StrategyDriven Business Performance Assessment Program Warning Flag Article

Business Performance Assessment Program Warning Flag 4 – Effort Bias

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StrategyDriven SBusiness Performance Assessment Program Warning Flag ArticleSuperiors often find it difficult to provide critical feedback to those who put their very heart and soul into their work. Individuals receiving such messages tend to interpret them personally; feeling disappointment, regret, and unappreciated. Rather than constructively improving their performance, these individuals become less productive and contribute substantially less to the organization. Consequently, business performance assessment leaders frequently seek plausible justification to avoid criticizing these individuals’ performance; recognizing their exceptional effort while ignoring the results achieved. Doing so, however, foregoes the improvement opportunities and sacrifices the associated gains that could otherwise be realized.[wcm_restrict plans=”47813, 25542, 25653″]

Crediting exceptional effort without correspondingly outstanding results should be avoided. While effort should be recognized, assessment leaders must not be so biased as to allow employees’ effort to obscure the identification, documentation, communication, and pursuit of performance improvement opportunities.

Effort biased leaders diminish their organization’s ability to improve and, therefore, to remain competitive. While not all inclusive, the four lists below, Process-Based Warning Flags, Process Execution Warning Flags – Behaviors, Potential, Observable Results, and Potential Causes, are designed to help organization leaders to recognize whether their business performance assessments preferentially recognize effort over results and forego real performance improvement opportunities. Only after a problem is recognized and its causes identified can the needed actions be taken to move the organization toward improved performance.

Process-Based Warning Flags

  • Assessment guidelines drive effort recognition without a corresponding results requirement
  • Performance evaluations, merit pay increases, and bonus are overly tied to achievement of high assessment grades/results

Process Execution Warning Flags – Behaviors

  • Organization leaders associate value contributed to time spent working rather than actual results achieved
  • Managers reward those who appear to be busy
  • Executives and managers do not openly challenge assessment conclusions based on effort

Potential, Observable Results

  • Work progress tends to remain at 90 percent complete
  • Employees take on ‘busy-work’ and/or seek to ‘look busy’
  • Competitors routinely outperform the organization
  • Better performing employees leave the organization because of its lack of value for superior performance (behaviors plus results)

Potential Causes

  • Executives and managers are uncomfortable holding peers and subordinates accountable
  • Self-assessment team leaders fear hurting the feelings of those critiqued
  • The organization’s culture does not value constructive feedback as a tool for continuous improvement
  • The organization values perceived effort over performance (behaviors plus results)

Final Thoughts…

Business performance assessments crediting effort without results rarely occur in organizations with a culture that embraces these introspective assessments as a learning opportunity, not a witch hunt. While delivery of the self-assessment’s findings should always be done with respect and tact, no one is served when the message is diluted or hidden.

In addition to avoiding an effort biased spin in one’s own self assessments, leaders should watch for similar messaging coming from external overseers. If such spin is conveyed by these groups, an effort should be made to probe for the underlying causes so to be able to identify and correct the unreported issues.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”47813, 25542, 25653″]

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About the Author

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

IT Organizations Built to Last

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Over the past two decades, technology has advanced exponentially; and with that burgeoning growth, IT organizations have seen tremendous expansion. As the IT industry continues to evolve, the question becomes more relevant: how does one build an IT organization that is both impactful and lasting?

Flip through any business magazine and you will find article upon article suggesting general guidelines for increasing workplace motivation, perfecting employee performance, and banishing mediocrity; and while this advice is well meaning, lasting IT organizations need to look deeper and must be founded on the following core principles:[wcm_restrict]

  • Innovate or Perish: An IT organization should never settle for ‘good;’ it is essential to stimulate change and enhancement ahead of the industry standard.

    Innovation begins with management; by fostering a culture that prioritizes innovation, creativity is incentivized among team members. Instead of allowing a negative “have-to” environment where employees feel pressure to perform, embrace a constructive ‘what-can-we-do’ approach where they feel free to be imaginative and forward-thinking.

    Investing in research and development helps to establish this culture and ensure the company will remain ahead of the curve. Recent data has shown the top 1,500 companies worldwide increased their R&D by 12 percent in 2011, as they have identified the need to maintain their edge in their respective industries.

    Customer centricity: It’s been proven that companies that prioritize their customers see greater business results and continually bring more innovative products to the market. By tuning in to customer needs, a company is able to define the market in ways they could not have identified had they only looked inward. In addition, listening to your customers in order to deliver their delight will help retain them. There are a variety of tools that aid in capturing customer insight. Online surveys, social media and voice-of-the-customer events all help to ensure that a fact-based understanding of customer needs drives the company forward.

    Customer centricity as a strategy reorients the entire business-operating model around the customer; it means understanding the customer’s point of view and respecting the customer’s interest. By doing this, it increases their overall satisfaction—and in the process, business profitability.

  • Managing Change: Because technology is constantly evolving, it is imperative that companies – especially IT organizations – adapt these new technologies and build an expertise around them. Presently, that means navigating through the implications of Big Data; building data warehouses and using business intelligence for decision-making; taking advantage and familiarizing oneself with cloud technologies; and also touching upon a new generation of employees, who may be more equipped to take advantage of social collaboration.

    IT companies, in particular, need to be deliberate in getting out in front of change or risk being surpassed by advancing technology. And employees – not just the IT team – must be adequately trained and educated on new technology in order to quickly adopt a new application and put it to use right away.

  • Promoting an Open Culture and Flexible Work Environment: Open communication between employer and employee is key to a successful organization; employees must feel well-informed at all times and comfortable enough to provide input. This open culture is empowering to employees and encourages them to share their opinions and ask questions that help them do their work best.

    A flexible work environment is sometimes dismissed in certain industries because of the idea that the employee is getting paid to be physically present. However, employers can create an environment in which flexible work can be successful. This may involve clearly stating goals and objectives relative to flexible schedules, providing the necessary tools and training, and ongoing support and feedback. This type of progressive workplace culture nurtures loyalty to the company – especially in younger employees.

  • Social Responsibility: Companies that take an active role in promoting their corporate social responsibility programs are viewed more favorably than those that do not have highly visible programs. A new study from Nielson found that fifty percent of global consumers surveyed are willing to pay more for goods and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society. Being socially responsible creates goodwill and a positive image for a brand, a good reputation is one of the most valuable assets to a company.

    Socially responsible companies have also been shown to develop greater employee pride. Studies have reported increased employee commitment, performance and job satisfaction.

  • Investment in People: Employees are the only assets that an IT organization has. It is commonly held that an optimal workforce includes the right people, at the right place, at the right time. A recent Harvard study found that 80 percent of employee turnover was due to bad hiring decisions; and the Department of Labor estimates it can cost an average of one-third of a new hire’s annual salary to replace that person. It is critical to dedicate the necessary resources and time to finding and recruiting these ‘right people;’ and then develop, manage and reward them accordingly.

    Because the IT industry is constantly evolving, organizations that focus on innovation, customer satisfaction, giving back to their surrounding community, and the productivity and happiness of their greatest asset – their employees, will not only survive, but thrive amid IT’s diverse and ever-changing landscape.

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About the Author

Ajay KaulAjay Kaul, managing partner at AgreeYa Solutions, brings over 25 years of experience in sales, staffing, and IT project management for clients throughout the world. As managing partner, Ajay has led AgreeYa through 15 years of success, leading the company in highly competitive and complex markets and driving significant profitable growth. Prior to founding AgreeYa, Ajay was responsible for managing engagements for Deloitte Consulting, serving private and public sector clients.

The Best Jobs Go to the Best Educated People and Here is Why

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Quite a bit of debate exists about whether education is obtained in school or through life experience. Looking at homes and families, the latter may reign supreme. However, universities, and the job market, often argue that a college degree is necessary to succeed in life and obtain a high paying job. Assuming that people can be educated in more than one way, what are some of the reasons why the best jobs go to the best educated people?

Education Blended with Common Sense
To succeed in the work world, people need to have a strong background in their field, but they also must exercise skills in common sense. Knowing the discipline provides the appropriate background information and the technical skills that are needed to succeed. However, the application of that knowledge often comes in the form of common sense. Exercising a blend of these skills allows workers to be confident, determined and strong in their decisions.

[wcm_restrict]The Competitive Job Market
Trying to obtain a job can be a trial itself, and competition certainly exists among all of the job seekers. Still though, businesses need to be competitive with one another. When a business is able to boast the best employees, then it has a better chance of success. Potential customers want to see that the employees are skilled and that they have the necessary tools to provide them with the best goods. A valued employee goes a long way in bringing in plenty of customers.

The Specificity of Knowledge
Now, the best jobs also go to people with the best education because many jobs require that employees have specific skills. For example, in the field of medicine, new technologies are constantly being developed to help aid and assist patients. If the people working in that field do not have the skill set and have not practiced with these technologies in an educational setting, then how are they going to be able to provide the support and care that is needed? Individuals working in certain fields have the skills they need to carry into the future with that same job.

Writing the Resume
Plenty of people are applying for all sorts of jobs, and only a select number of the candidates are going to actually get the job. Having strong writing skills to properly prepare the resume and cover letter are necessary. Those who have a strong education are going to know they should avoid using decorative colors on their resume or putting in irrelevant information. The resume and cover letter are, essentially, snapshots of the prospective candidate’s work experience. They help to determine if the employee is going to move forward in the hiring process and if an interview will be offered.

More Money Available
Often, the amount of education a person has is going to correlate with how well he or she does in the workforce in terms of money. Of course, different people define ‘best’ in various ways, and some might not consider the highest-paying jobs to be the best ones. However, for those who do, a formal education can have a world of difference. It’s not necessarily that other jobs do not want to pay well, but they are unable to because of financial constraints. When a person is willing to obtain a formal education, he or she is likely to see a decent salary.

Of course, part of the process depends on the individual person and this is where recruitment bodies, such as Aim Hire service management, can help as they have the ability to align abilities with job roles. Different people are going to define ‘best’ in various ways. When you want to get the best job, you need decide what exactly it is that means for you.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

From her 25 years in business, Elizabeth Hill aims to pass on knowledge and skills gained in that time through her writing. She loves walks in the countryside, spending time with family and friends, and is ever so ‘slightly’ addicted to coffee.

Picasso and Project Management

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For those that may not know, Picasso is a famous artist. Like others similar to him in related fields, his art has made an impact on the world. But art, like many other things, is relative to the observer, i.e. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” (This saying first appeared in the 3rd century BC in Greece). So while many people may like Picasso, many others may like Jackson Pollack, Thomas Kinkaid, etc. instead and not care about Picasso at all.

Of course art extends way beyond just painting. Films, books, etc. all have their impact on society. And everyone has their personal preference as to which type of art they prefer over other. This just means that if they love films, they may still read a book. It is just their preference to like one better than the other.

This means that artists will cater to the type of art their audiences want. They do this by starting with an idea or concept. This can be from something they saw or imagined, real or not. It can be a new creation or based off of a different from of art, book to movie or vice versa for example. Or even a simple enhancement, like a book’s re-release with extra chapters or a film’s Director’s cut.

[wcm_restrict]Obviously each of these different ways of creating art has very different levels of difficulty. Creating a Director’s cut is much easier than creating the original film from scratch for example. Even within the same type of art, like painting, the differences between artists and their creations are huge. From painting by numbers to the Sistine Chapel there is a massive gap. Both create something, but one obviously has more of an impact than the other.

So what does any of this have to do with Project Management? The common theme from the above is with projects themselves. Just like art, there are projects that have major impacts on society, like the Sistine Chapel (Pyramids, Moon landings, etc.). While other types of projects are more the paint by numbers type.

The art field has many different ways to express art. Projects (and Project Managers) also have many different ways to reach the end goal. As in art, just because someone uses Microsoft Project instead of Primavera does not mean that the end result will not be realized. Both can create the desired result just like one artist can paint in oils, while another likes watercolors. Both paintings could be considered great works of art, just as both projects could be ones that helped improve society.

Also like art, each project is unique, even if the same desired end result is exactly the same. As an example, I worked for three different companies that all wanted the same exact end result for their projects. Each one used vastly different processes, different tools, etc. but they all got the desired end result.

The point of all of this is that project managers are really artists and not scientists. Projects are works of art and not scientific theory. Just like different artists, there are really great people in their field. However generally speaking someone that is a great Project Manager in road construction (painter) is not going to suddenly be a great project manager in a major software project (author). However, it is likely that they could also be a great Project Manager in a dam project for example (water colors versus oils).

If projects were able to be managed like science labs, then why would you ever need a project manager? If Y is needed, you do X and you get Y. The scientific world is looking for Y each and every time you do X. However, in my example above with the three projects, the different companies all needed Y but each of them did A, B, and C to get the same result. This is nowhere even close to the scientific method!

This is why there are so many different project tools, methodologies, etc. The community is trying very hard to convince everyone that project management as a field is a scientific one. We keep looking for some formula or scientific theory that will allow us to get projects done with less effort and better quality. This is an admirable goal to be sure, but not a very realistic one.
The fact that with all the study and effort, this had not happened (and I doubt it ever will), I see no reason not to accept that we are just another form of art and continue to create the great art works our sponsors want. Whether they just want a paint by number picture or the Sistine Chapel, the project managers of the world can certainly create the paintings they want. Are your paint brushes ready?[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

Russell HarleyRussell Harley is a veteran project manager and PMO director, passionate about helping organizations embrace world-class project management practices and “climb out of the quicksand” in terms of gaining control over complex, ever-changing project portfolios. The best practices he advocates stem from key learning’s acquired from his M.S Degree in Project Management, combined with over 20 years of hands-on PM experience in the high technology, telecommunications, and clean energy sectors.

Read more of Russell’s project management insights at The PMO View (www.ThePMOView.com)

The Secret to Successful Recruiting

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Recruitment has always been a tricky business. So many times a candidate can sound like the perfect match on paper, only to prove a disappointment at interview. Then there are the even worse scenarios, where a candidate comes across both in real life and on paper as perfect, only to then not meet the criteria when actually in the job. There must be a way for recruiters to ensure that they hire only the best and most promising candidates, those who are almost guaranteed to perform and stay in a role for the long term.

While workplaces are swiftly becoming more and more advanced in cloud computing, using social media for marketing purposes, and generally becoming au fait with modern technology, there is one area which is sadly lacking when it comes to technological advancement. Despite the realization that computer software greatly enhances the efficiency with which businesses operates, the use of recruitment software is not widespread. The simple fact is that not many business leaders are aware that recruitment software can transform your HR practices for the better and make hiring a simpler process.

Why should you invest in software for your HR department? There are several reasons for doing so, each of which is detailed below.

[wcm_restrict]Quicker Job Postings

A recruitment software package will post a position multiple times, both on internal sites and on as many external sites as you wish. At the same time, it will offer the options to either refer an employee or to send the advertisement to a friend. Job postings are therefore swifter and more widespread.

Quality Pre-Screening

Using an online recruitment package allows job applicants to be automatically narrowed down via a system of pre-screening questions. This saves recruitment officers vast amounts of time in sifting through resumes. It also ensures that those who reach interview stage are the most suitable. The screening questions can be customized to suit different positions.

Efficient

As with other forms of cloud computing, an online recruitment software package means that everything to do with the whole recruitment process is stored online. Job applications, resumes, supporting documents, interview notes, managers’ calendars and any other templates and forms to do with the process can be accessed in one place. By cutting out the need for paperwork, the recruitment system is streamlined.

Improved Communication

By having everything available in one place, HR managers, recruitment officers, and managers of other departments are able to access the same information instantaneously. This ensures everyone is kept up to date as to the process and allows different parties to discuss their questions or concerns at every stage.

Clearly, investing in a recruitment software package has many benefits for your business. Jobs can be posted far quicker than if they were added by hand. Pre-screening tests allows the best candidates to be pinpointed, saving your company time and money. With everything stored in one place, recruitment is far more straightforward, and the fact that professionals can discuss potential employees can only mean good things as far as new recruits are concerned.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

From her 25 years in business, Elizabeth Hill aims to pass on knowledge and skills gained in that time through her writing. She loves walks in the countryside, spending time with family and friends, and is ever so ‘slightly’ addicted to coffee.