Want to Continually Grow the Professional Skills of Your Staff? Here’s How We Do It.
by CRP Partner Tom O’ Donoghue
As a company, we’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy consistent growth over the past five years. The key to that growth — as with any service-based business — has been the quality of our professional staff. More to the point, it’s been the continual improvement of our professionals that has fueled that growth.
At CRP, an important tool to ensure continuous improvement of our professionals is our skills matrix. This skills matrix (which was developed in-house) sets knowledge and performance expectations across nine different areas. These areas include: modeling and analysis, finance and accounting, financial restructuring, operational restructuring, distressed sale and financing transactions, bankruptcy and case management, crisis management and strategic alternatives, general management and business strategic positioning, and communication and interpersonal skills. Within each area we define different levels of competency and assign a corresponding numerical ranking.
Once those levels have been defined, we employ various methods for improving the competency of all partners and directors of CRP. These include attendance at seminars in the turnaround and restructuring sector held by the Turnaround Management Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute, as well as other professional organizations.
Additionally, we use a twice-yearly CRP conference, with every CRP employee in attendance, for advanced education and case review. Each conference includes several panels on areas of interest. Sample subjects include:
- The set-up of key financial and compliance reporting systems for operations subsequent to an acquisition by means of an Article 9 sale;
- Implementation of improved logistics processes for a worldwide parts distributor;
- The tasks necessary to project and manage the working capital funds infusion within the limit of funds provided
- Demonstrating the impact of selective pricing changes to improve cash flow and customer satisfaction in food service industry, and
- Calculation of the cash flow impact of a “No Money Down! Free Financing” retail sales campaign.
Another important part of this company conference is a no-holds-barred review of two or three recent CRP engagements. The engagement team presents an overview of the key issues in the case: what went right, what went wrong, and lessons learned. Frank discussion is encouraged.
The skills matrix, continuous education and case review are key tools that we will continue to use to maintain the highest level of performance for our clients.
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