Performing at the peak level

PEOPLE are our greatest asset. Have you heard that one before? Attracting and retaining talented people is always a challenge. In my last column, and for the next couple of columns, I am identifying the factors you need to manage to demonstrate to your people that they are your greatest asset. Getting these right will also help you attract and retain the best people. This week we look at performance. Run your business or organisation through this checklist and answer these three questions. What needs to happen? What could you do better? What do you need to lead and manage better? Performance Your performance management process provides feedback to employees, identifies issues from their perspective, initiates continuous improvement and contributes to the achievement of action plans/program outcomes. Your employee performance management process focuses on meeting or exceeding customer/ client/teamwork needs and expectations, and quality standards. Under-performing people are disciplined, counselled, coached, trained or mentored as appropriate. Under-performing people who are unable to comply with requirements are warned appropriately and their employment terminated, if noncompliance continues. Your compensation, recognition and incentive practices reinforce high-performance work and a customer/client/teamwork and quality focus. You encourage, measure, recognise and reward leaders who actively engage, empower and involve their people in sustainable improvement. Major strategic goals are broken down into key activities that people can understand. This creates numerous (smaller) initiatives that directly contribute to the major strategic goals. The measures used to track these initiatives are visually displayed to provide focus, target setting, status, recognition, celebration and/or reward. People (at all levels) are regularly challenged (through structured processes) to implement creative solutions to identify problems or improvement opportunities. Ideas for improvements from frontline people are initiated through a formal system that ensures practicality and control, and provides recognition and reward for successfully implemented ideas. Regular internal ‘customer care’ meetings identify departmental interface issues, exchange knowledge and feedback and improve internal supplier/ customer relationships. People who add value to the business by acquiring and utilising multiple, new and relevant skills are recognised and rewarded Formal appraisals are conducted to discuss performance issues, identify and initiate improvements and to initiate solutions to training/ development needs. You execute policy and practices to eliminate fear of repercussions or reprisals in the workplace. If you would like information on a system and tools designed to achieve this and much more, see superthinker.com and click on 2. Benchmark Business Improver. PCB boosts sales