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Client: Global information technology company

Client Objectives: The client's consulting organization was rapidly growing both their service offerings and world-wide consultant staff. They faced the need to provide a variety of staff educational offerings, both to accommodate a wide range of consultant experience and a broad and growing set of consulting service offerings. Because time devoted to consultant education is not billable, the client was looking for ways to tailor education offerings to individual consultant needs.

Issues: Consulting tools, methodologies, and associated education packages were made available to the practices, but selection and administration of appropriate, relevant education was left up to the practice and, often, to the individual consultant.

No one was available to help an individual consultant select the most appropriate mix of development resources to meet the requirements of his/her experience level and previous education. Yet, the consulting group did not want to set up a global education management bureaucracy.

Solution: FLI created a computer-based, curriculum assessment tool to help individual consulting group managers and consultants diagnose their own education requirements. By following the instructions generated by the tool, users identify appropriate education components for personal development and, at the same time, avoid education that is unneeded of redundant with past experience. The curriculum assessment tool serves as an automated "mentor," helping each user generate his/her own, personal education path.

Business Results: The toos has been implemented in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. Feedback from managers and consultants has been outstanding.

Training time has been reduced, because the prescriptive nature of the tool ensures that people only attend those curriculum components they clearly need. The tool has significantly reduced calls to headquarters seeking guidance on education options.

On-the-job performance is currently being monitored to evaluate improvements anticipated due to better-focused training components.