FOR WHOM IS THIS BOOK WRITTEN?

This book is written for people who work within any of the people-focused functions in organizations, including human resources (HR), learning and development (L&D), organization development (OD), and talent management. People who work in these functions have diverse job and role titles. In this book we will use the term performance consultant to reference any and all of these individuals, whether they are internal or external to an organization.

Performance consulting techniques and processes are relevant whether you work in a for-profit, not-for-profit, governmental, or nongovernmental organization. Each of these entities has goals of an operational nature that must be achieved, as well as employees and managers whose performance is key to realizing these goals.

What we now know, as mentioned earlier, is that performance consulting techniques are also relevant to people who work within other support functions of an organization. These functions include but are not limited to quality, IT, finance, and operations. Individuals within these functions partner with clients on business initiatives and strive to achieve results through the influence and collaborative practices that comprise the art of performance consulting. Determining the root causes of problems, rather than jumping to solutions, is also a relevant approach.

Finally, people who work as external consultants will find relevance in this book. External consultants partner with one or more clients in diverse organizations. Frequently, the goal shared by these consultants and their clients is to enhance business results through the performance of people and organizations—the purview of performance consultants!