Zemo Trevathan and Associates, Inc. delivers an analytics-based methodology of measurement to calculate financial impact (as well as strategic outcomes) for departments, functions, processes, roles, and projects that have traditionally reported only the metrics they directly control. This methodology, known as "value analytics", more effectively reports the return on investment (ROI) for these activities, as well as helping to track the impact on strategic goals of the company, and optimization of resources.

In the current corporate climate, where cost savings is king, management enforces strict cost containment as a necessary process for maximizing profits and downsizing the organization to match the economic pressures. The danger is sustaining this cost containment orientation as the status quo, and destroying as opposed to creating business value. Oftentimes the annual percentage line item cuts from management are arbitrarily made across the board-regardless of the prohibitive impact such cuts will have on productivity, risk avoidance, safety, and quality. Moreover, once departments show they can absorb the hit to the budget, they inadvertently educate management that it can be done again and again, until some managers (some of them our clients!) find themselves coming in at 4:00 am to fill in the gaps they have created in headcount.

Though many managers desire to understand their direct financial impact to the company's bottom line and believe it's necessary to report it to management, they do not have the methodology or tools to calculate business benefits. By creating a "value orientation" of their contribution to the bottom line and measuring their business impact with an analytics approach, facilities management and other cost centers can strike a more logical balance between cost savings and business impact.

Zemo Trevathan and Associates, Inc. has designed a methodology and approach to measure outcomes for specific initiatives. The outcomes reflected in an analytics report subsequently are reported graphically, comparing the results of the intervention group and the control group; an ROI report that includes the ROI of the project, the Cost/Benefit ratio, and payback (break even) period); and a recommendations list based on the findings to describe the optimal deployment strategy of the project. The key to a successful evaluation of a project is to distinguish between an evaluation based on assumptions and that based on statistical analysis. While interviews and customer satisfaction sheets are useful as reflections of attitudes of constituents or clients, these outcomes do not indicate the impact of the project on the organization as a whole. Neither do assessments of knowledge change (testing) and behavior change (skill development). A highly valid indicator of a successful project is through an analysis utilizing the principles of intervention and control.