subject: Preparing Today For The Future Scarce Labor Market Sustaining High Levels Of Performance, Part 4 [print this page] In our last article we discussed optimizing employee performance. In part four we will discuss how organizations can sustain the high levels of performance achieved by the 3D Employee Empowerment ModelTM.
The keys to sustained high performance in organizations are well documented and researched. They include: a high level of trust between team members, a clear and aligned purpose, commitment to that purpose, candid and constructive communication, the opportunity for team members to contribute in whatever way they can and a dedication to continually improving. Let us examine each of these elements more closely.
Trust plays an important role in sustained high performance because it promotes efficiency and effectiveness. When the members of a work team trust one anothers; competency, commitment to a common purpose, commitment to team, understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and ability to succeed, they eliminate a lot of the inefficiencies that typically result from underuse of group members, misuse of group members, CYA behavior, working toward different goals, etc.
A clear and aligned purpose provides a compass for team members that keep them focused on the mission. Because the purpose is aligned with the overall mission of the organization, wasted effort or superfluous activity is minimized. The accomplishments of the team contribute to the success of the organization. Daily oversight and control by supervision is not needed because the team members know the mission.
Commitment to purpose is also an important element for sustaining performance because it is not enough to know the mission or purpose of the teams efforts. There must also be a commitment to that purpose. The team members have to agree that their purpose for being is clear, measurable, relevant and achievable in order to aggressively work to achieve the purpose.
Having the opportunity for team members to contribute in whatever way they can speaks to employee empowerment. Empowered team members have the confidence (self-efficacy) and the authority to make decisions and behave in a manner that is supportive of the teams mission and the interest of the organization.
Team members are not unnecessarily confined to traditional roles that require them to look to their supervisor for guidance and decision-making. Sustaining high performance requires pushing decisions down in the organization to the lowest level where a competent decision can be made.
Dedication to continually improve is a necessary element to sustain high levels of performance. Organizations can not rest on their laurels. The competitive landscape and internal environment is constantly changing and without a system to continually improve, high performing organizations will lose momentum and drift into mediocrity.
Continual improvement systems include; performance goals, performance monitoring capability, change management capability, creative environments, promoting inquiry and advocacy techniques, and freedom to question the status quo.
Candid and constructive communication refers to; maintaining an environment that welcomes feedback, challenging the status quo, speaking truth to power, efficient and effective performance evaluation systems.
Efficient and effective performance evaluation systems require a little more explanation. The components of an efficient and effective performance evaluation system includes: participative goal setting between supervisor and team members; agreement on goals that are specific, measurable, aligned, achievable, relevant and time-bound; and on-going constructive feedback.
Goal setting theory as proposed by Edwin Locke in the late 1960s hypothesized that intentions to work toward a goal are a major source of motivation. Behavioral science research since then has proven him right.
Subsequent behavioral research and empirical data indicate that:
Specific goals increase performance
Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than do easy goals
The more difficult the goal, if accepted, the higher level of performance
Goal setting participation increases the likelihood of an employee accepting even the most difficult goals
Feedback leads to higher performance than does non-feedback
Self-generated feedback where the employee is able to monitor his or her own progress, is a more powerful motivator than externally generated feedback
Behaviors alone may not lead to results. Results often will not infer the behavior required to achieve the result. Holding an employee accountable for both, results and behavior, provides the basis for productive performance.
Managers who can answer the question, What will success look like and how was it achieved, are thinking about performance in terms of both results and behavior and are well on the road to defining clear on-the-job goals. An outstanding level of performance is not accomplishing 100% of your goals while leaving a lot of bodies in your wake!
All of these elements; a high level of trust between team members, a clear and aligned purpose, commitment to that purpose, candid and constructive communication, the opportunity for team members to contribute in whatever way they can and a dedication to continually improving are key to achieving and sustaining high levels of performance.
