Situation:
Performance management reviews for manufacturing employees.
A new system for performance reviews required every employee in an engineering, high technology and manufacturing company to complete a form detailing their contributions to the company and their career goals for the coming year. The first year this was instituted, the manufacturing manager and supervisors spent over two months helping limited English-speaking manufacturing employees complete the forms.
Solution:
• Create a guidebook with examples of how to answer the questions on the form and simple definitions of difficult terms.
• Provide two three-hour workshops with explanations and practice in writing measurable goals and using the guidebook.
Result:
Reduction in management and supervisor time by over 80%. (After the training, it took them only two weeks of involvement.)
Showing posts with label Performance Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Performance Management. Show all posts
Sales Leaders Create Performance
Are You Building a High Performance Sales Environment?
It is the Sales Leader’s challenge to create the circumstances that stimulate improved sales performance and strategy execution from their sales force.
Of course having the right sales and customer service people is critical, but once “on the bus” how does a sales leader create a sales environment that improves the performance of the sales force? That is the sales leader’s challenge and, when it is not done, it will matter little if you have the right people or not. An ineffective sales leader can greatly hinder sales employee retention. Like a great coach improves the performance of an athlete, effective leadership can improve the performance of the sales force.
Research has indicated that 46% of organizations cite creating a high performance sales culture as one of their top 3 talent management priorities and yet 61% of executives do not feel that the talent and management training processes they have today are driving greater performance from the business.
So the question is not whether you should do it but rather HOW.
How do sales leaders drive improved execution and individual contribution? How can sales leaders consistently make the right move to stimulate performance improvement? How can sales leaders ensure that performance improvement scales throughout an entire sales organization? The answer is to create and maintain a High Performance Sales Environment.
People Change When Their Environment Changes
It has long being held that people will adapt to their environment. Physically, mentally, emotionally people will make subtle and sometimes significant shifts in their behavior based upon the environmental circumstances. Driven by this presupposition our research project has been investigating the specific environmental circumstances that stimulate improved performance in people.
Through a process of interviews and analysis, we have spent the last 16 years researching human high performance and the factors that shape a high performance environment. Research subjects include: Nelson Mandela, Carl Lewis, Sir Edmund Hilary, military generals, leaders of NASA, MIT, Harvard Business School, the Juilliard School of Music, and CEOs of leading corporations among a bank of over 7,500 research participants.
Every performance population has a primary comparison. Leaders need to ensure that this comparison drives performance.
The Key to Building a High Performance Sales Environment
The key to implementing high performance in a sales organization is:
Many sales environments have goals and objectives that are not stimulating performance. Equally many sales forces have consequence systems that don’t motivate the population to perform or appraisal systems that are viewed as a bureaucratic process not a tool for performance exposure. Each concept has a set of “effectiveness criteria” that need to be met in order to stimulate improved performance in a sales force. This issue, a lack of clarity and effectiveness in one, some, or all of the nine components of the High Performance Environmental Structure®, is the cause of many of the problems with driving improved execution and enhanced productivity in sales forces today. Sales Leaders believe they have provided goals and training measurement and rewards and have engaged employees, but they are merely ticking the boxes not making those concepts “clear and effective” in stimulating sales performance.
It is the Sales Leader’s challenge to create the circumstances that stimulate improved sales performance and strategy execution from their sales force.
Of course having the right sales and customer service people is critical, but once “on the bus” how does a sales leader create a sales environment that improves the performance of the sales force? That is the sales leader’s challenge and, when it is not done, it will matter little if you have the right people or not. An ineffective sales leader can greatly hinder sales employee retention. Like a great coach improves the performance of an athlete, effective leadership can improve the performance of the sales force.
Research has indicated that 46% of organizations cite creating a high performance sales culture as one of their top 3 talent management priorities and yet 61% of executives do not feel that the talent and management training processes they have today are driving greater performance from the business.
So the question is not whether you should do it but rather HOW.
How do sales leaders drive improved execution and individual contribution? How can sales leaders consistently make the right move to stimulate performance improvement? How can sales leaders ensure that performance improvement scales throughout an entire sales organization? The answer is to create and maintain a High Performance Sales Environment.
People Change When Their Environment Changes
It has long being held that people will adapt to their environment. Physically, mentally, emotionally people will make subtle and sometimes significant shifts in their behavior based upon the environmental circumstances. Driven by this presupposition our research project has been investigating the specific environmental circumstances that stimulate improved performance in people.
Through a process of interviews and analysis, we have spent the last 16 years researching human high performance and the factors that shape a high performance environment. Research subjects include: Nelson Mandela, Carl Lewis, Sir Edmund Hilary, military generals, leaders of NASA, MIT, Harvard Business School, the Juilliard School of Music, and CEOs of leading corporations among a bank of over 7,500 research participants.
Every performance population has a primary comparison. Leaders need to ensure that this comparison drives performance.
The Key to Building a High Performance Sales Environment
The key to implementing high performance in a sales organization is:
- Clarity,
- Effectiveness
Many sales environments have goals and objectives that are not stimulating performance. Equally many sales forces have consequence systems that don’t motivate the population to perform or appraisal systems that are viewed as a bureaucratic process not a tool for performance exposure. Each concept has a set of “effectiveness criteria” that need to be met in order to stimulate improved performance in a sales force. This issue, a lack of clarity and effectiveness in one, some, or all of the nine components of the High Performance Environmental Structure®, is the cause of many of the problems with driving improved execution and enhanced productivity in sales forces today. Sales Leaders believe they have provided goals and training measurement and rewards and have engaged employees, but they are merely ticking the boxes not making those concepts “clear and effective” in stimulating sales performance.
Management Training - Coaching
Do Managers Really Make a Difference?
How do we get managers and senior executives more involved in management training and leadership development initiatives? With tightened budgets and increased pressure to perform, we are getting asked this question more than ever before.
The Answer:
Specifics:
Specifics:
We asked, “What difference did the coaching conversations with your manager make in your success?
Significant Results: Participants in the coached group said their manager “made a significant difference” (72%) compared to “a little difference” (33%) for the noncoached group.
In Conclusion
So what?
With the majority of training programs failing to “move the needle” in terms of increased revenue, decreased costs, or increased productivity, it is imperative that companies focus on Relevant Skills and invest in Adoption to get results. Targeted coaching is certainly one of the keys to successful adoption.
These results clearly show that coaching conversations are linked to changes in leading indicators (skills) and lagging indicators (new revenue). Every change effort, training initiative, or development program must include more than the “training” of new knowledge and skills. Manager involvement is a key link to getting measurable results.
How do we get managers and senior executives more involved in management training and leadership development initiatives? With tightened budgets and increased pressure to perform, we are getting asked this question more than ever before.
The Answer:
- Relevance: Ensure that the training and development initiative is relevant to the participant, their boss, and the company.
- Make the Value Visible: Show the value in terms of behavior change and business impact.
While we have believed in Training RAI™: Relevance. Adoption. Impact for years, our recent study of 121 professionals and their managers at a major North American financial services firm, amplifies the impact of new manager involvement on the transfer of training.
Notice the extreme differences associated with manager involvement.
Insight #1: Coaching is linked to skill application. Are you providing reinforcement coaching for your critical initiatives? It could make a 20% difference.
Specifics:Notice the extreme differences associated with manager involvement.
Insight #1: Coaching is linked to skill application. Are you providing reinforcement coaching for your critical initiatives? It could make a 20% difference.
- Comparison Groups:people who received individual coaching conversations versus those who did not
- Control Group: 47 participants who did NOT get individual coaching
- Coached Group: 61 participants who received individual and executive coaching – Note that the Coached Group scores were nearly 20% higher.
- Skill Scores: Each person’s average score for 38 individual skills, placed on a scale from 0-100%.
Specifics:
- Measurement: Each participant was asked for one example of how “coaching conversations with your manager have made a significant difference in a sales situation.” These were verified to include the situation, specific coaching, and results over the last three months.
- Significant Results: The Coached Group created 2x more new revenue over the same time period as the Control Group
Specifics:
We asked, “What difference did the coaching conversations with your manager make in your success?
Significant Results: Participants in the coached group said their manager “made a significant difference” (72%) compared to “a little difference” (33%) for the noncoached group.
In Conclusion
So what?
With the majority of training programs failing to “move the needle” in terms of increased revenue, decreased costs, or increased productivity, it is imperative that companies focus on Relevant Skills and invest in Adoption to get results. Targeted coaching is certainly one of the keys to successful adoption.
These results clearly show that coaching conversations are linked to changes in leading indicators (skills) and lagging indicators (new revenue). Every change effort, training initiative, or development program must include more than the “training” of new knowledge and skills. Manager involvement is a key link to getting measurable results.
High Performance Environment - A Case Study
The Client
The client is the Australian arm of a world leading, research-based life sciences company which operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 100,000 people. GSK consists of two operating groups—GSK Pharmaceuticals and GSK Consumer Healthcare—who research, develop, and manufacture medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products.
In Australia GSK invests more than $35 million each year in research and development, contributes significantly to export revenue through pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare exports, and is active in GSK’s $580 million investment in global/community health improvement initiatives. The Asia Pacific revenue is $2.96 billion.
The Situation
There was a sense that the business was growing complacent. The Managing Director wanted to “return a positive performance management pressure to the business.”
The Approach
We used a combination of the following:
In the words of Managing Director Paul Lirette:
“There has been a significant attitudinal and behavioral change from increasing the potency of the exposure mechanisms.” Annual reviews used to come around and it didn’t really matter as long as one does the norm. There were often no consequences for performance and there was acceptance of substandard performance. “The solution is to have clarity about the consequences for failure and the employee needs to expect appropriate consequences. This increases accountability. We see this in the executive team being more engaged.”
The client is the Australian arm of a world leading, research-based life sciences company which operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 100,000 people. GSK consists of two operating groups—GSK Pharmaceuticals and GSK Consumer Healthcare—who research, develop, and manufacture medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products.
In Australia GSK invests more than $35 million each year in research and development, contributes significantly to export revenue through pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare exports, and is active in GSK’s $580 million investment in global/community health improvement initiatives. The Asia Pacific revenue is $2.96 billion.
The Situation
There was a sense that the business was growing complacent. The Managing Director wanted to “return a positive performance management pressure to the business.”
The Approach
We used a combination of the following:
- The High Performance Environmental Structure (HPES) Diagnostic to identify the next two moves
- Senior Leadership Development Programs tailored towards key leaders to build their performance plans for their businesses
- General HPES education for the wider leadership team (80 leaders)
In the words of Managing Director Paul Lirette:
“There has been a significant attitudinal and behavioral change from increasing the potency of the exposure mechanisms.” Annual reviews used to come around and it didn’t really matter as long as one does the norm. There were often no consequences for performance and there was acceptance of substandard performance. “The solution is to have clarity about the consequences for failure and the employee needs to expect appropriate consequences. This increases accountability. We see this in the executive team being more engaged.”
Human Performance & Leadership Accountability - A Case Study
The Client
The Laminex Group (Laminex) is the leading marketer, distributor, and manufacturer of premium decorative surfaces in Australia and New Zealand and has a portfolio of market-leading brands. The organization has a long history in the manufacturing sector, approximately 1,900 employees, and about $1 billion in annual turnover.
The Situation
Laminex was aiming for:
We used a combination of the following:
In the words of CEO David Worley:
“The HPES contribute[s] to my ability as a CEO to contribute to performance. Tension around performance is a good way of stimulating and containing performance. There is good communication and clarity between what is expected of the individual or the team. I don’t think without the HPES, I would see as many individuals hitting objectives.
The HPES helps the leaders implement change in a clear way. The common language in the approach is extremely helpful and we have adopted the language in our business. Without the HPES process, I would not have gotten as much out of my management training investments and team performance as I have over the past 12 months. The process has been very helpful and is a complement to how I am aligning my leadership team and not a distraction. The HPES principles, levers that can be pulled, and concepts are easily applicable to a corporate context.”
The Laminex Group (Laminex) is the leading marketer, distributor, and manufacturer of premium decorative surfaces in Australia and New Zealand and has a portfolio of market-leading brands. The organization has a long history in the manufacturing sector, approximately 1,900 employees, and about $1 billion in annual turnover.
The Situation
Laminex was aiming for:
- A stronger human performance management focus to the business
- An increase in executive development, leadership training and overall accountability for results as the economy turned downward
We used a combination of the following:
- Senior leaders completing the High Performance Environmental Structure (HPES) diagnostic
- Individual performance plan design, i.e., all leaders to develop performance plans to: (1) Address individual performance and training measures in their own teams, (2) Increase accountability for outcomes among their direct reports
In the words of CEO David Worley:
“The HPES contribute[s] to my ability as a CEO to contribute to performance. Tension around performance is a good way of stimulating and containing performance. There is good communication and clarity between what is expected of the individual or the team. I don’t think without the HPES, I would see as many individuals hitting objectives.
The HPES helps the leaders implement change in a clear way. The common language in the approach is extremely helpful and we have adopted the language in our business. Without the HPES process, I would not have gotten as much out of my management training investments and team performance as I have over the past 12 months. The process has been very helpful and is a complement to how I am aligning my leadership team and not a distraction. The HPES principles, levers that can be pulled, and concepts are easily applicable to a corporate context.”
Interviewing Skills Best Practices - False Credentials for Sale
These days, job seekers intent on gaining any advantage in a tough market don't have to falsify their resumes. They can hire the "experts" at websites such as careerexcuse.com to do it for them. What’s worse, the folks at careerexcuse.com can create an entire network of fraudulent references to back up those fabricated claims.
Here's how it works. For a fee, careerexcuse.com will fill in gaps on a resume by creating a fictitious job with a phony title and salary history. Depending on the "client's" needs, it can also provide a fake address, website, and even a sham 800 number where trained operators are standing by to give glowing recommendations when prospective employers call.
Smart employers have known for years that many job hunters pad their resumes. But careerexcuse.com goes way beyond the fudging that individual candidates do. The web site is a sophisticated commercial operation whose sole purpose is to defraud employers.
William Schmidt, the founder of careerexcuse.com, says he got the idea for his business when he noticed job seekers on Twitter and Facebook asking for phony references from friends and acquaintances. A few months ago, he claimed to have helped at least twenty people find work under false pretenses and “feels great about it." He says he performs a public service by "opening doors for people who need a second chance."
Fighting back with intervewing skills best practicesSince selling fictitious resumes and references isn't exactly illegal—at least not yet—employers must be extra vigilant. We recommend a statement in your application process granting you "the right to call any references about the candidate’s prior work history and character.” This gives you permission to ask any reference for the names of other people who knew the candidate you are considering, and to contact them. The idea is to smoke out phony references and “break the chain of names” of positive references from friends and associates.
Some additional pointers:
Yet given the lengths to which some job seekers seem willing to go, it's crucial to investigate carefully. And that brings us to the behavior-based interview. We have long stressed the need for interviewers to probe for the authenticity of answers in an interview because of the limits to reference checking. In today's increasingly unethical environment, the interview remains the most reliable way to judge a candidate's qualifications.
Getting the truth
A successful interviewing best practice to is to focus and probe. It goes beyond the information on the resume, which just might be a figment of someones imagination. Equally important, an interview should be conversational, not confrontational. Decades of management training program and talent management consulting experience have shown us that people reveal the truth about themselves when they're relaxed, not when they're on the defensive.
In the interview, it may be helpful to probe for dates, names, and specifics of the job that are not on the resume. Ask the candidate to describe in detail a typical day in that job. Find out the names of anyone they may have reported to or worked with and who knows their work well. Suggest you may call these individuals for additional references. Prior to ending the behavior-based interview, ask the candidate, “What else should I know about your job performance before I follow up on these references?”
We don't think that every job candidate lies. But we do think that the existence of web sites selling counterfeit references and even identities makes it a lot easier for today’s candidates to stretch the truth. That means due diligence is essential. The overall satisfaction and retention of your employees is at risk if this key business process is broken or flawed.
Here's how it works. For a fee, careerexcuse.com will fill in gaps on a resume by creating a fictitious job with a phony title and salary history. Depending on the "client's" needs, it can also provide a fake address, website, and even a sham 800 number where trained operators are standing by to give glowing recommendations when prospective employers call.
Smart employers have known for years that many job hunters pad their resumes. But careerexcuse.com goes way beyond the fudging that individual candidates do. The web site is a sophisticated commercial operation whose sole purpose is to defraud employers.
William Schmidt, the founder of careerexcuse.com, says he got the idea for his business when he noticed job seekers on Twitter and Facebook asking for phony references from friends and acquaintances. A few months ago, he claimed to have helped at least twenty people find work under false pretenses and “feels great about it." He says he performs a public service by "opening doors for people who need a second chance."
Fighting back with intervewing skills best practicesSince selling fictitious resumes and references isn't exactly illegal—at least not yet—employers must be extra vigilant. We recommend a statement in your application process granting you "the right to call any references about the candidate’s prior work history and character.” This gives you permission to ask any reference for the names of other people who knew the candidate you are considering, and to contact them. The idea is to smoke out phony references and “break the chain of names” of positive references from friends and associates.
Some additional pointers:
- Determine how well the candidate’s resume matches what they may have posted on LinkedIn.
- Use the candidate’s LinkedIn connections for references when appropriate.
- Search the Web to see if a company listed on the candidate’s resume actually exists.
- Cross-reference telephone numbers with an online reverse search to validate a company’s identity.
- Avoid calling 800 phone numbers for reference checks.
Yet given the lengths to which some job seekers seem willing to go, it's crucial to investigate carefully. And that brings us to the behavior-based interview. We have long stressed the need for interviewers to probe for the authenticity of answers in an interview because of the limits to reference checking. In today's increasingly unethical environment, the interview remains the most reliable way to judge a candidate's qualifications.
Getting the truth
A successful interviewing best practice to is to focus and probe. It goes beyond the information on the resume, which just might be a figment of someones imagination. Equally important, an interview should be conversational, not confrontational. Decades of management training program and talent management consulting experience have shown us that people reveal the truth about themselves when they're relaxed, not when they're on the defensive.
In the interview, it may be helpful to probe for dates, names, and specifics of the job that are not on the resume. Ask the candidate to describe in detail a typical day in that job. Find out the names of anyone they may have reported to or worked with and who knows their work well. Suggest you may call these individuals for additional references. Prior to ending the behavior-based interview, ask the candidate, “What else should I know about your job performance before I follow up on these references?”
We don't think that every job candidate lies. But we do think that the existence of web sites selling counterfeit references and even identities makes it a lot easier for today’s candidates to stretch the truth. That means due diligence is essential. The overall satisfaction and retention of your employees is at risk if this key business process is broken or flawed.
Consultative Selling Training and Sales Coaching - A Case Study
Client
Ultimate Software provides web-based payroll and employee performance management systems to organizations of all sizes. An important component of the company was the virtual Professional Services Organization and teams charged with providing client solutions.
Business Need
To meet the demands of a shifting economy and increased competition, Ultimate Software recognized the need to move from a product-oriented company to that of a solutions provider. They needed to partner with their clients by understanding their business issues and linking Ultimate Software solutions to these needs—saving their clients time and money.
Goal
Ultimate Software’s goal was to be seen as a strategic partner providing business solutions versus a software company. Through targeted and relevant consultative selling, executive selling and solution selling training investments and on-going sales coaching sessions, they wanted to arm their Professional Services Organization with the skills and training resources necessary to become true business partners with their clients.
Solution
We worked with Ultimate Software to roll out an ongoing business sales training curriculum that would provide their consultants with needed skills to help them partner internally with team members and, most importantly, externally with clients. These skills, along with effective sales negotiation best practices, were essential due to the fact that the majority of their work was done virtually.
The Consultative Selling Approach workshop was presented to the entire Professional Services Organization. This workshop was followed by implementation of a reinforcement strategy and other proven sales training best practices that included the following:
Three months later we presented Leveraging the Consultative Selling Approach training to the entire Professional Services Organization. Participants deepened their ability to build effective business partnerships by assessing a more complex client relationship using our Partnering Factors.
Ultimate Software Directors led reinforcement sessions based on tools and techniques from Leveraging the Consultative Selling Approach during their regional meeting events and key strategic account planning and training efforts.
Five months later Directors and Managers attended our Consultative Selling Training, a client simulation workshop focused on influencing senior executives.
Nine months later Senior Managers attended a Train-the-Trainer session for the Consultative Approach in order to accelerate critical talent management initiatives such as training and coaching all remaining corporate employees and integrating the workshop into an Effective Interviewing Skills and New Hire Training.
ResultsFollowing this curriculum, Ultimate Software achieved the following results:
Ultimate Software provides web-based payroll and employee performance management systems to organizations of all sizes. An important component of the company was the virtual Professional Services Organization and teams charged with providing client solutions.
Business Need
To meet the demands of a shifting economy and increased competition, Ultimate Software recognized the need to move from a product-oriented company to that of a solutions provider. They needed to partner with their clients by understanding their business issues and linking Ultimate Software solutions to these needs—saving their clients time and money.
Goal
Ultimate Software’s goal was to be seen as a strategic partner providing business solutions versus a software company. Through targeted and relevant consultative selling, executive selling and solution selling training investments and on-going sales coaching sessions, they wanted to arm their Professional Services Organization with the skills and training resources necessary to become true business partners with their clients.
Solution
We worked with Ultimate Software to roll out an ongoing business sales training curriculum that would provide their consultants with needed skills to help them partner internally with team members and, most importantly, externally with clients. These skills, along with effective sales negotiation best practices, were essential due to the fact that the majority of their work was done virtually.
The Consultative Selling Approach workshop was presented to the entire Professional Services Organization. This workshop was followed by implementation of a reinforcement strategy and other proven sales training best practices that included the following:
- Use of our online tools and activities.
- Discussion of consulting selling and advising skills at regular team and management meetings.
- Incorporation of specific goals into each participant’s performance management objectives.
- Sales training measurement and tracking of specific business objectives.
Three months later we presented Leveraging the Consultative Selling Approach training to the entire Professional Services Organization. Participants deepened their ability to build effective business partnerships by assessing a more complex client relationship using our Partnering Factors.
Ultimate Software Directors led reinforcement sessions based on tools and techniques from Leveraging the Consultative Selling Approach during their regional meeting events and key strategic account planning and training efforts.
Five months later Directors and Managers attended our Consultative Selling Training, a client simulation workshop focused on influencing senior executives.
Nine months later Senior Managers attended a Train-the-Trainer session for the Consultative Approach in order to accelerate critical talent management initiatives such as training and coaching all remaining corporate employees and integrating the workshop into an Effective Interviewing Skills and New Hire Training.
ResultsFollowing this curriculum, Ultimate Software achieved the following results:
- Add-on work associated with revenue generating projects increased by over 20%. This verified that customers were seeing the value of Professional Services solutions, and that consultants were now able to identify value selling opportunities and secure additional business opportunities.
- As a result of better customer service skills, customer referrals increased significantly along with the number of customers willing to do press releases and give testimonials for Ultimate Software.
- Implement and Utilize Project Management Best Practices and Skills – Overall project utilization increased by over 36%.
- Individual performance – Each participant worked with their manager to set specific performance management goals and track results.
- Managers reported a significant increase in participant performance, a sharp improvement in their ability to work strategically with their clients and better manage critical sales territories.
Leading for Employee Engagement - A Case Study
Background
A large, highly respected global technology manufacturer changed its strategy to remain competitive in its market segment and financially viable as an ongoing entity. The new strategy fundamentally repositioned the company from commoditized offerings to value-added services and high margin products.
Challenge
After two years, major functional groups in the company had yet to adopt the new philosophy or implement enabling strategies. People were also highly skeptical about the new strategy succeeding. Finally, implementation would require substantial effort throughout the company with significant change in the following functions:
The company embarked on a comprehensive, structured process working with intact teams to create implementation plans and actions. The process, supported by training and consulting, was cascaded down through the organization with the following objectives:
As a result of this process the company achieved significantly improved and sustained business results as well as higher levels of employee engagement. Specific results include:
A large, highly respected global technology manufacturer changed its strategy to remain competitive in its market segment and financially viable as an ongoing entity. The new strategy fundamentally repositioned the company from commoditized offerings to value-added services and high margin products.
Challenge
After two years, major functional groups in the company had yet to adopt the new philosophy or implement enabling strategies. People were also highly skeptical about the new strategy succeeding. Finally, implementation would require substantial effort throughout the company with significant change in the following functions:
- Product development needed to completely revamp their R&D focus
- Manufacturing had to retool much of their production operations
- Sales needed to redefine the sales process and target audience
The company embarked on a comprehensive, structured process working with intact teams to create implementation plans and actions. The process, supported by training and consulting, was cascaded down through the organization with the following objectives:
- Align all organizational efforts and design around the achievement of the new strategy
- Engage each group and individual in a process to create ownership around goals and objectives need to successfully implement the strategy
- Develop capacity for change within the workforce to facilitate the transition from old to new ways of doing business
As a result of this process the company achieved significantly improved and sustained business results as well as higher levels of employee engagement. Specific results include:
- A 22.6% increase in Q4 revenue over the prior year
- Gross margin improved to 61.4 %, up from 54.7 % in the prior year
- Developed and launched over 150 new products supporting the new model
- Significant measurable increases in commitment/action to the new strategy
- Measurable increases in virtually every dimension of engagement
Training RAI (TM) - Raising the Bar through Assessments & Coaching
By Tris Brown, President & CEO
Even in this climate of tightened belts and increased analysis, more than 90% of training initiatives continue to fail.
If that sounds surprising, try to remember the last training session that resulted in measurable and sustainable behavior change. Then try to remember a session that quantifiably impacted revenue, costs, or productivity. Does the fact that the great majority of training initiatives fail still seem so far fetched?
When we ask leaders about behavior change and impact related to training, we typically get a long pause and then a pensive and pained look. Then we usually get a long answer that would make many politicians proud for the lack of clarity and specifics.
Unfortunately, the training bar is still too low. Most people continue to consider training successful” simply when participants get a few “Aha’s” and feel that it was not a waste of time. We can’t think of another business process that gets less scrutiny or has lower expectations than training. The training bar needs to be raised.
To help raise expectations and quality, our recent Q3 Poll highlights 4 critical success levers behind impactful learning initiatives and a positive Training RAI™: Results.Adoption.Impact.
1. Strategic Business Link: An urgent business relevance
2. Skill Gap Assessment: The strong understanding of individual skill gaps
3. Performance Coaching and Support: The consistent and timely performance coaching of participants by their bosses
4. Training Measurement: The impact on the business
We define Training RAI™ as a solution with 3 key characteristics.
1. Relevance: The solution needs to be relevant to the (1) Business, (2) Leadership Development Strategy, (3) Target Audience, and (4) Audience Supervisors. Without relevance, you would be better off buying books on the subject – you’ll get the same result.
2. Adoption: The new skills, knowledge, and behaviors must be consistently adopted. Without on-the-job application, a disconnect will occur between learning objectives (skills and knowledge) and performance objectives (desired results).
3. Impact: The business impact needs to be measured. Contrary to popular belief, this can be one quickly and easily. Measurement is a key component to driving accountability for execution and providing actionable feedback for follow-on coaching. Read more about training measurement.
In this article, we will tackle one of the major impediments to obtaining a positive Training RAI™: a Lack of Individual Skill Gap Assessments and Coaching Profiles.
In our experience over the last 15 years, we have seen that the lack of proper individual training needs assessments and coaching plans causes a disproportionate amount of training failure. The majority of corporate learning initiatives continue to bypass individual skill assessments prior to designing or delivering new training programs. Skipping over the first step of assessing skill gaps is one of the root causes behind the 90%+ failure rate.
What if doctors prescribed the same medication and the same dosage to all patients before an individual diagnosis? Training practitioners who continue to sell, buy, and facilitate training with little regard to ensuring that the prescribed solution is the best fit for each participant could similarly be accused of “malpractice.” And even if you have diagnosed correctly, each participant has different strengths and weaknesses that need individualized attention before behavior can change and performance be improved. Not many problems get solved without a detailed, carefully considered plan.
When asked, most training practitioners mistakenly identify attributes such as participant materials, length of program, location, facilitator personality, content, and instructional design as the culprits behind failed learning. If only it were that easy. Changing behavior is a process, not an event. With the assumption that a clear and thorough business case must precede any individual skill assessment, this article outlines the top 6 assessment questions that you should ask to ensure a successful Training RAI™.
1. Does Leadership Agree Upon a Clear Direction?
While this seems like common sense, we continue to be surprised at how many seemingly experienced learning consultants and practitioners fail to answer two fundamental questions with key stakeholders before designing and implementing learning solutions:
- Barrier: What are the skills that are holding us back from achieving our goals?
- Focus: Where should we focus our efforts for the greatest impact?
An effective skill assessment should clearly identify the key “money making” skills for your initiative.
You need to know the critical few “A,” “B,” and “C” skills and invest your resources and efforts accordingly. For example, a recent client called us to help significantly increase revenue. This global technology company had seen revenue decrease consistently for the last 8 quarters. With other initiatives in place to focus on product quality, competitive positioning, and service, they wanted to significantly increase the capabilities and performance of their team when selling solutions, value selling and executive selling. After our initial meeting, it was clear that the President, SVP of Sales, VP of Sales, and Senior Account Reps all had different ideas about how to solve the problem based upon their past experiences. We knew that a lack of agreed-upon direction among the leadership team and supporting cast was a death knell for meeting their goal. To clarify the direction to take, we designed and conducted an online assessment covering 93 key skills related to selling successfully and strategic account planning in their industry. 10 specific skill areas and 35 “Must Have” skills rose to the top. The assessment and the accompanying process to align sales executives started the initiative off on the right foot.
Alignment can also occur through interviews and focus groups; however, an assessment backed by (in this case) a research bank of 150+ proven behaviorally-based questions and scenarios provides a data-driven approach to ensure that your project is set up to succeed. A thorough approach also underlines the fact that you and your company are taking the initiative seriously. In this case, perception is indeed reality.
2. Are Leaders and Employees Aligned?
Once you have clear direction and executive alignment, your next step is to get your target and supporting audiences on the same page. This is accomplished by sharing the Leader Assessment results with the target audience and reviewing the 3 skill buckets:
A – “must have”
B – “good to have”
C – “nice to have”
Necessary adjustments that increase focus and buy-in can then be made based upon input, discussion, and analysis. This alignment process is a critical step in achieving any behavior change.
3. Do You Know the Specific Skill Gaps of Your Target Audience?
Once you have direction and alignment, it is time to pinpoint individual, group, and company skill gaps against a proven standard. The skill assessment should be online, take approximately 20 minutes, and be based upon researched and behaviorally-based questions and scenarios that have been agreed upon by your key stakeholders. The results will give you a clear picture of individual, group, and company:
- Strengths / Opportunities
- Differences between high and low performers
- Barriers to success
- Coaching / Development priorities
- Customization needs
With this detailed skill gap analysis, you have the data required to both plan and act intelligently.
Remember, this is about creating Training RAI™: Results.Adoption.Impact™, not about learning for the sake of learning.
4. Do Your Participants Have a Game Plan?
From a participant’s perspective, it seems a little crazy to go into an important training program without a clearly presented game plan. It is hard to improve your performance without knowing where you stand, what is expected of you, and what options you have at your disposal.
Customized profiles are excellent tools to help drive individual performance management from the beginning.
5. Are Your Coaches Set Up to Succeed?
There is an incredible amount of data correlating the value of ongoing performance management, coaching, training, and behavior change. In a nut shell, if you do not coach your target audience, the majority of them will not change their behavior. Without behavior change, you will not get the performance or business results that you desire. Without the results that you desire, you would be better off buying participants books, saving your money, or going golfing.
Training, by itself, is typically a waste of both time and money.
The same data that is used to provide participants with a game plan should also be used to create a targeted and individualized coaching plan with their new manager. The amount of involvement and support from the learner’s manager has direct impact upon their success.
In fact a recent study at a Fortune 500 Financial Services comparing a “Coached Group” vs. “Non-Coached Control Group” showed:
- 20.3% higher overall skill scores for the coached group
- 5.9% to 65.6% higher individual skill scores for ALL 38 skills
- 10% net increase in skill levels pre/post compared to control group
- 3 times the skill improvement attributed directly to their manager
- 2 times the success story results attributed directly to coaching
Additionally, of the 61 participants who received individual coaching, 9 out of 10 improved their scores in the critical areas measured. Of the 47 participants who did NOT receive coaching, their scores decreased in 9 out of 10 areas measured.
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- By Key competency
- Individual Development Plan
This is not a fluke. It has been proven repeatedly that in order to change behavior and performance management results you need two things:
1. Plan & Action: A plan and immediate action to begin applying new skills on the job
2. New Manager Coaching: Involvement and support from the learner’s manager
If the outcomes are important to you, important to the participants, important to their boss, and important to the company, then you owe it to yourself to do it right.
That means treating your learning initiative as a process, not an event. That means investing in accordance with the results that you desire. That means ensuring that in addition to the 6 steps outlined above, you use a well communicated assessment process to also:
- Urgency: Create a sense of urgency and creative tension to get people engaged
- Kickoff: Initiate the change process and predispose participants to get the ball rolling
- Exactness: Customize the training to ensure that it is exactly what you need
- Baseline: Set baseline metrics against which to measure improvement
- Buy-In: Obtain buy-in right from the start
In Conclusion: While many assessments on the market today are statistically invalid and often implemented in a way that inhibits trust, decreases relevance, and wastes time, we believe that the assessment process is an invaluable tool to drive true behavior change and positive results. Interviews, focus groups, and best practices can provide interesting data points to help ensure that your training design is on target. They are key elements to a successful solution. However, the assessment process, combined with an individual coaching plan, allows you to provide both the participant and the coach the tools required for sustainable success.
So the next time you have an important business issue related to skill or knowledge gaps, be sure you can answer “yes” to the following 6 questions before you jump to or initiate a solution. Only then can you be assured that you are on the right path to the success that you seek.
1. Does Leadership Agree Upon a Clear Direction?
2. Are Leaders and Employees Engaged and Aligned?
3. Do You Know the Specific Skill Gaps of Your Target Audience?
4. Do Your Participants Have a Game Plan?
5. Are Your Coaches Set Up to Succeed?
6. Are You Serious About Getting Results?
Even in this climate of tightened belts and increased analysis, more than 90% of training initiatives continue to fail.
If that sounds surprising, try to remember the last training session that resulted in measurable and sustainable behavior change. Then try to remember a session that quantifiably impacted revenue, costs, or productivity. Does the fact that the great majority of training initiatives fail still seem so far fetched?
When we ask leaders about behavior change and impact related to training, we typically get a long pause and then a pensive and pained look. Then we usually get a long answer that would make many politicians proud for the lack of clarity and specifics.
Unfortunately, the training bar is still too low. Most people continue to consider training successful” simply when participants get a few “Aha’s” and feel that it was not a waste of time. We can’t think of another business process that gets less scrutiny or has lower expectations than training. The training bar needs to be raised.
To help raise expectations and quality, our recent Q3 Poll highlights 4 critical success levers behind impactful learning initiatives and a positive Training RAI™: Results.Adoption.Impact.
1. Strategic Business Link: An urgent business relevance
2. Skill Gap Assessment: The strong understanding of individual skill gaps
3. Performance Coaching and Support: The consistent and timely performance coaching of participants by their bosses
4. Training Measurement: The impact on the business
We define Training RAI™ as a solution with 3 key characteristics.
1. Relevance: The solution needs to be relevant to the (1) Business, (2) Leadership Development Strategy, (3) Target Audience, and (4) Audience Supervisors. Without relevance, you would be better off buying books on the subject – you’ll get the same result.
2. Adoption: The new skills, knowledge, and behaviors must be consistently adopted. Without on-the-job application, a disconnect will occur between learning objectives (skills and knowledge) and performance objectives (desired results).
3. Impact: The business impact needs to be measured. Contrary to popular belief, this can be one quickly and easily. Measurement is a key component to driving accountability for execution and providing actionable feedback for follow-on coaching. Read more about training measurement.
In this article, we will tackle one of the major impediments to obtaining a positive Training RAI™: a Lack of Individual Skill Gap Assessments and Coaching Profiles.
In our experience over the last 15 years, we have seen that the lack of proper individual training needs assessments and coaching plans causes a disproportionate amount of training failure. The majority of corporate learning initiatives continue to bypass individual skill assessments prior to designing or delivering new training programs. Skipping over the first step of assessing skill gaps is one of the root causes behind the 90%+ failure rate.
What if doctors prescribed the same medication and the same dosage to all patients before an individual diagnosis? Training practitioners who continue to sell, buy, and facilitate training with little regard to ensuring that the prescribed solution is the best fit for each participant could similarly be accused of “malpractice.” And even if you have diagnosed correctly, each participant has different strengths and weaknesses that need individualized attention before behavior can change and performance be improved. Not many problems get solved without a detailed, carefully considered plan.
When asked, most training practitioners mistakenly identify attributes such as participant materials, length of program, location, facilitator personality, content, and instructional design as the culprits behind failed learning. If only it were that easy. Changing behavior is a process, not an event. With the assumption that a clear and thorough business case must precede any individual skill assessment, this article outlines the top 6 assessment questions that you should ask to ensure a successful Training RAI™.
1. Does Leadership Agree Upon a Clear Direction?
While this seems like common sense, we continue to be surprised at how many seemingly experienced learning consultants and practitioners fail to answer two fundamental questions with key stakeholders before designing and implementing learning solutions:
- Barrier: What are the skills that are holding us back from achieving our goals?
- Focus: Where should we focus our efforts for the greatest impact?
An effective skill assessment should clearly identify the key “money making” skills for your initiative.
You need to know the critical few “A,” “B,” and “C” skills and invest your resources and efforts accordingly. For example, a recent client called us to help significantly increase revenue. This global technology company had seen revenue decrease consistently for the last 8 quarters. With other initiatives in place to focus on product quality, competitive positioning, and service, they wanted to significantly increase the capabilities and performance of their team when selling solutions, value selling and executive selling. After our initial meeting, it was clear that the President, SVP of Sales, VP of Sales, and Senior Account Reps all had different ideas about how to solve the problem based upon their past experiences. We knew that a lack of agreed-upon direction among the leadership team and supporting cast was a death knell for meeting their goal. To clarify the direction to take, we designed and conducted an online assessment covering 93 key skills related to selling successfully and strategic account planning in their industry. 10 specific skill areas and 35 “Must Have” skills rose to the top. The assessment and the accompanying process to align sales executives started the initiative off on the right foot.
Alignment can also occur through interviews and focus groups; however, an assessment backed by (in this case) a research bank of 150+ proven behaviorally-based questions and scenarios provides a data-driven approach to ensure that your project is set up to succeed. A thorough approach also underlines the fact that you and your company are taking the initiative seriously. In this case, perception is indeed reality.
2. Are Leaders and Employees Aligned?
Once you have clear direction and executive alignment, your next step is to get your target and supporting audiences on the same page. This is accomplished by sharing the Leader Assessment results with the target audience and reviewing the 3 skill buckets:
A – “must have”
B – “good to have”
C – “nice to have”
Necessary adjustments that increase focus and buy-in can then be made based upon input, discussion, and analysis. This alignment process is a critical step in achieving any behavior change.
3. Do You Know the Specific Skill Gaps of Your Target Audience?
Once you have direction and alignment, it is time to pinpoint individual, group, and company skill gaps against a proven standard. The skill assessment should be online, take approximately 20 minutes, and be based upon researched and behaviorally-based questions and scenarios that have been agreed upon by your key stakeholders. The results will give you a clear picture of individual, group, and company:
- Strengths / Opportunities
- Differences between high and low performers
- Barriers to success
- Coaching / Development priorities
- Customization needs
With this detailed skill gap analysis, you have the data required to both plan and act intelligently.
Remember, this is about creating Training RAI™: Results.Adoption.Impact™, not about learning for the sake of learning.
4. Do Your Participants Have a Game Plan?
From a participant’s perspective, it seems a little crazy to go into an important training program without a clearly presented game plan. It is hard to improve your performance without knowing where you stand, what is expected of you, and what options you have at your disposal.
Customized profiles are excellent tools to help drive individual performance management from the beginning.
5. Are Your Coaches Set Up to Succeed?
There is an incredible amount of data correlating the value of ongoing performance management, coaching, training, and behavior change. In a nut shell, if you do not coach your target audience, the majority of them will not change their behavior. Without behavior change, you will not get the performance or business results that you desire. Without the results that you desire, you would be better off buying participants books, saving your money, or going golfing.
Training, by itself, is typically a waste of both time and money.
The same data that is used to provide participants with a game plan should also be used to create a targeted and individualized coaching plan with their new manager. The amount of involvement and support from the learner’s manager has direct impact upon their success.
In fact a recent study at a Fortune 500 Financial Services comparing a “Coached Group” vs. “Non-Coached Control Group” showed:
- 20.3% higher overall skill scores for the coached group
- 5.9% to 65.6% higher individual skill scores for ALL 38 skills
- 10% net increase in skill levels pre/post compared to control group
- 3 times the skill improvement attributed directly to their manager
- 2 times the success story results attributed directly to coaching
Additionally, of the 61 participants who received individual coaching, 9 out of 10 improved their scores in the critical areas measured. Of the 47 participants who did NOT receive coaching, their scores decreased in 9 out of 10 areas measured.
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- By Key competency
- Individual Development Plan
This is not a fluke. It has been proven repeatedly that in order to change behavior and performance management results you need two things:
1. Plan & Action: A plan and immediate action to begin applying new skills on the job
2. New Manager Coaching: Involvement and support from the learner’s manager
If the outcomes are important to you, important to the participants, important to their boss, and important to the company, then you owe it to yourself to do it right.
That means treating your learning initiative as a process, not an event. That means investing in accordance with the results that you desire. That means ensuring that in addition to the 6 steps outlined above, you use a well communicated assessment process to also:
- Urgency: Create a sense of urgency and creative tension to get people engaged
- Kickoff: Initiate the change process and predispose participants to get the ball rolling
- Exactness: Customize the training to ensure that it is exactly what you need
- Baseline: Set baseline metrics against which to measure improvement
- Buy-In: Obtain buy-in right from the start
In Conclusion: While many assessments on the market today are statistically invalid and often implemented in a way that inhibits trust, decreases relevance, and wastes time, we believe that the assessment process is an invaluable tool to drive true behavior change and positive results. Interviews, focus groups, and best practices can provide interesting data points to help ensure that your training design is on target. They are key elements to a successful solution. However, the assessment process, combined with an individual coaching plan, allows you to provide both the participant and the coach the tools required for sustainable success.
So the next time you have an important business issue related to skill or knowledge gaps, be sure you can answer “yes” to the following 6 questions before you jump to or initiate a solution. Only then can you be assured that you are on the right path to the success that you seek.
1. Does Leadership Agree Upon a Clear Direction?
2. Are Leaders and Employees Engaged and Aligned?
3. Do You Know the Specific Skill Gaps of Your Target Audience?
4. Do Your Participants Have a Game Plan?
5. Are Your Coaches Set Up to Succeed?
6. Are You Serious About Getting Results?
Performance Coaching - A Case Study
Background
An industry leader in the real estate investment market was looking for an innovative approach to improve performance, engage employees, and reinforce the unique culture it had built over the last decade. The company felt that the discipline of coaching exemplified the approaches, perspectives, and behaviors they wanted, their managers and executives to demonstrate in their employee interactions. The company asked LSA Global to help them to improve managerand executive coaching capabilities and create an intrinsically motivating work environment to drive engagement and performance.
Goals
The overall goal was to create a company-wide coaching environment and to implement effective performance management systems that would be embraced and consistently used by employees, managers and executives. There were 6 key project principles:
1. Develop a solution that supports and fosters the company’s culture
2. Empower managers to be true facilitators of employee development
3. Provide employees with information and tools to take ownership of their performance
4. Eradicate the dreaded, annual (bi-annual) performance review
5. Shift ownership for employee development from HR to executive and manager teams
6. Instill continuous learning and improvement to allow the system to evolve as needed
Challenges
There were several key challenges to overcome:
1. Recognizing that investment institutions rarely have employee development as a top priority
2. Starting on the heels of a prior coaching development initiative that received mixed reviews
3. Overcoming the “flavor of the month” reaction by all employees
4. Getting buy-in from all managers and executives
5. Letting go of long-standing, traditional metrics
Approach
The overall approach of this initiative was to build a coaching, performance measurement, and evaluation system designed by and designed for the people that would be using it—executives, managers, and individual contributors.
People at all levels were engaged in a collaborative and iterative design process that produced a performance coaching system that would work for their specific needs and environment. The approach also focused on providing a high level of transparency in the change process and in each aspect of development for the new processes and systems. Developing and implementing the new approach included the following 6 components:
1. Assessment: An Assessment of the current situation
2. Coaching: Coaching executives on how to coach their direct reports
3. AMPS System: Developing supporting technology to facilitate the coaching process
4. 360 Evaluation: Developing a 360° assessment for cultural and qualitative behaviors
5. Training: Providing training on coaching and all aspects of the new system
6. Compensation: Aligning compensation with the new coaching and performance management system
The detail behind each component is outlined below.
1. Assessment
To ensure the initiative would be successful, we reviewed the existing performance systems, processes, and tools to determine what supported a coaching environment and the company culture and what did not. A cultural survey was used to assess employee satisfaction, values alignment, and potential barriers to success. The assessment surfaced a number of key issues that could pose potential barriers to success, including:
1. Dissatisfaction with the current performance appraisal system, the existing 360°, and the overall strategic initiative management processes
2. The perception that the current Performance Measurement and evaluation systems were subjective and unfair
Based on the assessment findings, the company expanded the initiative to encompass the following additional components:
2. Coaching
Executive coaching started at the beginning of the project and focused on a simple and engaging process for executives to coach their direct reports and model the desired behaviors. Coaching then expanded down through the organization to both Directors and Managers to create alignment and pull-through.
3. AMPS System
AMPS also spawned a server-based technology platform that manages a 360° assessment, goal development, and a simple performance management process. The system uses a dashboard that both managers and employees access to track goal progress and completion. The dashboard design was based on input from management regarding use and functionality. The final version only contains features used and valued by management. The AMPS system provides the ability to:
The AMPS 360° provides a clear articulation of cultural expectations in terms of values, principles and behaviors. Four key steps were taken to create the 360°:
From a development perspective, we focused on two key areas to ensure adoption.
To ensure accountability and reinforcement, we tightly tied AMPS performance measurement to individual performance bonuses. The weighting was follows.
Results
Unlike most performance management systems that are often too tactical, too complicated, and nderutilized, AMPS’ goals inherently represent what must be accomplished to execute the company’s strategy. This alignment allowed us to measure four key metrics to monitor success:
1. Usage: frequent and consistent use
Executives and senior managers dedicate several hours at the beginning of each quarter to review all goals to ensure alignment. The Chief Investment Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Risk Officer use the dashboard daily. Company-wide AMPS measures at the end of Year One showed:
Employees claim less stress and less uncertainty about what is expected of them. Pay-for-Performance is transparent, clear, and understood up front. Some of the most profound and meaningful results from AMPS were how key stakeholders felt. Below are some representative quotes:
Employee Comments:
Increasing performance, management bench strength, and employee engagement continue to be top priorities to succeed in today’s economy. Most companies understand that developing managers’ coaching capabilities is an essential ingredient in achieving those results. What many companies don’t seem to realize is that few coaching initiatives will reach their potential because of a distinct lack of a supporting infrastructure that will make coaches and the coaching process much more successful.
If you would like to learn more about LSA’s performance coaching approach, please contact us at http://www.lsaglobal.com.
An industry leader in the real estate investment market was looking for an innovative approach to improve performance, engage employees, and reinforce the unique culture it had built over the last decade. The company felt that the discipline of coaching exemplified the approaches, perspectives, and behaviors they wanted, their managers and executives to demonstrate in their employee interactions. The company asked LSA Global to help them to improve managerand executive coaching capabilities and create an intrinsically motivating work environment to drive engagement and performance.
Goals
The overall goal was to create a company-wide coaching environment and to implement effective performance management systems that would be embraced and consistently used by employees, managers and executives. There were 6 key project principles:
1. Develop a solution that supports and fosters the company’s culture
2. Empower managers to be true facilitators of employee development
3. Provide employees with information and tools to take ownership of their performance
4. Eradicate the dreaded, annual (bi-annual) performance review
5. Shift ownership for employee development from HR to executive and manager teams
6. Instill continuous learning and improvement to allow the system to evolve as needed
Challenges
There were several key challenges to overcome:
1. Recognizing that investment institutions rarely have employee development as a top priority
2. Starting on the heels of a prior coaching development initiative that received mixed reviews
3. Overcoming the “flavor of the month” reaction by all employees
4. Getting buy-in from all managers and executives
5. Letting go of long-standing, traditional metrics
Approach
The overall approach of this initiative was to build a coaching, performance measurement, and evaluation system designed by and designed for the people that would be using it—executives, managers, and individual contributors.
People at all levels were engaged in a collaborative and iterative design process that produced a performance coaching system that would work for their specific needs and environment. The approach also focused on providing a high level of transparency in the change process and in each aspect of development for the new processes and systems. Developing and implementing the new approach included the following 6 components:
1. Assessment: An Assessment of the current situation
2. Coaching: Coaching executives on how to coach their direct reports
3. AMPS System: Developing supporting technology to facilitate the coaching process
4. 360 Evaluation: Developing a 360° assessment for cultural and qualitative behaviors
5. Training: Providing training on coaching and all aspects of the new system
6. Compensation: Aligning compensation with the new coaching and performance management system
The detail behind each component is outlined below.
1. Assessment
To ensure the initiative would be successful, we reviewed the existing performance systems, processes, and tools to determine what supported a coaching environment and the company culture and what did not. A cultural survey was used to assess employee satisfaction, values alignment, and potential barriers to success. The assessment surfaced a number of key issues that could pose potential barriers to success, including:
1. Dissatisfaction with the current performance appraisal system, the existing 360°, and the overall strategic initiative management processes
2. The perception that the current Performance Measurement and evaluation systems were subjective and unfair
Based on the assessment findings, the company expanded the initiative to encompass the following additional components:
- Greater focus and feedback on employee satisfaction
- Goal development and goal management
- Performance measurement and metrics
- Performance analysis
- Developing automated platform to facilitate the above areas
- Training in all of the above areas
- Aligning compensation with coaching and performance objectives
2. Coaching
Executive coaching started at the beginning of the project and focused on a simple and engaging process for executives to coach their direct reports and model the desired behaviors. Coaching then expanded down through the organization to both Directors and Managers to create alignment and pull-through.
3. AMPS System
AMPS also spawned a server-based technology platform that manages a 360° assessment, goal development, and a simple performance management process. The system uses a dashboard that both managers and employees access to track goal progress and completion. The dashboard design was based on input from management regarding use and functionality. The final version only contains features used and valued by management. The AMPS system provides the ability to:
- Create, track, edit, and evaluate goals on a weekly basis
- Build performance evaluation consistency for employees through detailed expectations
- Drive regularly scheduled conversations between managers and employees
- Track AMPS Conversations (what we call coaching conversations) between manager and employee
- Use a dashboard to access all aspects of the performance system
- Have users maintain the system
The AMPS 360° provides a clear articulation of cultural expectations in terms of values, principles and behaviors. Four key steps were taken to create the 360°:
- First, the company collaboratively worked together to create a new set of values and cultural standards that best represented the organization both in reality and aspiration
- Second, a Values 360° Assessment was created using the values definitions created with the management team and employees
- Third, a widely validated motivation model was incorporated into the 360°
- Fourth, a company-specific coaching model was developed to use with the 360° assessment
From a development perspective, we focused on two key areas to ensure adoption.
- First, we worked one-on-one with the executive team and management to help them to better coach and support their employees
- Then we created AMPS Tools and techniques to help employees and managers effectively use the AMPS System and fully integrate it into their company culture
To ensure accountability and reinforcement, we tightly tied AMPS performance measurement to individual performance bonuses. The weighting was follows.
- 40% for performance goals (day-to-day responsibilities)
- 30% from personal development goals (reflecting career paths, gaps in skills, or growth opportunities)
- 30% from the Values 360° Assessment delivered twice a year
- Everyone received 100% of their Values 360° Assessment so that we could work out any kinks surrounding validity
- After 6 months, employees understood how to write simple and effective goals
- Employees felt comfortable with personal development goals
- Personal development goals became ingrained from the top down in the organization
Results
Unlike most performance management systems that are often too tactical, too complicated, and nderutilized, AMPS’ goals inherently represent what must be accomplished to execute the company’s strategy. This alignment allowed us to measure four key metrics to monitor success:
1. Usage: frequent and consistent use
Executives and senior managers dedicate several hours at the beginning of each quarter to review all goals to ensure alignment. The Chief Investment Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Risk Officer use the dashboard daily. Company-wide AMPS measures at the end of Year One showed:
- 100% compliance
- 80% high quality goals
- 85% of employees hit their goals
- 95% of employees are now performing very well on the Values 360° Assessment
- Executives and Managers report that it is easier to manage and measure employee performance
- HR does not have the administrative burden of performance reviews
- Employees are the first to acknowledge when they fail to achieve 100% of their goals
- Employees and managers believe they own AMPS
- HR operates as an internal consulting group to support managers and employees
Employees claim less stress and less uncertainty about what is expected of them. Pay-for-Performance is transparent, clear, and understood up front. Some of the most profound and meaningful results from AMPS were how key stakeholders felt. Below are some representative quotes:
Employee Comments:
- “I always know where I stand. There is no ambivalence about how I am performing or what is expected from me.”
- “I love the fact that I meet with my manager weekly. He helps me solve problems. The meetings aren’t about what I am doing wrong.”
- “I don’t have that dread in my stomach come review time…no reviews! Actually, that isn’t true…each quarter is scored, but there is no need for a review, because we know how we’ve done. It’s objective.”
- “Fast! After the first couple of AMPS quarters, I got the hang of the goal thing, and my manager and I knock them out in 30 minutes. Writing goals is easy.”
- “At first, I was ambivalent about the Personal Development Goals. I mean, who cares in business about me doing something quarterly that improves my skills. I am all in favor of it, but I didn’t want to be held accountable for it. Now, I love it. We talk about my career path, how I can grow in my job, etc.”
- “It is integrated in how I work. It doesn’t feel like an HR process. It’s just how we do things.”
- “Difficult conversations are a thing of the past. We focus on what we want to get done, and it is pretty black and white. Behavior and attitude issues are not the point. Just performance.”
- “Well, I was a part of saying what I wanted AMPS to do, so now, it actually feels like we have a performance tool that is for me, not our compliance department.”
- “You wouldn’t think it, but after regularly spending about 10 hours a week coaching my team, I have an extra 10 hours to get project-based work done. I actually have more time!”
- “I like how easy AMPS is. The dashboard is easy to use.”
- “My team performs better. Simple as that.”
- “We don’t have to police people. We remind folks at quarter end, and we are available to coach managers, but we don’t have to harass people to use the tools.”
- “We have no complaints about AMPS.”
- “It has been a cultural shift, and it has taken about a year, but people like it."
Increasing performance, management bench strength, and employee engagement continue to be top priorities to succeed in today’s economy. Most companies understand that developing managers’ coaching capabilities is an essential ingredient in achieving those results. What many companies don’t seem to realize is that few coaching initiatives will reach their potential because of a distinct lack of a supporting infrastructure that will make coaches and the coaching process much more successful.
If you would like to learn more about LSA’s performance coaching approach, please contact us at http://www.lsaglobal.com.
Performance Management: Five Factors for Success
by Russ Silva, EVP Enterprise Solutions, LSA Global
If you want better performance from your employees, the following four
statements may surprise you:
1. Train Managers to Manage and Employees to Participate - Don't Skip Basic Management Practices
Research Performance Management best practices and you will find an abundance of practices described as:
In addition to basic, good management practices, specialized management frameworks and tools should be used to expand a manager’s options for addressing more complex individual and systemic performance issues. When management training, frameworks, and performance tools are institutionalized, employees can more clearly identify and communicate what they need to succeed.
2. Eliminate Performance Appraisals, Reviews, and the "Coach" Moniker - Focus on Performance Conversations
The irony of formal Performance Appraisals is that they consume significant resources, produce little value, and impede the kind of collaborative working relationship managers and employees need to improve performance. By design, the traditional process tends to place managers and employees in a confrontational setting. In that setting, trust—one of the most significant factors influencing employee engagement and performance—is undermined.
Even when companies try to create more effective performance management roles for managers as coaches, the legacy of the old, judgmental, and confrontational dynamics often pollutes the process. A recent study found that despite significant investments in training managers to coach, less than 1 in 4 respondents said that coaching had significantly affected their job performance; and ten percent said coaching had made them less satisfied with their job. There was, however, a strong correlation between performance improvement, job satisfaction, and a positive employee / manager relationship. This points to the single most critical element of a coaching or facilitative relationship — trust.
Trust must be built for managers to have influence with their people.
1. The first step is to eliminate performance appraisals and reviews. This type of bold move is needed to send a message to employees that real change is happening within the organization, not just “re-labeling” of what managers are currently doing.
2. The second step is to fundamentally shift how managers see their role. A disabling factor in coaching programs sited above was that, despite receiving training on coaching, managers did not fundamentally change how they behaved.
A powerful focus of our development programs for managers is that they learn to "help(their) people succeed within the organization.” This is the essence of talent management, succession planning, and building management bench strength. When managers help their people succeed, managers also succeed. They don’t need to be a “coach” to do this, but they do need to be capable of providing real value to their direct reports.
3. Create the Performance management Systems for Performers, not Managers
If you want employees to buy into Performance Management, provide them with systems, approaches, and tools that are of value to them in improving performance. If an employee has clear expectations and standards for their work and access to a real-time performance metrics and qualitative 360 feedback, Performance Appraisals would only be needed on an exception basis. That should be the goal of a Performance Management system. The goal of the Manager is to have their people value the time they have with their manager because it is truly useful. The Manager’s role should be to facilitate and support individual and group performance improvement, individual development, and pursue cross-organizational performance opportunities.
4. Expect Performance Congruency between Managers and Reports
If a manager’s primary role is to help their people succeed in the organization, they should be held accountable if their reports are not being successful. The problem with holding employees themselves solely responsible for their performance is that there are many factors over which employees have little control. Managers’ and their direct reports’ goals should correlate. If managers are hitting their performance objectives but they have direct reports who are not, or if the manager’s direct reports are hitting their goals but the manager is not, the performance system is not functioning properly.
5. Emphasize Intrinsic Motivation and De-emphasize Compensation and Reward
An extensive body of research on Motivation theory shows that people who are intrinsically motivated consistently perform at higher and more sustained levels than when they are externally motivated. Yet, most managers’ perspectives on motivation can be characterized by the “carrot and stick.” While most performance management systems are fueled by reward and punishment, few managers understand what really motivates people or the long-term consequences of external incentives and rewards. Managers who are skilled in effective motivation practices will generate what more and more organizations and executives recognize as the Holy Grail of performance--employee engagement, discretionary effort and “passion--because their employees perform at significantly higher levels.
Conclusion
If it's a best practice, measure it. Many best practices are adopted wholesale and put into practice. But, as we saw in the coaching results survey, the visible practice is not the only factor contributing to a successful result. In addition, when people learn new skills they are often uncomfortable and their ability to perform a new skill is low. By measuring the application of the skill you’ll be able to know whether the practice is producing the desired result. If it is not, you need to understand why, make adjustments, and support employees through the difficult period of new skill application.
Keep it simple. A CEO’s greatest concern about Performance Management is that it will be too complex. The performance management system must be intuitive to understand, require little training to use, and provide useful results for employees and managers. With Performance Management there is often the urge to implement a software solution as a starting point. While an automated system can create leverage once sound practices are in place, it can be detrimental in the initial phases of implementing Performance Management and will not produce the quick, early wins needed to engage business managers.
If you want better performance from your employees, the following four
statements may surprise you:
- Forget about making your managers' lives easier.
Dump your performance appraisal and "coach" moniker. - Shift accountability away from employees.
- Stop paying them off.
1. Train Managers to Manage and Employees to Participate - Don't Skip Basic Management Practices
Research Performance Management best practices and you will find an abundance of practices described as:
- "setting effective goals and aligning goals with corporate strategy"
- "holding periodic performance conversations"
- "giving objective feedback"
In addition to basic, good management practices, specialized management frameworks and tools should be used to expand a manager’s options for addressing more complex individual and systemic performance issues. When management training, frameworks, and performance tools are institutionalized, employees can more clearly identify and communicate what they need to succeed.
2. Eliminate Performance Appraisals, Reviews, and the "Coach" Moniker - Focus on Performance Conversations
The irony of formal Performance Appraisals is that they consume significant resources, produce little value, and impede the kind of collaborative working relationship managers and employees need to improve performance. By design, the traditional process tends to place managers and employees in a confrontational setting. In that setting, trust—one of the most significant factors influencing employee engagement and performance—is undermined.
Even when companies try to create more effective performance management roles for managers as coaches, the legacy of the old, judgmental, and confrontational dynamics often pollutes the process. A recent study found that despite significant investments in training managers to coach, less than 1 in 4 respondents said that coaching had significantly affected their job performance; and ten percent said coaching had made them less satisfied with their job. There was, however, a strong correlation between performance improvement, job satisfaction, and a positive employee / manager relationship. This points to the single most critical element of a coaching or facilitative relationship — trust.
Trust must be built for managers to have influence with their people.
1. The first step is to eliminate performance appraisals and reviews. This type of bold move is needed to send a message to employees that real change is happening within the organization, not just “re-labeling” of what managers are currently doing.
2. The second step is to fundamentally shift how managers see their role. A disabling factor in coaching programs sited above was that, despite receiving training on coaching, managers did not fundamentally change how they behaved.
A powerful focus of our development programs for managers is that they learn to "help(their) people succeed within the organization.” This is the essence of talent management, succession planning, and building management bench strength. When managers help their people succeed, managers also succeed. They don’t need to be a “coach” to do this, but they do need to be capable of providing real value to their direct reports.
3. Create the Performance management Systems for Performers, not Managers
If you want employees to buy into Performance Management, provide them with systems, approaches, and tools that are of value to them in improving performance. If an employee has clear expectations and standards for their work and access to a real-time performance metrics and qualitative 360 feedback, Performance Appraisals would only be needed on an exception basis. That should be the goal of a Performance Management system. The goal of the Manager is to have their people value the time they have with their manager because it is truly useful. The Manager’s role should be to facilitate and support individual and group performance improvement, individual development, and pursue cross-organizational performance opportunities.
4. Expect Performance Congruency between Managers and Reports
If a manager’s primary role is to help their people succeed in the organization, they should be held accountable if their reports are not being successful. The problem with holding employees themselves solely responsible for their performance is that there are many factors over which employees have little control. Managers’ and their direct reports’ goals should correlate. If managers are hitting their performance objectives but they have direct reports who are not, or if the manager’s direct reports are hitting their goals but the manager is not, the performance system is not functioning properly.
5. Emphasize Intrinsic Motivation and De-emphasize Compensation and Reward
An extensive body of research on Motivation theory shows that people who are intrinsically motivated consistently perform at higher and more sustained levels than when they are externally motivated. Yet, most managers’ perspectives on motivation can be characterized by the “carrot and stick.” While most performance management systems are fueled by reward and punishment, few managers understand what really motivates people or the long-term consequences of external incentives and rewards. Managers who are skilled in effective motivation practices will generate what more and more organizations and executives recognize as the Holy Grail of performance--employee engagement, discretionary effort and “passion--because their employees perform at significantly higher levels.
Conclusion
If it's a best practice, measure it. Many best practices are adopted wholesale and put into practice. But, as we saw in the coaching results survey, the visible practice is not the only factor contributing to a successful result. In addition, when people learn new skills they are often uncomfortable and their ability to perform a new skill is low. By measuring the application of the skill you’ll be able to know whether the practice is producing the desired result. If it is not, you need to understand why, make adjustments, and support employees through the difficult period of new skill application.
Keep it simple. A CEO’s greatest concern about Performance Management is that it will be too complex. The performance management system must be intuitive to understand, require little training to use, and provide useful results for employees and managers. With Performance Management there is often the urge to implement a software solution as a starting point. While an automated system can create leverage once sound practices are in place, it can be detrimental in the initial phases of implementing Performance Management and will not produce the quick, early wins needed to engage business managers.
Are 2 in 5 Managers at Your Company Bad Bosses? Why should you care?
2007 began with a flurry of articles about bad bosses that were based on a recent Florida State University School of Business study. The authors intended to test the premise: “employees don’t leave their job or company, they leave their boss.”
The authors concluded that “bad bosses” are more prevalent than thought.
Nearly 40% of respondents said their bosses didn’t keep their word and failed to give credit when due. Nearly 25% said bosses talk poorly about them behind their back, invade their privacy, and give them the “silent treatment.”
While alarming enough to grab newsworthy media space, these findings are not totally surprising when viewed in the context of our own experience working with thousands of managers or another 2006 survey in which 50% of executives interviewed, sited new managers and mid level managers as having the most significant skill gaps.
Yet, business leaders should be very concerned when potentially 25-40% of their workers don’t trust the person to whom they report, feel under-valued, or alienated. Whether it’s a bad boss or an ineffective boss, the result is that employees will be at least one of the following:
1. Unengaged
2. Actively disengaged
3. Leaving the company
Savvy leaders understand that to accomplish their business goals, they need a work force that is fully engaged and committed to the success of their organization. Why that may sound like consultant-speak, here’s some practical data.
What’s the impact of 10% more engaged employee?
Case studies show that engaged workers are:
25% more productive than un-engaged.
3 times more confident in their ability to positively impact quality, customer service, and cost.
In addition, a recent management journal reported that only 29% of US employees are actively engaged in their work. The remaining 71% are, in various degrees, going through the motions. In our recent retention survey, 52% of employees said that the chance of leaving their job voluntarily during the next 12 months was moderately high to almost certain. Do the math. This is both a tremendous untapped performance reserve that most companies aren’t taking advantage of and a real attrition risk just as the work force is getting tighter and competition stiffer.
Tapping Latent Performance
While there are key organizational, systemic, and cultural factors that impact employee engagement, the preponderance of empirical data is clear that factors controlled by an employee’s manager have the greatest impact. Given this, the first step to increasing employee engagement for many companies begins with focusing on individual manager practices.
LSA’s approach to increasing employee engagement and retention centers on 6 factors, substantiated through indepth research and on going data collection, that account for higher levels of employee engagement and retention:
1. Recruiting & Hiring: Employee is a good company fit and understood job expectations when hired.
2. Achievement: Managers take responsibility for employee success: use employee strengths & provide needed resources.
3. Learning & Professional Growth: Proactive employee development addressing both intrinsic motivators and business needs.
4. Recognition: Manager and company recognition of employee’s contribution and value.
5. Career Development: Proactively promoting and guiding employees’ careers steps.
6. Collaboration: Employee’s coworkers are collaborative and contribute equally to group performance.
These factors have been translated into actionable management practices for managers to use and a corresponding online assessment that provides managers feedback on their key strengths and weakness in applying these best practices.
In our highly networked society, departing employees do not want to burn bridges. It is not uncommon for managers to be unaware that their behaviors were the key contribution to an employee’s departure. Accordingly, managers need to be educated about the role they play and the impact their behaviors have on engaging and retaining employees.
Conclusion
Typically, companies begin the process by having managers’ direct reports provide feedback that allows him/her to see where their behavior contributes to low or high levels of engagement or turnover. Managers then attend new manager training with an action-learning workshop where they:
1. Review and learn a best practice model for employee engagement/retention.
2. Analyze anonymous direct assessment feedback.
3. Learn to use tools and create focused engagement/retention strategies for their departments, teams, and direct reports.
After the workshop, managers are provided with additional development focused on effectively communicating and coaching employees. These are critical skills needed to build a strong, mutually beneficial working relationship.
The engagement/retention assessment is then used to annually track progress and ensure that practices are effectively applied and producing identified results.
Call us to learn more about how LSA can help you implement an engagement/retention strategy.
The authors concluded that “bad bosses” are more prevalent than thought.
Nearly 40% of respondents said their bosses didn’t keep their word and failed to give credit when due. Nearly 25% said bosses talk poorly about them behind their back, invade their privacy, and give them the “silent treatment.”
While alarming enough to grab newsworthy media space, these findings are not totally surprising when viewed in the context of our own experience working with thousands of managers or another 2006 survey in which 50% of executives interviewed, sited new managers and mid level managers as having the most significant skill gaps.
Yet, business leaders should be very concerned when potentially 25-40% of their workers don’t trust the person to whom they report, feel under-valued, or alienated. Whether it’s a bad boss or an ineffective boss, the result is that employees will be at least one of the following:
1. Unengaged
2. Actively disengaged
3. Leaving the company
Savvy leaders understand that to accomplish their business goals, they need a work force that is fully engaged and committed to the success of their organization. Why that may sound like consultant-speak, here’s some practical data.
What’s the impact of 10% more engaged employee?
Case studies show that engaged workers are:
25% more productive than un-engaged.
3 times more confident in their ability to positively impact quality, customer service, and cost.
In addition, a recent management journal reported that only 29% of US employees are actively engaged in their work. The remaining 71% are, in various degrees, going through the motions. In our recent retention survey, 52% of employees said that the chance of leaving their job voluntarily during the next 12 months was moderately high to almost certain. Do the math. This is both a tremendous untapped performance reserve that most companies aren’t taking advantage of and a real attrition risk just as the work force is getting tighter and competition stiffer.
Tapping Latent Performance
While there are key organizational, systemic, and cultural factors that impact employee engagement, the preponderance of empirical data is clear that factors controlled by an employee’s manager have the greatest impact. Given this, the first step to increasing employee engagement for many companies begins with focusing on individual manager practices.
LSA’s approach to increasing employee engagement and retention centers on 6 factors, substantiated through indepth research and on going data collection, that account for higher levels of employee engagement and retention:
1. Recruiting & Hiring: Employee is a good company fit and understood job expectations when hired.
2. Achievement: Managers take responsibility for employee success: use employee strengths & provide needed resources.
3. Learning & Professional Growth: Proactive employee development addressing both intrinsic motivators and business needs.
4. Recognition: Manager and company recognition of employee’s contribution and value.
5. Career Development: Proactively promoting and guiding employees’ careers steps.
6. Collaboration: Employee’s coworkers are collaborative and contribute equally to group performance.
These factors have been translated into actionable management practices for managers to use and a corresponding online assessment that provides managers feedback on their key strengths and weakness in applying these best practices.
In our highly networked society, departing employees do not want to burn bridges. It is not uncommon for managers to be unaware that their behaviors were the key contribution to an employee’s departure. Accordingly, managers need to be educated about the role they play and the impact their behaviors have on engaging and retaining employees.
Conclusion
Typically, companies begin the process by having managers’ direct reports provide feedback that allows him/her to see where their behavior contributes to low or high levels of engagement or turnover. Managers then attend new manager training with an action-learning workshop where they:
1. Review and learn a best practice model for employee engagement/retention.
2. Analyze anonymous direct assessment feedback.
3. Learn to use tools and create focused engagement/retention strategies for their departments, teams, and direct reports.
After the workshop, managers are provided with additional development focused on effectively communicating and coaching employees. These are critical skills needed to build a strong, mutually beneficial working relationship.
The engagement/retention assessment is then used to annually track progress and ensure that practices are effectively applied and producing identified results.
Call us to learn more about how LSA can help you implement an engagement/retention strategy.
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