How do you identify whether it is the process, the performer or the performance system that is the cause of below standard performance in your organisation?
We need to understand each job in a process context. Jobs and roles exist to support processes. Often jobs or roles evolve in ways that don’t efficiently or effectively support the processes they are supposed to. The link between jobs and processes is critical and often a major issue affecting performance.
Because they are most visible, the performer is almost always the default cause of poor performance. This inevitably leads to a request for a training solution. However, if we take a look at all aspects of the work to be performed we could usually identify that there is something else that is, or is also, the problem.
For training to be the problem, we would expect that performers don’t know how to do the job. If they have been well trained and did the job well previously then something else must be causing the poor performance. Solving these other problems is usually quicker and more cost effective than a training solution.
The performer is at the centre of a performance system. The performer is expected to take some action to produce a set of outputs.
• For each output, there is a set of inputs
• For every action and output, there is a set of consequences
• To complete the process, the performer must receive feedback about the output.
Consequences are an important component of the human performance system. People do things that lead to positive consequences. People avoid things that lead to negative consequences. We can increase desired behaviour with most impact when the consequences are positive, immediate and certain. At the other end of the scale, the least impact on undesired behaviour is negative, future and uncertain. However, it is surprising how often this approach is used with limited effects.
There are many other questions we need to ask. The key is to think about process and performance system issues that can affect performance, rather than simply focussing on one solution targeted on the performer.
Here’s to a high performing week for everyone and a Happy Mother’s Day.
Regards
Peter Westlund
