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FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE
Top Tips!
MODERN MANAGEMENT SERIES
Denis Coleman
MANAGING
STAFF
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MANAGING STAFFFOR HIGH PERFORMANCE
TOP TIPS
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We are constantly discussing our experiences managing for performance and helping others do it too. We thought we should get our favorite Do’s and Dont’s down on paper before we forget them. We have written the following practical guide to address the most common issues we see when dealing with managing teams for high performance.
Introduction
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In many organisations performance management stops once the annual form and meeting has been completed but to manage a high performing team the process must be continuous.
It isn’t just managing tasks. The tasks necessary to achieve a goal may not be clear when you start out. Your staff should be responsible for achieving goals, it should be up to them to decide how. A side effect of managing goals rather than tasks is improved employee engagement.
Be careful about managing with KPIs (key performance indicators). KPIs focus on efficiency not effectiveness. There is little point doing the wrong things well.
An annual performance plan or review isn’t going to have any meaningful impact, but nothing you do once a year will.
Handling low performersIgnoring low performers can have serious consequences for your team. • You signal that it is ok to perform to that level.• Low performing managers will encourage your top performers to
leave. They don’t want to be on a loosing team. • Low performers hire -- you guessed it -- low performers. So if
performance is a problem in your management team you need to address it as soon as possible.
Forcing low performers to work longer is not a solution. If this is the only way you can achieve goals then your organisations scope for improvement is limited and sustainability is unlikely.
Instead, focus your entire organisation on the vital few outcomes that will lead to success. According to Prof. Robert S. Kaplan and Dr. David P. Norton of the Harvard Business School, only 20-30% of all activity contributes to achieving an organisations strategic goals. Focus on improving this in your team, not with micromanaging but with setting clear goals and objectives then getting out of the way.
Accountability
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The importance of goalsGoals define desired outcomes. They are the building blocks for performance planning, appraisal and improvement. If this isn’t reason enough to pay attention to goals then consider Parkinson’s Law.
Without goals people will occupy themselves with activities that keep them busy; usually activities they are most comfortable doing, but which contribute very little to the organization’s success.
Every organisation and its members need goals - and plans for achieving them. Goals focus the limited resources, such as time, on the things that matter most. As a manager, you are responsible for setting goals for your team. These include shared goals – so that everyone on the team has a common aim and works towards it – and personal goals, such as sales targets.
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Share this guideParkinson’s Law Work expands to fill the time available.
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Do you know your organisation’s strategic goals & how you affect them? Most don’t!
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It makes sense for goal-setting to be a top-down exercise that begins with organisation strategy. The organisation exists to achieve a number of goals / outcomes so everyone in it should be linked to same. Team and individual goals should serve that strategy.
When the system works perfectly there is a cascading of linked and aligned goals from the top of the organisation to the bottom. The strategic goal of the organisation sits at the top, while each of the operating units or departments have goals that directly support the strategic objective.
Within the operating units or departments, teams and individuals are assigned goals that directly support the goals of their units. The real power of these cascading goals is their alignment with the highest purposes of the organisation.
Every team member and manager should understand his or her goals, how assigned activities advance the goals of the team, and how the team’s activities contribute to the strategic objective of the organisation. The result is that everyone’s energy is focused on the things that matter most.
Successful goal-setting starts at the top
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You’d be surprised how many managers don’t recognise the difference. Activities describe how people spend their time, whereas goals are the results that they seek.
Activities Goals Writing weekly sales report Increase sales by 10%
Handling customer complaints and other problems
Reduce customer turnover by 15%
Meeting weekly to discuss new product development project
Launch five new products this year
Participating in quality-control training programme
Cut production waste by 20%
Confusing activities and goals can mean that you focus on doing tasks and not achieving outcomes.
The problems can be:
• You potentially reward activity that does not contribute to your organisation’s goals.
• Your team believes that it is responsible for activity and not results.
• You and your team waste lots of time doing stuff that adds no value.
• The tasks required to achieve a goal will change as circumstances do. If you continue with the same list of tasks you are unlikely to achieve your goals.
Activities are not goals. Goals are not activities.
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Confusing activities and goals can mean that you focus on doing tasks and not achieving outcomes.
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Why many improvement initiatives fail
It’s well proven that performance management processes work when they are properly implemented, but very few organisations actually take the time to manage it.
Without a system to embed performance management within the organisation, performance management remains an annual event with little or no impact.
Of the organisations that have invested in performance management systems, according to a recent poll, only 5% were satisfied with them.
In our experience the key to success is SIMPLE performance management systems that everyone in the organisation not just HR can use with little or no training.
“Many organizations try to solve the problem with performance management training but this doesn’t lead to sustained improvements. The reason is simply that we retain 8-12% of what we learn in training 6 months after the fact”.
Systems
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We only retain 8-12% of what we learn in training 6 months later.
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Many organisations fall into the trap of continually increasing bonuses therefore compromising their competitiveness.
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Using remuneration as your only incentive may not always be the best way to achieve what you want.
1. For many recognition, opportunity and increased responsibility are very attractive incentives. As well as preserving resources, these incentives focus more on long-term success and development.
2. Bonuses can focus too much attention on short-term results at the expense of long term-success. Many analysts attribute much of the blame for the recent melt-down in the banking sector to over reliance on bonuses.
3. After a while performance related bonuses become expected and no longer drive improved performance. Many organisations fall into the trap on continually increasing bonuses therefore compromising their competitiveness.
Watch Dan Pinks short presentation on the surprising truth about what motivates people. http://goo.gl/4QSZ1y
Bonus & Pay
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Performance reviews can be pretty scary places, and not just for your employees. You the manager are probably worried about how you are going to deliver some bad news or how to give praise without raising expectations about pay. Here are some things to keep in mind when reviewing performance.
SupportYour role is to support your staff. That means coaching, providing resources & training; setting clear expectations and then getting out of the way. Getting the job done is down to your staff.
ListenListen to your staff, they will be more engaged when you do.
PayTraditionally an employee is lead to believe that pay and opportunities are based on performance when in fact that’s not the really the case. Lots of other factors including the importance of the role to the organisation, market rates, strategy, budgets and politics all play a part when it comes to decisions about pay and opportunities. You need to try and separate the performance and pay reviews.
Be firmMost of us think we are above average so lots of us must be wrong! That includes some of your staff. Hold your ground when you and your employee have differing views about their performance.
A recent study has shown that 61% of a performance rating is a reflection of the rater, not rated and employees recognise this. You need to implement a way to objectively measure and record performance.
Be careful offering self-assessment to employees. They view “collaboration” as the manager’s attempt to have them offer up the instruments of their own torture and so they go through the motions and offer something that seems creditable but can’t really do them much harm. The goal of a performance review should be decision not judgment.
Performance Reviews
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A successful performance review begins well before the meeting. If you are delivering bad news give your employee a copy of the review beforehand. That way they can have their initial emotional reaction in private and the review meeting can be a constructive conversation about how to improve.
Areas a performance review should cover: • Strengths and successes
since the last meeting.
• Improvements since the last meeting.
• Behaviours that the employee needs to develop.
• Any performance problems.
Ask those who performed well since their last review for a list of their achievements. You want to make sure you recognise them all. We don’t recommend this for employees who haven’t performed to your expectations as it may be misleading.
Prepare a list of examples to support your review,include behaviours that in your view helped or hurt. You want your staff to clearly understand what they need to do more and less of. Don’t include personal traits, we all feel we can change our behaviors but not ourselves.
We suggest you do not include success or failures to complete a development plan in your performance review. Not everyone wants to develop beyond their current role but that doesn’t mean that they are performing badly.
If good attendance is important to your staff achieving their goals, discuss it at the review; if it’s not important, don’t bring it up as it will distract from your main message.
Delivery
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THANKS FOR READING!
Use the management practices science has shown drives strategy & goal execution and boost performance.
We would love to hear from you. Tell us what you think of this guide or just call us for some advice about performance management today.
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WHERE
IDEASIMPACTS.
BECOME
IMI Diploma in ManagementIncorporates six core subjects which will provide you with a comprehensive overview of best-practice management in a broad range of areas. Throughout the programme you will apply practical managerial skills and deliver genuine bottom-line value for your organisation.
TNext Start Date: 11 May 2015
Enrol Now
alk to our programme advisors today
@IMI_Ireland
For latest updates, follow us on
Live Chat on www.imi.ie 1800 22 33 88 [email protected]
Business Strategy
Financial Management
Organisational Behaviour
MarketingHR Management Advanced
Communication Skills
Each IMI Diploma is academically equivalent to a UCC Postgraduate Certifi cate (Level 9) Award on the Irish National Qualifi cations FrameworkMinor
WHERE
IDEASIMPACTS.
BECOME
IMI Diploma in ManagementIncorporates six core subjects which will provide you with a comprehensive overview of best-practice management in a broad range of areas. Throughout the programme you will apply practical managerial skills and deliver genuine bottom-line value for your organisation.
T:
Enrol Now
alk to our programme advisors today
@IMI_Ireland
For latest updates, follow us on
Live Chat on www.imi.ie 1800 22 33 88 [email protected]
Business Strategy
Financial Management
Organisational Behaviour
MarketingHR Management Advanced
Communication Skills
Each IMI Diploma is academically equivalent to a UCC Postgraduate Certifi cate (Level 9) Award on the Irish National Qualifi cations FrameworkMinor
High Performance Teams This programme is a short 2 day programme aimed at developing your team leadership skills, your understanding of team roles and dynamics.
Next Start date:11 May 2015
Next Start date: 28 May 2015
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Denis Coleman is the founder and CEO of WorkCompass, a team performance management & review software platform. WorkCompass helps teams to align their efforts with strategic goals and continuously improve performance. Denis spent over 5 years researching strategy execution and performance management practices before founding WorkCompass to create a software solution.
Denis has worked as Finance Director for Flextronics International, with responsibility for €800 million in annual revenue. He was also the Key Account Manager for Dovatron International, responsible for annual revenue of more than €600 million, and Management Consultant for BDO, one of Europe’s most successful professional services providers.
IMI and WorkCompass have partnered to enable management learning and improve performance.
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