(CLP) Programs

Appleton Greene corporate training programs are all process-driven. They are used as vehicles to implement tangible business processes within clients’ organizations, together with training, support and facilitation during the use of these processes. Corporate training programs are therefore implemented over a sustainable period of time, that is to say, between 1 year (incorporating 12 monthly workshops), and 4 years (incorporating 48 monthly workshops). Your program information guide will specify how long each program takes to complete. Each monthly workshop takes 6 hours to implement and can be undertaken either on the client’s premises, an Appleton Greene serviced office, or online via the internet. This enables clients to implement each part of their business process, before moving onto the next stage of the program and enables employees to plan their study time around their current work commitments. The result is far greater program benefit, over a more sustainable period of time and a significantly improved return on investment.

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. All (CLP) programs are implemented over a sustainable period of time, usually between 1-4 years, incorporating 12-48 monthly workshops and professional support is consistently provided during this time by qualified learning providers and where appropriate, by Accredited Consultants.

---

Executive summary

Stakeholder Optimization

Stakeholder Optimization is a process by which those who have a particular stake or interest in the outcome of a project or strategy are engaged. A company does not exist in isolation. It exists within a “political” environment populated by all those who have a particular stake or interest in that company. Key leadership and management can build support and avoid negative consequences by utilizing Stakeholder Optimization to establish a systematic process for stakeholder involvement, projecting the right questions to the right people, at the right time. The Stakeholder Optimization plan establishes a ranking system to calibrate interests on a sliding scale in order to optimize the value of feedback from all involved. It strikes the right balance between stakeholder involvement and isolation of the project from external influences in order to achieve delivery on cost and time, while maximizing the benefit for the company and stakeholders. Whether in market research, exploratory panels, employee engagement, or stakeholder consultation – new dimensions of insight and creativity are revealed when people collaborate in generating ideas and making decisions, resulting in long term sustainability, productivity and alignment.

The term Stakeholder is generally defined as individuals or organizations who are involved in or whose interests are positively or negatively affected by the result of a task, initiative, or project.

Stakeholders can represent significant risk to a company. They have the majority of the power to influence the outcome of any decision made in a company and are essential to a company’s success or failure. Most projects fail because the interests and needs of stakeholders were not solicited or given adequate consideration. Knowing that stakeholders have the power to negatively affect a project, makes it imperative for a company to have a Stakeholder Optimization plan in place to identify their needs and engage with them in a systematic and sustainable way. Pressure from stakeholders generates change and change increases the complexity of the management task, therefore it is essential to establish a culture of Stakeholder Optimization throughout the company. Bespoke Stakeholder Optimization will accelerate business improvements, mitigate risk, and create a shared vision amongst key influencers.

However, developing a Stakeholder Optimization plan takes effort, planning, organization and a clear communications plan. The first step is stakeholder analysis. This will likely vary frequently over time depending on the project or initiative. A systematic process to continually identify and engage stakeholders is important to ensure you are evolving your plan to warrant continuing success and sustainability. Case studies have shown there are key success factors which must be addressed in order to ensure effective management of stakeholders. During our project process, we will address each to these to establish a business process which has the ability to collaborate, integrate and coordinate within all levels of the company.

There are broadly two groups to stakeholders, those internal and those external to the organization. Those most recognized are the external stakeholders, however the management of internal stakeholders is equally, if not more important. An internal stakeholder may be responsible for juggling a range of different expectations within the organization and as a result may be subject to multiple influences which could positively or negatively affect the outcome. External stakeholders are likely to be impacted by any changes. They could benefit, therefore would be supportive and positive about the change; conversely the change may damage their interests, or they may perceive it to be a negative outcome for them so may seek to stop it or project it in a bad light. One of the key challenges with stakeholder management is the vast number of people involved and understanding their level of power or interest and how it may impact the company. The Stakeholder Optimization plan will help you develop consistent, comprehensive principles for stakeholder lifecycle management, creating and supporting an ongoing, trusted relationship with stakeholders.

---

Stakeholder Identification

Not all stakeholders in a particular group will necessarily share the same concerns or have unified opinions or priorities. Therefore, the first step in the process is identification, determining who your stakeholders are, and establishing their key group or sub-group.

---

Stakeholder Analysis

In this section we will do a more in-depth analysis to review stakeholder group interests, how they potentially could affect and to what degree. We will also determine what influence they might have on the project. By categorizing stakeholders, you can determine which to spend the most time and least effort on.

---

Stakeholder Mapping

This systematic approach will start to delineate the geographic sphere of influence. The mapping analysis will establish and articulate the area of influence and determine who might be affected and in what way. For larger projects with different phases to their development, mapping both the near term and the future phases may assist the company to identify the potential cumulative impact on stakeholder groups that might not have been evident by just looking at the immediate project.

---

Engagement Strategy

It is not practical, and usually not necessary, to engage with all stakeh