Helen Giles, Managing Director
For any organisation to manage performance systematically, a number of things need to be in place. But it’s no use for them just being there – they have to be used well and consistently, which is a discipline that has to run through organisations. It is the job of the people at the top to make sure that happens.
Firstly, there should be clear strategic goals for the organisation, which are communicated to everybody. Key Performance Indicators and milestones will be needed to continuously monitor whether these are being achieved. It is usual now for organisations to have indicators in all four quadrants of the ‘Balanced Scorecard’, meaning that you set goals and measure them in the areas of customer satisfaction, financial health, people management and development, and robustness of internal processes.
Every team should have some kind of service plan that sets out the planned actions they are going to take towards the achievement of the organisation’s goals. In addition, each team should have some clear service standards which define what users of the services should expect. These may be the clients of the organisation, or internal customers of business support teams.
Each individual in the organisation should be working to clear personal objectives and performance standards which derive from organisational and team plans and standards.
We strongly advise organisations to have a well thought through set of core competencies that define the key qualities required of people throughout the organisation. This will include things like teamworking and networking capabilities, analytical and communication skills, and customer focus.
It is the job of the senior management team and the Board to measure performance against the organisation’s strategic plan. It is the job of line managers to evidence and monitor performance against team plans and individual performance objectives.
Common mistakes that we find are as follows. Some organisations don’t have any of the above. Sometimes, even when they do, nobody takes the time or effort to consistently measure achievement, or to collect sound evidence. For example, if you set service standards, you will never know if they are being met unless you operate things like internal audits and customer satisfaction surveys. And if you have set clear competency requirements around the way line managers manage their staff, or team members relate to each other, how can you really know if they are being achieved unless you seek feedback from those with whom they interact on a daily basis?
What gets measured gets done. Organisations that fail to set objectives and standards and measure progress against these serially underachieve against their potential, and eventually many of them go down the pan.
Every team should have some kind of service plan that sets out the planned actions they are going to take towards the achievement of the organisation’s goals. In addition, each team should have some clear service standards which define what users of the services should expect. These may be the clients of the organisation, or internal customers of business support teams.
Each individual in the organisation should be working to clear personal objectives and performance standards which derive from organisational and team plans and standards.
We strongly advise organisations to have a well thought through set of core competencies that define the key qualities required of people throughout the organisation. This will include things like teamworking and networking capabilities, analytical and communication skills, and customer focus.
It is the job of the senior management team and the Board to measure performance against the organisation’s strategic plan. It is the job of line managers to evidence and monitor performance against team plans and individual performance objectives.
Common mistakes that we find are as follows. Some organisations don’t have any of the above. Sometimes, even when they do, nobody takes the time or effort to consistently measure achievement, or to collect sound evidence. For example, if you set service standards, you will never know if they are being met unless you operate things like internal audits and customer satisfaction surveys. And if you have set clear competency requirements around the way line managers manage their staff, or team members relate to each other, how can you really know if they are being achieved unless you seek feedback from those with whom they interact on a daily basis?
What gets measured gets done. Organisations that fail to set objectives and standards and measure progress against these serially underachieve against their potential, and eventually many of them go down the pan.
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