Three Factors for ensuring Successful Organizational Performance. Creating High Performance Organization.
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009Successful on-the-job performance is resting on three factors:
1) Factors internal to individuals refer to capability needs. These are factors within individuals enabling them to perform effectively. Although these factors reside within the individual, actions taken by the organization will affect these factors:
Skill and knowledge is a factor for which some type of structured learning experience is an appropriate solution. People cannot perform successfully on the job if they do not know how
Inherent capability refers to the raw ingredient that is within each of us, making each of us unique. It includes our previous education and work experience, as well as attributes and traits. Inherent capability develops over time. It is influenced by our DNA and our life experiences. It is very difficult to change. It is, therefore, more efficient to use a process that identifies, at the time of selection, people with the required inherent capabilities for the position.
2) Factors internal to the organization, which are the work environment needs. When these factors are present in a positive manner, they enable performance.
They will hinder performance when absent. Note, however, that management can change these factors because they are all within the control of the organization. These factors are discussed below.
Clarity of roles and expectations focuses on employees knowing specifically what their roles and responsibilities are relative to their job goals and accountabilities. This means that people know how their responsibilities differ from others who are supporting the same business goal. Role confusion is a frequent barrier to performance. Another common problem is unclear expectations such as telling people to be more customer-oriented and proactive. These statements qualify as examples of fuzzy requirements.
Coaching and reinforcement include the system in place to ensure coaching support is provided to individuals as they perform their job responsibilities. This factor also involves reinforcing and acknowledging desired performance and providing developmental feedback when needed. The presence of coaching and reinforcement on the job is the single greatest contributor to skill transfer following a learning experience.
Incentives are the rewards, both tangible and intangible, that encourage people to perform as needed. Financial bonus plans are tangible incentives;
opportunities to grow and learn are nonfinancial incentives. This category requires that a positive balance of consequences exists within the organization for the performance that is expected. When there is lack of any consequence, performance often does not change. It is easy for employees to maintain the status quo when there are no consequences, positive or negative, for changing on-the-job performance.
Work systems and processes are the workflow and organizational systems within which individuals perform. These can make work performance easier and more efficient; they can also make desired performance difficult or even impossible. Geary Rummler (1995), co-author of the book Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart, stated it quite succinctly when he said, “If you pit a good employee against a bad system, the system will win almost every time.”
Access to information, people, tools, and job aids is a category of work environment needs that continues to grow in importance because people are
expected to perform effectively in complex environments without a lot of day-to-day guidance. How can people perform effectively without accurate and current information or access to the type of tools required to do the job?
3) Factors external to the organization are factors that are outside the control of any organization. Examples include competitive pressures, economic conditions, and regulatory requirements within which the organization must operate. No individual or group within an organization can change these factors; rather, leaders must form strategies that minimize the effects of external barriers and optimize those external factors that are favorable. For example, when oil prices are high, companies and organizations in the transportation industry, such as airlines, must find ways to succeed and meet profit goals despite this challenge. Of course, there are times when these factors can support an organization’s business needs, as when there is a growing economy. During robust times businesses with products valued in the marketplace benefit.
