are we creating a performance system or hodgepodge of interventions? training session created by...

Are We Creating a Performance System or Hodgepodge of

Interventions?

Training Session Created by

Ryan Watkins and John Wedman

Published in the 2011 Pfieffer Annuals

Objectives

• Identify what it takes to accomplish something.• View accomplishments from a systems

perspective.• Connect accomplishments to performance

improvement.• Analyze a situation using a performance

improvement model.• Critically view performance improvement from a

systems perspective.

Hell, there are no rules here - we're trying to accomplish something.

~Thomas Edison

Short of following Edison’s mantra, how are significant results

accomplished?

Significant Accomplishment

Good Idea• We choose to go to the moon

Resources• Money (lots of money), bright scientist, committed

politicians, etc.

Support System• Scientific knowledge/skills• Rewards for innovation and risk taking• Communication and coordination• Desire to succeed

Alignment

Good IdeaResources

Support System

Significant Accomplishment

Systems Dynamics

If the new ideas are not better than the status quo, obsolescence is unavoidable.

The support system consumes resources while enabling the idea to become reality.

Accomplishments generate new resources and set the stage for new ideas.

If the support system consumes more resources than produced by the accomplishment, a ‘death spiral’ results.

Performance Improvement View

Resources Vision, Mission,& Objectives

Organizational Culture

Continual Monitoring


SignificantAccomplishment

PerformanceCapability

Knowledge& Skills

Motivation &Self-Concept

Expectations& Feedback

Environment, Tools, &

Processes

Incentives, Rewards, &Recognition

Wedman’sPerformancePyramid

Pyramid Questions


Knowledge& Skills




Processes


Are they mentally, socially, & physically able to perform?

Are they want to perform? Do they think they are competent?

Do incentives drive change? Is good performance rewarded?

Is the environment OK? Do they have the tools to do the job? Do processes work?

Do they know what to do and why? Do they know how well they are doing?

Do they have the knowledge and skills needed to perform?

Performance Interventions

Sample Interventions:

Performance Capability

• New Employee Recruitment• Employee Selection &

Retention• Resource Allocations• Workforce Forecasting• Outsourcing• Succession Planning• Job Rotations• Cross-training• Interview Standards• Competency Models


Skills & Knowledge

• Traditional Training• Job Aids • Knowledge Management• On The Job Training• E-learning• Brown-Bag Lunches• Train-the-trainer• On-boarding & Orientation

Performance Interventions Cont’


Motivation & Self-Concept

• Career Coaching• Motivation Workshops• Team Building• Self-esteem• Job Rotations• Counseling• Confidence Building


Expectations & Feedback

• Performance Reviews• Balanced Scorecards• Retreats and Roundtables• Town Hall Meetings• Reference Manuals• On-boarding & Orientation• 360 Degree Evaluations

Performance Interventions Cont’Sample Interventions:

Tools, Environment, & Processes

•New technology•Workplace Redesign•Process Redesign•Ergonomics •Electronic Performance Support•Labeling•Color Coding


Incentives, Rewards, & Recognition

• Awards Programs• Employee of the Month• Recognition Messages• Peer Recognition• Job Sharing• Flex Hours• Telecommuting• Financial incentives

Systemic Analysis

• Goal: Examine each subsystem to determine its relation with the performance gap (i.e., difference between current and desired results).

• Example: Expectations & Feedback– Do staff know what results they are expected to achieve?– Do staff receive timely feedback on their performance in

relation to the achievement of desired results?– Do managers meet routinely with staff to describe

expectations and provide performance feedback?• Example: Organizational Culture

– How does the organization’s culture support the achievement of desired results?

– What elements of the organization’s culture oppose desired performance?

Performance System Design

• Goal: Create holistic performance systems that accomplish desired results.

• Example: Incentives, Rewards, and Recognition– What incentives can be used to encourage

staff to accomplish desired results?– How can we reward the achievement of

desired results?– How can we recognize those employees who

achieve desired results?

OK…but…

Resources Vision, Mission,& Objectives

Organizational Culture



SignificantAccomplishment


Knowledge& Skills




Processes


.…is it a system

?

General Systems Theory

• Ludwig von Bertalanffy

• Béla H. Bánáthy

• Used in many scientific disciplines and “real world” applications– Biology, physics, psychology, economics, etc.– Management, software, family therapy, etc.

Principles of Systems Theory

Principle Pyramid Examples

Interrelatedness New tools require new skills. Rewards are based on meeting expectations. Capability shapes self-concept.

Interdependence Clarifying performance expectations without providing adequate resources and supportive environment will not accomplish sustainable results.

Connectivity Learning requires inputs from participants, clients, managers, suppliers, and others.

Synergy Alone, changes in incentives or rewards will not achieve desired and sustainable improvements.

Equifinality There is no single set of interventions or activities that will accomplish results, there are many options to considered and compared.

Theory Application

• Models, Frameworks, Rubrics, Algorithms• Examples of “Systems Models”

– Kaufman’s Organizational Elements Model– Mager’s Performance Analysis Flow Chart– Rummler’s Nine Performance Variables– Wedman’s Performance Pyramid

• Examples of “Systems Thinking” in the literature– Peter Senge, Margaret Wheatley, Richard Swanson

*More information on each of these models is available in: Wilmoth, F., Prigmore, C., and Bray, M. (Reprint). HPT Models: An Overview of the Major Models in the Field. In Watkins, R. and Leigh, D. (2010). Handbook for Improving Performance in the Workplace – Vol. 2: Selecting and Implementing Performance Interventions. San Francisco:Wiley/Pfieffer.

Summary

• With a few notable exceptions, accomplishments result from aligning a good idea with resources, and performance support.

• Performance improvement requires a combination of several interrelated interventions.

• Wedman’s Performance Pyramid is one example of a performance improvement system.

• Lacking a systemic framework, performance improvement is a hodgepodge of interventions.

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