Performance Management Part III: Inspiring Team Members

Even the best organizational strategy will fail to take off unless the performance of individual team members is aligned.

Individual performance management also consists of three parts:

1. Responsibilities (what are the major functions of my job?)
2. Goals (what is it I need to accomplish this year?)
3. Work-related behaviors (how will I go about it?)

Responsibilities for major job functions take the traditional “job description” to a new level. Since you begin with a blank form, a dialogue between the supervisor and the direct report enables you to get clear, concise agreement on what is needed from the team member to accomplish your broader objectives.  There may only be four or five of these items, or as many as 10. You may want to have the job description on hand but only as a reference point. The company’s strategic plan and the department plan and budget are more useful tools for this exercise.

Once the responsibilities are written out, each is ranked in order of importance/impact with the total reaching 100 (this for the scoring part of the document). For example, you may have nine items listed; three are ranked at 20 points each, two at 10, and four at 5 points.

The next step is to determine goals. Here again, refer to the operating plan for guidance. If the organization is to be successful, what must that individual accomplish in a way that provides a meaningful, measurable contribution? Each goal should be discussed openly and agreed upon by the employee and his/her supervisor. It must be specific and measurable. For instance, “develop a better understanding of…” is not a measurable goal. There may be as many as ten goals and each is assigned a point value based upon its impact/importance. No matter how many goals are assigned and weighted, the total for this section will amount to 100.

The third and final step focuses on work-related behaviors. This is an important but often overlooked part of individual performance management that is rarely included as a performance metric. Yet, it is easy to see how it brings balance to the process. In short, you are measuring performance by three criteria:  responsibilities/job functions; goals/accomplishments; and work-related behaviors.

The first of these, responsibilities are why most people are hired. That is, their background and experience match the responsibilities of the job. The second, goals, are what get people promoted; they get things done. The third, work-related behaviors, are most often what lead to employees being separated from the organization.

What are work-related behaviors? Ideally, these are derived from the values of the organization. Examples may include:

• Honesty/integrity
• Respect for everyone
• Courage to speak your mind
• A servant’s heart
• Commitment to personal and professional growth

For more information on ways you can energize your team and maximize your results, contact me at joe@ajstrategy.com.

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