects. In 1995, I was part of Project Phoenix, which delivered large scale business change (business process, systems and people) in the BellSouth Finance organization. The project lasted almost 3 years and was considered very successful in both Accenture and BellSouth. We were successful in identifying required human performance changes that needed to be made in conjunction with new business processes and new IT systems. These human performance changes included organization redesign, job redesign, and training. In 1999, I led Project BEST in BellSouth Consumer Services. We designed and delivered a business simulation to train call center reps in appropriate call behavior, working with leading edge computer simulation technology. Our team of 30 people designed and delivered the 24 hours of training in 5 months. Our client was very pleased with the results. In 2002, I led a Sales Improvement project. We designed and developed a holistic human performance improvement project for call centers, including changes to agents, coaches, and call center leadership. This included web-based training for agents. We developed stringent measures of sales improvement and delivered $65m additional revenue in our client’s sales channel by improving how agents sell.
We find that our clients are more interested in the business value (both quantitative and qualitative) that we bring to their businesses. We need to be able to articulate that value and help our clients make their businesses more successful. Our clients have become more sophisticated buyers; we must adapt to their ways of thinking to continue to be successful. It is not enough to develop a training program – we must be able to develop programs that provide measurable business results – more sales, better customer service, lower error rates.
As a result, I have found that I am no longer “an instructional designer who works in business”, but am “a business consultant who knows instructional design”. I have broadened my skill set to include other human performance skills (organization design, job design, incentive structures) and business functional skills (call center performance, business metrics, call center technology). I have learned business management skills such as finance and HR in order to operate Accenture’s business prudently and successfully. I have developed leadership skills which have helped me to be a leader in Accenture and the community. In all areas, I have found ways to use the skills and knowledge I acquired in the IS program. Yes, the program successfully prepared me to design and develop instruction. But on a broader scale, the systematic thinking required in IS transferred well to my need for systematic business thinking.
In addition to using my IS skills in my career, I have also utilized them in my community support. I served for 6 years on the Board of Directors of Prevent Child Abuse Georgia and did several pro bono projects related to organization design and training.
In the 20 years since I left Tallahassee, I have returned many times to speak to students, recruit, or just visit with the faculty. It is important for graduates to support the program through these types of efforts as well as through financial contributions.
My home is in Atlanta. In addition to my work with Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, I have been trained as a lay minister for pastoral care at Oak Grove United Methodist Church. I sing in the choir as well as in a quartet with my three sisters. I recently spent two weeks in France and Italy with two of my three sisters – a much needed vacation after a year and a half battle with cancer.
I have just begun a new project designed to improve the business processes, technology, and human performance of my client’s call centers. It is exciting to begin work that will bring business results. I look forward to my next visit to Tallahassee to report on its success!