The odometer on my car is telling me that it is time again to take my car in for a “tune-up”. Five years old, my ride is nothing special, but it does the trick and performs beautifully if I keep it properly maintained. So, I take it in, periodically, for a check–up.
My mechanic knows the quirks of my car – how it should look, sound and perform. After visually inspecting the car, top-to-bottom, listening to the engine (and all of the new noises), running computer diagnostics and, finally, test driving the vehicle to check the performance of key systems, I get a list of suggested adjustments (sometimes overhauls!) to keep the car humming. Not all of the recommendations are critical to my car’s performance, but some of those alignments, replacements or adjustments are essential to getting me out of the driveway each morning and to keep me running smoothly down the highway.
So what does this have to do with your organization’s performance review process? Well, organizations, just like cars, require a periodic check-up on how they are performing. Just like the mechanic’s diagnostic of my car’s performance, an analysis of the collective results of an organization’s performance needs to be diagnosed. Obviously, you need to look at your strategy, financials, etc. However, the key diagnostic that you need to undertake is a review on every team member within the organization.
Individual performance reviews should illuminate where adjustments, or overhauls, are needed in the organization’s talent, structure and processes. Making needed repairs will keep employees performing at a high level and in alignment with the strategic direction of the organization.
So, to keep all your organizational cylinders firing effectively and efficiently, take some time to understand the messages coming from your performance review “diagnostic”. A good analysis can help you evaluate if your organization has:
- The Right Roles and Structure: A collective performance analysis coupled with a profitability review can highlight areas where the right talent may be in place, but where performance is hindered by roles and/or organizational structures that are inefficiently and ineffectively aligned with your strategy. Knowing where the performance breaks are, roles and processes can be redesigned, outsourced or eliminated, and functions or teams re-structured, will help to eliminate obstacles and inefficiencies to better align individual efforts with intended outcomes.
- The Right Level of Engagement: Reflecting on the trends and patterns evidenced in a holistic view of performance will help you dial-in on your employee’s level of engagement. The analysis may not give you the specifics, but it can give you a warning light where to take action if engagement is sliding.
- The Right Mix of Talent: Having the right people in the right roles is key to optimal organizational performance. A review of a specific team or function’s performance can indicate trouble spots and bottlenecks jeopardizing the achievement of critical objectives; with this insight, preemptive actions can be taken to manage, develop or replace talent, as appropriate.
- The Right Financial Forecast: Financial success is most likely realized when an organization is: 1) structured to optimally align with a set of common strategic objectives and 2) employee performance is collectively strong. Using information gathered above on each of these two components will allow you make and communicate informed financial projections and take action, where needed, to ensure that financial objectives are realized.
What is the analysis of your collective performance assessments telling you about how your organization is functioning?
Prism Partners International can help you assess the performance of your employees against the strategy and culture of your organization and deliver resulting employee development plans that will drive superior performance and improved organizational results. Through our practical, operational experience, and innovative assessments and analytics, we can focus and align management actions and employee performance to achieve improved profitability.
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