P E R F O R M A N C E M A N A G E M E N TQ
uality is in the dumper
and sales are slumping.
What do you do? Retrain
the sales force? Fire the
quality control inspectors?
Reengineer operating
processes? Introduce a new
compensation scheme?
Chances are, if you put ten experts
in a room and asked to explain the cause
of poor performance, you would get ten
different answers. And, chances are, they
would all be only partially right because
human beings tend to look at problems
from the framework of their own experi-
ence and expertise. The compensation
expert sees pay issues, the reengineer-
ing consultant sees process issues,
and so forth. Nobody looks at the whole
picture. What we need is a framework for
determining the root causes of employee
performance issues that let us see the
entire forest as a system, not just a bunch
of individual trees.
Ken Wilbur maintains in his book,
A Theory of Everything, that the entire
universe is comprised of whole parts, or
holons. Each part is whole by itself but
can become a part of something else.
For example, a whole atom is a part of a
whole molecule. A whole molecule is a
part of a whole cell. And whole cells form
whole organs that can be organized as a
whole human being.
Likewise, organizations are com-
prised of human beings who may be
part of a work team which performs and
manages processes to create outputs
in the form of products or services. How
these individuals are organi]ed defi nes
what they are (work group, team, mob).
Their relationship within the work cell and
beyond it defi nes how effectively they
can work together to perform and man-
age the processes necessary to achieve
acceptable results. So when we look at a
question like declining quality or worsen-
ing sales, we have to look at performance
on three levels - the organization, the
process and the performer.
The Organizational Level describes
business strategy, how people are
organized to execute strategy, and how
results will be measured. The Process
/evel defi nes the methods or steps
that go into creating and delivering a
product or service. Organizations have
many internal processes that have
to work well if the organization is to
function well. Processes are the link
between individual performance and
organization performance and may span
organizational functions (e.g engineering,
marketing, sales) or extend to outside
the organization. Processes are, in turn,
performed and managed by individuals at
the Performer Level.
USING THE FRAMEWORK
TO SOLVE A PERFORMANCE
ISSUE Let's go back to one of the
original problems at the beginning of this
article - declining sales performance.At the organizational level, you might ask:
Q Have we accurately defi ned our
target market?
Q Is our sales and marketing
strategy correct?
Q Have we set prices correctly?
Q Is the organization structured to
effectively build, support, and deliver
our products or services to our
target market?
Q How are we measuring results?At the process level, you could ask:
Q Do our processes still support the way
we want to do business?
Q What processes infl uence sales? Are
these processes designed correctly?
Q Are we managing by function and
neglecting to manage cross-functional
processes?
Q How are we measuring process goals
and results?At the performer level, you could ask:
Q What jobs are critical to managing
and performing the processes critical
to sales?
Q Do we have the right people with the
right knowledge, experience, and skills
performing these processes?
Q Is individual performance consistent?
Q Does the relative performance of
individual performers adeTuately refl ect
the results of the group as a whole?Individual performance is a function of six
interrelated factors. These are:WHY GOOD
PERFORMERS FAIL
1. Performance Requirements. Have we
clearly and effectively described what is
expected and how it will be measured?
2. Removal of Obstacles. Have we
removed the obstacles to effective per-
formance including supplying adequate
information, resources and time?
3. Consequences. Is the impact to the
company, department or performer for
non-performance clear and compelling?
4. Knowledge and Skill. Does the performer
have the required knowledge and skill to
produce what is required?
5. Feedback. Does the performer know
how results will be measured, whether
the output is target and how to fi [ it if it
is not?
6. Individual Capacity. Does the performer
have the capacity to produce the results
expected?WHY DOESN'T
PERFORMANCE ALWAYS
IMPROVE? When we look for single
causes, we generally miss the point. To
be consistent, individual performance is a
function of all six factors noted above.
If the performer knows what is
expected and has the skills and capacity to
perform, but is inhibited by organizational
obstacles, he or she won't be able to
perform. In a large number of cases
when performance is lacking, the cause
is a breakdown in one or more of the six
elements. Put another way, if you put a
good performer against a poor performance
system, the system will always win.
To be accurate in performance apprais-
al, whether it is a function or an individual,
we have to look at all of the factors that
infl uence performance. If we do that, it is
more likely that we will create an optimum
fi t b e t w e e n t h e p e r f o r m e r , t h e p e r f o r m a n c e
system, and the needs of the company.By Joel HeadI N D E P T H