Articles
Organizational Performance
There is a school, called analytical strategy, where vast amounts of market, product, and competitor analysis are used to recommend a changed business direction or intent. We don’t do that because of the risk that the strategy, like so many other fine ideas, lacks the commitment, passion and energy to drive it through the organization.
We take a different approach. We start with the questions: What is this organization committed to? What motivates the leadership team? How ambitious are you, and how much change are you up for? From that conversation, and from their aspiration and commitment, we have a Vision.
At this stage, it is usually appropriate to use Scenario Planning, or Wind-tunneling and test the Vision against different market conditions. This stage can involve analytical research of the type we described earlier, but here the research is being ‘pulled toward’ a commitment or drive for change. This is different than the ‘analytical model’ where research and recommendations are ‘pushed’ at leaders whose commitment may be variable, or even non-existent.
For a Vision to survive in the commercial world, it needs to a) be a concrete customer value proposition, and b) it requires a robust commercial evaluation – a business case. During the CVP/ Business Case phase, we make extensive use of analytical strategy techniques.
Finally, we develop a Strategy; which we define as the road map that will realize the Vision and deliver the Customer Value Proposition. This is the ‘HOW’ – the specific business changes and programs that will deliver them.
People mean two things when they say Performance Management. For the board it is the system through which they cascade strategy into departmental objectives and performance measures, and the process through which they receive performance data from their organization that drives strategic and operational decision making.
For an HR professional, Performance Management is the process through which individual objectives are set, development plans are established, and coaching and review meetings are conducted.
Our Strategic Performance Management offering has the following phases:-
- Develop strategic vision
- Develop balanced scorecard measures for the vision
- Cascade strategy and scorecard measures through departmental objectives
- Link departmental strategic objectives to individual competencies and/or objectives
Our Human Performance Management offering has the following phases:-
- Assess current Performance Management gaps using Four Quadrant PM model
- Develop competency or objective-based Performance Management model
- Implement using Medianetic Change Implementation model
At Medianetic, we have a proprietary way of thinking about Performance Management based on the work of a contemporary philosopher. This is depicted in the table below:-
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FOUR QUADRANT HUMAN PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (based on Ken Wilber, 1995)
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Interior Individual Deep attitudes to feedback – Do they “take care of people’s feelings” or “make a difference with them”? Deep attitudes to performance – Do they really care how they or others do? Do they care enough to manage it? |
Exterior Individual Managerial skills and behaviour (appraisals, coaching, etc) Employee performance management behaviours (feedback seeking, objective setting, career and development management) |
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Interior Collective Culture – norms around management performance Culture – assumptions/ beliefs about performance management Culture – performance symbols, artifacts and Stories |
Exterior Collective Performance management policy Performance management enabling technology Performance management processes |
This model is superior to many other models because it addresses the whole system. Most “hard” approaches focus just on the lower right quadrant – that leads to policies and procedures without the skills, attitudes and culture to make them work. Some HR –centered models train managers (upper right) but do not give them the right kind of support (technology, process support). You can train managers all you like – but if (as one government executive said) – “what is called performance management in the private sector is called bullying in the public sector”. We don’t advocate harshness or impropriety – but we have found some that even “performance” can be an uncomfortable word sometimes. Finally, attitudes toward performance are held in a web of culture – stories, unwritten rules of the game, how we do things around here, etc. To effect change in performance management – you need to begin to shift the culture.