Working With RivalScape
RivalScape Services & WCI Program Development
Depending on the status of a client’s current CI efforts and
needs, we might deliver virtually any combination of the services
below. In a comprehensive assignment to implement a WCI program from
the ground up, our services would generally be performed in the following
sequence (with some overlap, of course):
- Conduct a WCI audit and
needs assessment
- Digest and condense the audit into specific
key intelligence topics
- Create customized systems and processes
- Develop internal staff
with effective screening, customized training and team building
exercises
- Recruit external talent as needed
- Set up external vendor services
as needed
- Draft job descriptions and performance standards
- Evaluate
and select productivity-enhancing software and tools
- Institute
a Workforce Information Security Program™
- Generate performance
measurements
- Lead planning and kickoff meetings
1. Conduct a WCI audit
and needs assessment
This is the essential
first step for most clients, where we uncover the mission-critical
intelligence requirements of your decision-makers.
- In the HR-related
intelligence arena, this might involve competitive employment branding,
competitor labor cost and productivity, workforce diversity, and
competitor HR Scorecards, to name but a few possibilities.
- On
the corporate strategic front, vital intelligence needs could
include anything from competitive M&A activities and
global expansion plans to R&D innovations and technology
platforms; from pending regulatory changes to a competitor’s
new product rollout strategy.
The key task here is to get a crystal-clear
picture of precisely what critical intelligence objectives your
WCI program will target. And since the external landscape and
your intelligence needs continually shift, we recommend routine
periodic reviews of the WCI audit.
2. Digest and condense the
audit into specific key intelligence topics
In this stage, we
work together to translate the needs assessment results into
clearly stated key intelligence topics (KITs). The defining
of KITs focuses and targets resources to collect meaningful data
and distinguish the signal from the noise.
3. Create customized
systems and processes
Here we help you design the systems, procedures
and plans for conducting WCI collection, analysis and dissemination.
Two WCI systems, the Competitor Alumni Program™ (CAP)
and the Pre-Retirement Insight Management
Exchange™ (PRIME) are
so important that we devote a special page each.
Two important considerations at
this juncture are:
a. Determining where in the company a
WCI program will reside – typically
in either the CI or HR function – and how HR and CI
staff will interface;
b. Deciding which WCI components might be more effectively
outsourced.
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4. Develop internal staff with effective screening,
customized training and team building exercises
Using time-tested,
validated assessment instruments to increase the odds of a good
fit, we will help you conduct initial screening and selection
of employees to carry out the in-house WCI responsibilities.
A key decision is whether to train existing HR personnel in competitive
intelligence or train current competitive intelligence professionals
in HR policies and practices. We can help you make this important
choice and then develop and deliver a customized WCI training program.
We can also help you create cohesiveness with innovative team building
exercises.
5. Recruit external talent as needed
WCI staff development might
also involve identifying and recruiting external business research
and intelligence professionals to join your team. We are seasoned
executive recruiters with large talent networks in both the CI
and HR worlds. If you decide to recruit WCI staff from the outside,
we can assist in developing the job specifications and conducting
a comprehensive recruitment campaign to make a successful hire.
6. Set up external vendor services as needed
Our deep backgrounds
in both CI and HR have provided us with extended professional
networks in both fields, enabling us to provide expert evaluation,
selection and management of vendors for any outsourced WCI functions.
7. Draft job descriptions and performance standards
We will
write detailed, comprehensive job descriptions for internal staff,
and we will create performance standards and first-year goals
and expectations for both internal staff and outside contractors.
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8.
Evaluate and select productivity-enhancing software and tools
There
are a growing number of database and software packages that can
significantly enhance WCI productivity. We’ll help you
choose the best programs for your needs and also set up related
research portals and intranet content.
9. Institute a Workforce
Information Security Program™
It makes no sense to collect great
intelligence from the outside but be leaky as a sieve on the
inside. Yet more often than not, companies do not take the necessary
steps to safeguard their own strategic information as well as
they could. We’ll help you set up a
Workforce Information
Security Program™ (WISP) with policies,
plans and tactics to protect valuable information and retain
your competitive advantage.
10. Generate performance measurements
To measure program results
in a meaningful and usable manner, we will help you develop
specific milestones, expected results and other relevant criteria
with which to judge the progress and success of your WCI program
on an ongoing basis.
11. Lead planning and kickoff meetings
Getting everybody on
board from the start can make or break any innovative new company
venture. To help you build internal support for your WCI program,
we will lead key planning and program kickoff meetings with
your staff and senior management.
. . . .
RivalScape
might perform any or all of the above services depending on
your needs, goals and resources. Flexibility, agility and responsiveness
are hallmarks or our client work.
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