I’m in Business Benefits Hell
Some days I really feel great about my work and my ability to help people succeed. Other days, I feel like I just want to bash my head into the nearest flat-screen TV. I had one of those days today when I had the joyless task of extracting (think dental procedure) the business benefits of a new HR system out of a client’s IT manager in charge of that area. Urgh.
Our conversation went something like this…
Me: “So, how much money has the project saved the company?”
HR Systems Manager: “It’s hard to quantify.”
Me: “Have you stopped paying for any outside vendors that you used to use?”
HR Systems Manager: “Yes, three.”
Me: “Okay, how much did that save the company?”
HR Systems Manager: “Maybe $1.5m.”
Me: “Does that count the labor saved in reduced error rates?”
HR Systems Manager: “No.”
Me: “So, how much did that save the company?”
HR Systems Manager: “About $500,000.”
Me: “So it was actually more like $2m, and the data your business side is getting is one week more up to date?”
HR Systems Manager: “Yeah. That’s exactly right.”
Oy…it was like pulling teeth. But the fact of the matter is, all I asked were the most obvious questions. And then I just reframed it for the HR Systems Manager. To be sure, this guy is smart! And, he knew the answers! But he didn’t ask himself the questions.
I suppose what I’m trying to say is …“Come on folks, you can do this.” You know the questions to ask yourself. Business benefits are measurable results, preferably with a dollar sign attached. If it’s not a dollar amount, then it’s another similarly hard metric like time saved or reduced error rates. I know that you know this stuff. Because you know that if you want to shine in your role, being able to crisply present the business benefits of your work is the minimum you need to be in the game.
Now, if indeed this type of articulation is something new to you and it’s hard for you to do, there’s no shame in that. It’s not a simple task and everyone has to learn how to do it. But, once you learn the trick (i.e., learning to ask the right questions of yourself and others) then you should be able to do it every day of the week—eyes closed.
