Creating a culture of performance development

Practices that will change your workplace for the better

Rob Clarke

Rob Clarke, CEO of Learning Architects

Having clarity when it comes to your organisational goals can be a business superpower.

When everyone is clear on the big picture and knows what is expected of them it means that a key piece of the high-performance puzzle is in place, and that’s great. But it’s only part of the picture. How to go about realising your ambitions requires another key piece of the puzzle - and that is developing a culture of performance development. And regardless of whether you are a small-tomedium business, a large corporate enterprise or an independent operator - the same principles apply. The only difference is that how you go about putting the pieces together may change slightly.

Our traditional approaches are broken How you go about supporting people to achieve can make a big difference. Traditional performance management approaches typically focus on a person’s deficits - what they lack or where they fall short - rather than where they excel. And as can be expected from this approach, it creates a culture of fear and control rather than a climate of possibilities. So how can we move from this traditional negative approach to one of performance development? To empowering people so that they know not only what to work on next, but how to go about it, and ideally, why it is important. When you can put these pieces of the puzzle together, it enables them to take action and have a shared sense of ownership for driving the organisation forward. Here are a few things to consider if you want to change up your current approach to improving performance in your organisation.

Assess your own mindset first As you consider the individual needs of your people and the collective needs of your organisation, what springs to mind? Is your focus on what can’t be or isn’t done? If so, change your mindset and instead start with identifying what each person does best, and see if you can position them in a role that takes advantage of this. Being mindful of how you judge others before talking to them is important, and one thing to be aware of as you do this is the fundamental attribution error. The fundamental attribution error is when all too often, people blame the shortcomings of others on their character, while blaming their own shortcomings on environmental factors. For instance, if someone fails to meet a deadline, you might think, “gosh, they are lazy,” whereas if you’ve missed a deadline, you might say, “I have had too many interruptions”. Instead, focus on aspects that are unrelated to the person's character or personality, such as whether they have been given adequate training, resources or the tools to do the job.

Focus on each team member’s goal Do you know the goals of each member of your team? It may sound obvious, but when you do, it puts you in a better position to provide ongoing support, resources and coaching to help them improve. Even better, if you can help them see how their goals link to your organisational goals, then you’ll both be onto a winner! Identify the best type and frequency of support Find a check-in frequency and an approach (or approaches) toward providing support that works for your organisation. For instance, if you operate a small business with only one or two employees, then you might include an external coach as part of your support structure; they can help provide an outside perspective, challenge you and provide necessary guidance or resources if required. If you have a team, then you may look at developing a coaching approach in-house. Regardless of the size of your team, it is important to regularly connect with people, so that you can support them.

Vary your approach Do you generally have a once or at best twiceyearly review meeting? Gallup’s research indicates that the most effective managers have a variety of different conversations with their employees - and at least three of these are a form of coaching conversation. For example, a: • Weekly quick connect to help you both stay in touch with current work tasks and issues • Monthly or fortnightly check-in to help the you understand how things are going and to discuss short and long-term goals • Developmental coaching session focussed on a specific project or issue of importance to the individual • Twice-yearly progress review where you explore goals, performance targets, strengths and development options.

Ask results-focused questions Resist telling people what they should be doing. Instead, I recommend that you ask questions that will help reveal their thinking about an issue or a project. By doing this, you are effectively helping them come up with the answers to issues themselves, rather than solving their problems for them, and more likely engaging them in the process.

Monitor for improvement Keeping track of how each person is going is important. It helps develop accountability and ensures that everyone (and your organisation) continues to head in the right direction. This monitoring can be as simple as keeping actions in your meeting notes. Whatever you do, make sure you spend time not only monitoring success, but also celebrating the wins as you go.

Celebrate the wins regularly How often do you recognise and celebrate a job well done? Gallup’s research indicates that one important factor in increasing engagement at work is to ensure each person is given praise or recognised at least every seven days. I suggest you try to be specific and recognise your team in relation to key tasks or responsibilities they have. CT

Resist telling people what they should be doing. Instead, I recommend that you ask questions that will help reveal their thinking about an issue or a project. ”

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