Coffee, Change and Return On Outcome

Source: Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash By Rajesh Krishnan

A lot can happen over a cup of coffee! It did for me over a coffee and a catch up with my friend Iggy. The change in perspective and a regret that I had not come across a term early on in my consulting career.

There have been and are debates on the need to measure the effectiveness of leadership / culture change / any behavior interventions. What is the ROI we can expect? I often get asked.

What is the business case for these interventions? A consultant pitching would then let loose their creativity and create a slick slide deck and a complicated excel sheet that would appeal to the decision makers logical side of the brain – a numerical value – the ROI of the intervention – a Unicorn!

Typically, in most training / leadership / programs’ clients measure level 1 – which is the feeling at the end of the program. Most of us would have filled out the smiley sheet on how the day went, and the quality of the trainer and so on. Few organisations measure level 2, which is the learning – testing the skill that was imparted in the training. Level 3 talks about behavior change and Level 4 measures the ROI. While in theory they sound great. In reality, less than 5% of the organisations measure level 3 & 4 as they are tedious, expensive and the results can be questionable.

Not all interventions are about ROI. Then, I was introduced to ROO – Return On Outcome.

It is not a number, it’s a qualitative measure on results that can be achieved. As a consultant in the space of Change and Organisational Development, I would choose to work with the ROO perspective as:

1. It is not complicated and easily measured.

2. Success is measured in qualitative terms rather than qualitative which works well for behavior-based interventions.

3. It enables organisations to roll out interventions that would have failed if one were to calculate the ROI on the intervention.

With this being said, the ROO concept does consider, budget, timelines and alignment to organizational strategy and values. If I were a consultant and were to get back into a time machine, I would bag more contracts had I indicated ROO as a measure and changed the perspective of measuring the outcome of the interventions.

The ROO perspective is more of a qualitative, approach and measures the outcomes of an intervention in non-monetary terms.

While ROOminating, my cuppa is getting cold. It was indeed an interesting concept that was I was exposed that day, and for me the change from ROI to ROO has begun.

Could I have another latte, one sugar, please?

Rajesh is a seasoned Performance / Change Enabler based in Sydney, Australia with over ten years of multicultural exposure, who impacts organizational performance. He has a strong understanding of building people and business through his practical experience of being part of Global organizations. He has international experience of stepping into roles and quickly making positive changes to drive organizational success.