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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Leadership Inspirations – Commitment
“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in doing something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses.”
Ken Blanchard
Management expert and author of The One Minute Manager
Recommended Resource – How the Mighty Fall
by Jim Collins
About the Reference
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StrategyDriven Succession and Succession Planning Forum
Advancement, transfer, retirement, resignation, and termination are all causes of position vacancies. Regardless of the reason for or timing of a position opening, the organization must continue to function through the subsequent transition. Organizations proactively positioning themselves for personnel changes maintain a higher degree of business continuity; realizing a shallower and shorter productivity dip and pursuing performance improvement more rapidly.
Effective succession and succession planning processes enable smooth transitions of power and operational continuity. Performed well, these processes help ensure the proactive identification and development of an adequate number of candidates to fill potential vacancies, careful selection of the right replacement, thorough preparation of the selectee for his or her new role and organization members to well receive the successor, and advanced provisions to support the entrant with the post transition coaching needed for their and the organization’s success.
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Materials in this forum are dedicated to discussing the leading practices of companies that successfully execute succession and succession planning processes; maximizing the new entrant’s probability of success and the organization’s operational continuity. The following articles, podcasts, documents, and resources cover those topics critical to effective leadership succession.
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Leadership Inspirations – Fortune Favors the Prepared
“You better live your best and act your best and think your best today, for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow.”
Harriet Martineau
English writer and philosopher
“Every great man was once a nobody prepared for opportunity.”
Dorothy Tode
Everyone wants to win but only a few are willing to put in the preparation and training time needed to achieve greatness. The pinnacle event we often observe as marking an individual or team’s success represents only a small fraction of the blood, sweat, and tears required to reach that summit.
Do you want to win? The truth lies with the answer to another question… Are you doing everything necessary today to make yourself mentally and physically capable of winning tomorrow?
Are you prepared to achieve greatness?