Business Performance Assessment Program – Criticisms Appear Harsher When Put into Print
Fact or fiction, anything formally documented assumes an air of legitimacy. Combine this implied legitimacy with the stark black and white of the printed words and any identified improvement opportunity can appear overly harsh and critical, especially to those responsible for the performance. Apparent aggressiveness within a self assessment can result in resistance to the evaluation findings; often by those who stand to benefit the most and who must own the corrective actions.[wcm_restrict plans=”47721, 25542, 25653″]
Avoiding defensiveness while still conveying improvement opportunities and their importance is the challenge faced by all assessment leaders. While total resistance avoidance is not realistically achievable, following these few principles will help make assessment findings more palatable and accepted:
- provide situational context
- avoid the use of absolutes
- back up assertions with at least three facts each
- facts should be observable and quantitative whenever possible
- provide validated, observable, and quantitative external benchmarks
- discuss assessment facts with those being evaluated throughout the assessment process to afford them the opportunity to validate the facts on which conclusions will be based
- present assessment findings in person; being available to provide additional commentary as requested
Principles one and two help the assessment read better by respecting the situation of those assessed. Principles three, four, and five ensure the assessment is credible and that those assessed can personally validate the facts. Principles six and seven ensure open dialogue affords the assessed an opportunity to offer fact validation and context and provides them the opportunity to express their opinions and conclusions for consideration.
Respect for those being assessed and credibility of the report, achieving these goals will help the report read less harshly or at least be more accepted.
Final Thought…
Business performance assessments are not effective unless the message delivered is heard and acted upon. However, assessors will sometimes encounter situations where unexpected or undesired evaluation findings result in management’s summary rejection of the report in part or whole under all circumstances. When these situations occur, it is important to remember that the integrity of the assessors and the report are more important than finding acceptance. It is always better to fail on the side of the truth than to succeed by unduly softening or distorting known realities.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”47721, 25542, 25653″]
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Executives, managers, and individual contributors familiar with the day-to-day workings of their organizations undoubtedly know or have contrived the reason for ‘why things are the way they are.’ Beyond this understanding, sometimes at an unconscious level, these individuals will perceive one or more drivers to these organization shaping whys. What remains unseen and unthought-of are the tertiary and lower level drivers to why the business performs as it does. It is here that truly useful insight can be gained; insight enabling the foundational changes needed to alter the organization’s direction and propel it to the next level.[wcm_restrict plans=”25541, 25542, 25653″]
Properly performed self assessments provide business leaders with deep insights as to what is working well and opportunities for improvement within a business function, area, or process. These insights become even more beneficial when the practices and results of top performers are used as a reference or benchmark for the evaluation. Best practices, however, are not always relevant to every situation or circumstance. Therefore, it is important to consider local context when evaluating performance against accepted best practices.[wcm_restrict plans=”47750, 25542, 25653″]
It’s perfectly natural and expected that individuals want to do a good job and be recognized for it or at a minimum want to do a good enough job to avoid what are to them undesired consequences. Subsequently, people look to what their superiors communicate as required job performance to gag the level and timing of their efforts.[wcm_restrict plans=”47746, 25542, 25653″]
Evaluators performing business performance assessments often find themselves awash in data suggesting their company’s performance significant lags that of competitors and top industry performers. Evidence suggesting the need to improve may be so plentiful that the self assessors come to believe immediate reforms must be made if to only ensure the continued viability of their organization.[wcm_restrict plans=”47742, 25542, 25653″]