A Simple Performance System

I’m not happy.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with a medium-size, privately held company in the energy sector for the last two years; in that time, we’ve provided two phases of customized leadership skills training to their 80 or so managers and have recently begun delivering a scaled-down (in terms of time) version of the same training to their shop foremen. Our training has been greeted with universal acclaim by the participants, from the President on down.

Different company/different training: We recently completed a series of Trouble Shooting Logic (TSL) training sessions, in which we train employees in rigorous problem solving methods, provide ample practice, then coach use of the TSL tools to solve ongoing, in-plant problems. Again, the participants were thoroughly pleased and, while we were there, actually solved several in-plant problems, the solutions to which had eluded them previously. Although I haven’t seen final figures, I strongly suspect that the training paid for itself in terms of reducing down-time and scrap. Our in-plant sponsor was pleased enough that he offered to put us in touch with a business colleague, a plant manager in another company, whose employees he knew needed this training.

So why am I not happy?

What both companies share in common is what they have not done up to this point, although we have pressed (and continue to press) each to do so; that is, each company needs to do the hard stuff of developing a performance system. Employees need to know which of these new skills to use and when to use them; managers need to specify what skills and new behaviors they expect their employees to demonstrate and how they will support those employees. These skills and behaviors – the fancy term is “competencies” – need to be included in job descriptions, development plans and employee evaluation and reward systems. Without a well-thought out performance system that has management buy-in, we know that the actual long-term business results will be mixed: some employees will integrate their new skills into their daily approach to the job. Others will give their new skills a try from time to time. Some will not use the new skills at all. Over time, most will revert to whatever they were doing previously, and in the eyes of senior management, even those who really liked the training as a participant, the training will have failed. Which means, although we are heroes today, we could be dogs tomorrow. :-/

Developing the performance system isn’t really “hard.” We typically include a customized training on Performance Systems Analysis as a half-day working session with managers in conjunction with other trainings which we provide; unfortunately, the companies listed above are being short-sighted at the moment, not wanting to take their top managers away from line duties, although they have made a very sizable investment to date. Penny rich and pound poor. To get the greatest return on your training, whatever the subject is, think about engineering the Performance System on the front end.

1. Clearly identify what skills and behaviors your employees need to exhibit to drive your company forward;
2. Make sure that any training provided clearly teaches to those skills;
3. State and reinforce your expectations in multiple ways to your employees; structure these expectations into your hiring practices and your job descriptions;
4. Uncover and remove any roadblocks that get in the way of employees using these skills;
5. Make sure that your supervisors provide timely feedback on performance; and
6. Install positive rewards and negative consequences relative to performance of the desired skills.

All is not lost with our clients in question; we are in consultation with both companies to try to arrange the dates to put this final piece of the puzzle in place so that they get the full benefits of the investments made. If we do, each company gets the benefit of having their employees systematically use their new skills to drive business results over the long term. And we get to remain the heroes.