Performance Magazine 5th edition

Issue No. 5 July/2016

INTERVIEWS ACADEMICS. PRACTITIONERS. CONSULTANTS. Insights from practice AROUND THE WORLD CREATING A BETTER EDUCATION SYSTEM WITH THE BALANCED SCORECARD KUWAIT’S WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS Does national culture matter?

ARTICLES WHAT IS KPI BALANCING? WHAT DOES JOB SATISFACTION MEAN ANYMORE? + LIFESTYLE, HARDWARE & SOFTWARE, AND RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

PORTRAIT

MARC LAWN

Mentoring people. Transforming businesses.

INDEMNITY STATEMENT

Š 2016 The KPI Institute Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

ID Number: TKI0162021 ISBN-13: 978-1534726390 ISBN-10: 153472639X An appropriate citation for this magazine is: The KPI Institute, Performance Magazine, Printed Edition, no. 5, vol. 3/2016, July, 2016, Melbourne, Australia Indemnity statement: The KPI Institute has taken due care in preparing the analysis contained in this publication. However, noting that some of the data used for the analysis has been provided by third parties, The KPI Institute gives no warranty to the accuracy, reliability, fitness for purpose, or otherwise of the information. The KPI Institute shall have no liability for errors, omissions, or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.

Published by:

Headquarters: Melbourne Office Life.lab Building, 198 Harbour Esplanade, Suite 606 Melbourne Docklands, VIC 3008, Australia Telephone Headquarters: +61 3 9028 2223 Middle East Division: +971 4 311 6556 European Division: +40 3 6942 6935 South East Asia Division: +60 3 2742 1357 E-mail: office@kpiinstitute.org www.kpiinstitute.org JULY 2016

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CONTENTS

EDITOR’S NOTE

3

NEWS

6

EVENTS

12

Performance Improvement and KPIs Conference

COVER STORY In data we trust. Optimizing reporting through KPIs

Individual Performance

51

What does job satisfaction mean anymore?

51

12

The art of giving negative feedback.

The dos and don’ts

53

14

Conflict at the workplace.

Causes and consequences

55

Strategy

56

6 direct marketing tips for smaller organizations to boost your bottom line performance

56

14

16

Chua E Long

17

Dermawan Wibisono

18

Matthew Goodwin

20

YouTube marketing.

What’s in it for your business?

57

Somita Raj

23

Customer Service

58

Zaid Al Huneidi

24

58

Zainab Mohammed

26

Long term planning to ensure customer service proficiency

Marc Lawn.

Mentoring people. Transforming businesses.

AROUND THE WORLD

30 30

ASK THE EXPERTS How can you improve KPI reporting?

LIFESTYLE 36

Kuwait’s workforce demographics trends.

Does national culture matter?

36

South Korea’s national pension system.

Coverage gaps and gaming

38

Creating a better education system with the balanced scorecard

39

The sector-led improvement program.

Building desire for improvement

40

ARTICLES

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INTERVIEWS

PORTRAIT

2

ARTICLES

44

Balanced Scorecard

44

ERP systems, the balanced scorecard and KPIs

44

The balanced scorecard.

Just as relevant after 24 years

60 60

62

Travelling. The best way to boost your personal performance

62

From ABCs to C++

64

Mindfulness: one step closer to personal performance

65

HARDWARE

68

Livescribe 3

68

Poros Cedar

68

The Portal router

69

Ili

69

SOFTWARE

70

46

Toto Health

70

SumHR

70

KPIs

47

SlideDog

71

KPI balancing and KRIs

47

Wunderlist

71

Operational Performance

48

What you need to know about onboarding

48

Operational performance and you

50

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

72

Books: Must-haves for your 2016 reading list

72

Series: The John Oliver Effect as a new breed of entertainment

73

Aurel Brudan CEO, The KPI Institute Andrei Costea Head of Publishing & Media

EDITORIAL TEAM Mariette Wahyuningsih Editor & Publisher

DESIGN Javier Rocha Head of Graphic Design

MARKETING Valentina Matei Head of Marketing

With these thoughts in mind, we proudly announce the launch of our fifth issue of Performance Magazine, the summer edition. Performance Magazine is The KPI Institute’s prime resource for insights into the discipline of Performance Management.

The content published in Performance Magazine pursues high and wide for some of the best, latest and most pressing topics of discussion in Performance Management and in adjacent areas of interest.

EDITOR’S NOTE

STAFF EDITORIAL COORDINATION

Encompassing The KPI Institute’s experience, research and expertise, PERFORMANCE Magazine – Printed Edition provides its readership with first-hand how-to, resources, and insights from practice, so as to assist them in their performance endeavors and in becoming state-of-the art professionals.

This edition provides details on the subjects of KPIs, the Balanced Scorecard, Operational Performance, Individual Performance and Strategy, among others.

Flip through pages of interviews with renowned experts, extensive research studies, concept presentations, insights from practice, alongside software or hardware reviews, and books and movie recommendations, all related to performance management.

July’s Performance Magazine offers its readers a Bildungsroman-styled portrait of a consultant that has dedicated his life to understanding people, what makes them tick and how they can develop over time: Marc Lawn, Strategic Lead and Project Director of the OD Transformation Programme at British Petroleum and Founder of The Business GP. A professional that has never stopped observing, analyzing and learning, an individual that strives to comprehend the intricate details that comprise that character of each person he has worked with and a dedicated coach and trainer for those wishing to surpass their boundaries and go that extra mile that is often needed for self-improvement.

Take part in public sector implementation processes from various countries and nations, as each edition will feature extensive analyses on the subject, compliments of our Business Research Specialists. Also, best practices, alongside the latest trends, will be offered for a wide variety of performancerelated sub-domains, from KPIs, to Innovation performance, and from Strategy and Business Planning, to Balanced Scorecard Systems.

Last, but not least, the magazine features recommended resources for professionals interested in combining leisure and professional development, such as books and documentaries.

So now we invite you to take part in a world dedicated to integrating performance and all that is comprised in the search for improvement, in its smallest details.

Enjoy this July’s Performance Magazine!

As we are always interested in gaining insights from practitioners who activate in a multitude of environments, contact us at editor@kpiinstitute.org if you are interested in becoming a Guest Editor, or having your interview featured in PERFORMANCE Magazine.

Andrei Costea Head of Publishing & Media, The KPI Institute JULY 2016

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SCHEDULED COURSES IN 2016 Upcoming 2016 Training Courses Americas

City

Date

Certified KPI Professional

Toronto Seattle

26 - 28 October 31 Oct - 2 Nov

Asia Pacific

City

Date

Certified KPI Professional and Practitioner

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur Lahore Singapore Kuala Lumpur Singapore Singapore Kuala Lumpur

15 - 19 August 14 - 16 December 18 - 20 August 12 - 14 September 19 - 21 October 21 - 23 September 7 - 9 November 2 - 4 November

Singapore Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur

9 - 11 November 8 - 9 December 23 - 25 November

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur

30 Nov - 2 Dec 19 - 21 December

Europe

City

Date

Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional Certified Performance Improvement Professional

Istanbul Istanbul

2 - 4 October 28 - 30 November

Middle East

City

Date

Certified KPI Professional and Practitioner

Riyadh Kuwait City Dubai Doha Dubai Riyadh Dubai Riyadh Doha Dubai Riyadh Dubai Dubai Dubai Dubai Dubai Riyadh Dubai

14 - 18 August 15 - 18 August 18 - 22 September 9 - 13 October 9 - 19 October 18 - 20 December 25 - 27 September 16 - 18 October 17 - 18 October 9 - 11 October 13 - 15 November 23 - 25 October 16 - 18 October 30 Oct - 1 Nov 23 - 25 October 31 Oct - 1 Nov 25 - 27 September 27 - 29 November

Certified KPI Professional Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional Certified Performance Improvement Professional Certified Employee Performance Management Professional Certified Data Visualization Professional Certified Data Analysis Professional Certified Supplier Performance Professional Certified Personal Performance Professional Certified Customer Service Perfomance Professional Certified Innovation Performance Professional Certified Balanced Scorecard Professional

Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional Certified Performance Improvement Professional

Certified Employee Performance Management Professional Certified Data Visualization Professional Certified Data Analysis Professional Certified Supplier Performance Professional Certified Personal Performance Professional Certified Customer Service Perfomance Professional Certified Balanced Scorecard Professional Certified Innovation Performance Professional 4

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For more details visit our store at: store.kpiinstitute.org

THE KPI INSTITUTE’S PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional The course will help improve the business planning process and long-term organizational performance, through the use of strategic planning tools that will ultimately lead to smarter and quicker strategic decisions.

Certified KPI Professional and Practitioner This program is meant to improve the practical skills in working with KPIs and developing instruments like scorecards and dashboards. Participants will acquire a sound framework to measure KPIs, starting from the moment they are selected, until results are collected in performance reports.

Certified Performance Improvement Professional This course offers insights and best practices for improving performance in different scenarios, from data analysis and reporting, decision making and initiative management, to building a performance culture.

Certified Employee Performance Management Professional Attendees will gain exposure to best practices and key concepts and will learn how to establish and use criteria for performance evaluations, from implementation to improvement and maintenance of the company’s employee performance management system.

Certified Personal Performance Professional The two-day interactive program will help you understand personal performance, by explaining the benefits and clarifying the process of measuring it. It focuses on identifying ways to boost your performance outside working hours.

Certified Data Visualization Professional An exclusive framework that provides insights on effective visual communication, through a rigorous approach to creating visual representations of vast information, techniques of standardization and tailored data visualization tools.

Certified Data Analysis Professional Attendants will understand through practical learning how to effectively collect, analyze and interpret data by enabling managers/ analysts to draw insights from both quantitative and qualitative data, based on historical statistics and trend analysis.

Certified Benchmarking Professional Benchmarking methodological uniqueness is represented by the identification and analysis of the processes that lead to a superior performance of a company, offering the opportunity to compare an organization’s performance against industry competitors.

Certified Supplier Performance Professional Participants’ skills in managing supplier performance and developing a strategic approach to procurement will be developed by enabling the identification of performance gaps and implementing action agreements with suppliers.

Certified Customer Service Performance Professional Participants will not only understand the importance and implementation phases for the Customer Service Excellence standards, but they will be given the necessary tools to implement it internally and measure its impact externally.

Certified Innovation Performance Professional This course provides an interactive practicebased learning environment, focusing on best practices for developing and maintaining an innovation-oriented organizational culture within organizations.

Certified Balanced Scorecard Management System Professional The course focuses on delivering all the information needed to fully comprehend the value of the Balanced Scorecard, as well as on developing the necessary skills for a successful implementation.

To browse through our upcoming training courses visit our online store at: store.kpiinstitute.org/scheduled-courses JULY 2016

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NEWS

NEWS

> Companies that are stepping up their Performance Management These days, performance management is changing incrementally. Companies are redefining how they perceive performance management and the following six companies are ditching annual reviews altogether, replacing them with novel new review methods: 1. General Electric When it comes to GE, the rank-and-yank was replaced with managers having a review meeting with their employees, in order to see how they are faring. The difference between the olden days and today’s method is that regular annual reviews no longer seek to punish, but to train - during each individual review, any under-performing employee will be enrolled in a specialized training course, in order to meet his goals.

Currently, General Electric has also developed an app through which their managers can give their employees regular, daily performance feedback. Both methods have slingshot them ahead of their competitors, as they are ranked the 8th most valuable company in the Fortune 500 list.

2. Cargill Inc. Cargill Inc. had difficulties when it came to encouraging and motivating their workers. As such, they created a strategy called the “Everyday Performance Management” system, which is a way of giving their employees daily feedback through on-thespot conversations. The key to this change is to make sure that managers give constructive and positive feedback in order to keep workers on the right track, instead of simply handing out negative feedback and criticism after a task has went downhill.

3. Eli Lilly Eli Lilly is one of the most well-known pharmaceutical companies in the world, boasting some very progressive HR practices and innovative performance management. They focus on trust, which encourages employees to share their ideas and opinions with their managers. By doing so, it helps strengthen the relationship and teamwork between employees and their respective managers.

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4. Adobe This company’s focus on performance management is quite straightforward: regular, daily feedback. Adobe pursues a system of constant feedback and check-in, which resulted in a 30% reduced voluntary employee turnover. What’s more interesting is that their “involuntary departures” have also increased by 50%, showing that employees already understand that if they are not up to par, they won’t last long. And this is a result of Adobe’s management system, which puts managers and executives through regular, tough discussions with their employees, regarding their struggles to maintain performance levels. This is why we mentioned that aspect of “involuntary departures” – if you, as an employee, know such a meeting will be scheduled for you, it will most likely not be an advantageous one.

5. Accenture Accenture has been changing 90% of its performance management system and replacing it with a more immediate, as-situationsarise-style of performance feedback. Similar with GE’s strategy, Accenture has also developed an internal app to aid employees in receiving immediate feedback about their work.

6. Google Ever since its beginning, Google has been using atypical methods to increase their team’s performance. The unique thing about Google’s strategy is that they use objectives and key results (OKRs), which are replaced every quarter. Once these OKRs are chosen by the CEO, managers coach employees on how to fit and achieve their goals, so that they are in line with the company’s goals and objectives.

These companies bring new light to performance management by breaking boundaries and thinking outside the box. As such, it’s safe to say that in time, any company will eventually find its own method to measure and manage performance, even if it means going where no other company has gone before. Annual reviews or other traditional methods are slowly becoming a thing of the past and rather than relying on a one-size fits all system like that, companies should try to find and focus on what fits them, not what everyone else is doing.

NEWS

> Increase of air pollution in the poorest cities

> Avocados, the new oranges The avocado industry has struck gold as current dietary trends have crowned avocados as the fruit to eat, in order to live a “clean” lifestyle.

Avocado sales have boomed in 2015, overtaking orange sales by more than $12 million, in the UK alone.

New Zealand, which has its own avocado industry, has registered an annual 17% rise in revenue since 2011. “Five years ago the New Zealand market achieved between $15 million and $20 million annually, without ever getting much above that. This year’s return of $41 million is 25 percent above last year’s return of $31.8 million,” said Jen Scoular, Chief Executive of NZ Avocado, for newshub.co.nz.

The rise of the avocado has been attributed to health gurus who are united in boasting the multi-nutritional fruit as your best option for toast spread, salads, mayonnaise replacement and smoothies. Avocados are credited for a broad palette of health benefits, from losing weight to relieving arthritis pains, improving vision and fighting cancer.

> Venezuela’s response to the recession is a two-day working week In attempt to pull the country out the current recession, the Venezuelan working week has been cut to just two day following President’s Nicolas Maduro radical decision taken in April. Currently, Venezuela has been experiencing a serious economic downfall that has been topped by the Zika virus, blackouts and energy shortages.

The World Health Organisation has released new findings which state that 98% of cities encompassing low-to-middle class societies, of over 100.000 people, have not yet met the organisation’s maximum air quality standards. This shocking news reveals that many nations around the world are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease, and a higher occurrence of strokes.

The World Health Organisation also points out the fact that air pollution itself is a major cause of diseases and health-related issues – with 40.000 deaths per year linked to air pollution. Furthermore, ambient air polluters, which have a high concentration of fine particles cause more than 3 million deaths per year.

Given this information, precautionary measures should be undertaken. However, these new precautions come with high costs.

In a joint research done by The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and The Royal College of Physicians, we find that the United Kingdom alone uses more than $28.9 billion per year to try and tackle the situation. Interestingly, the World Health Organisation states that low-to-middle income countries experience quite a high percentage of urban air pollution, while nations with high income have only felt an increase of 8%.

This is an alarming reality that people must face. With governments striving to outdo each other in their pursuit for a cleaner environment, the benefits will follow suit shortly. Their societies will not only be healthy and happy, but the national health costs of handling air pollution-related diseases will decrease. Once that happens, people will be more productive and their life expectancy will increase. This of course helps the country sustain its national income.

In conclusion, although low-to-middle class countries are the ones currently feeling most of the heat of high air pollution levels, it is not just an issue of developing countries, but one that everyone should take a stand on.

Overall, the country’s economy plunged by 5, 7% and estimates for the current year show a further contraction of 8%. So what President Maduro is trying to achieve is to save electricity by restricting all public officers to just 2 working days. However, if public employees, who make around 20% of Venezuela’s workforce, will receive financial compensation for the rest of the week days remains uncertain. In another attempt to combat the heavy recession, President Maduro ordered a blackout schedule that, as of May, will leave the population without electricity for four hours each day.

The initial schedule span throughout the entire month of May but could be prolonged is the El Guri dam, which is the country’s prime source for electricity, doesn’t register any increases in its water levels. Although the president has blamed multiple factors such as the Zika virus, El Nino weather patterns and drought for the current economic recession, experts say that the true blame falls on faulty strategy topped by decades of corrupt activities.

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NEWS

> Elon Musk is on his way to revolutionize space travel After revolutionizing earth-bound transportation means with the most performant electrical car, Elon Musk is now reaching upwards in an attempt to re-shaping space travel while saving millions of dollars at the same time.

This April, Space X successfully managed to launch and then land a rocket onto a floating platform. This operation was a first worldwide.

Usually these rockets, which are currently the only means of launching satellites into orbit, or transporting cargo to the International Space Station, end up becoming ocean junk. Simply put, they’re built for a one time use only.

However, for a non-reusable object, the rockets are incredibly pricey as just one of them costs up to $ 60 million. Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and, as of recently, space entrepreneur, compared this investment to flying a 747 just once and then throwing it away.

And this is why Space X’s reusable rocket is so revolutionary. It would reduce the entire rocket launch cost to $ 200,000 worth of rocket fuel plus additional replacement parts.

The rocket itself displays advanced technological onboard intelligence as, after reaching orbit and separating into 2 parts, the component that is preparing to land back onto Earth has to stir and guide itself by using its engines and an inbuilt GPS system.

First, the engines have to light up and turn the rocket back toward earth.

The same engines ignite to slow its descent into the atmosphere and then its integrated GPS tell the rocket where to land (on an unstable, floating platform in this case).

In addition to this first ever, Musk continues to dream big as he enters the race for Mars colonization.

Previous estimations regarding the start of the red planet colonization program expanded over a time of 18 to 25 years onwards. Elon Musk now says that Space X will launch the Red Dragon spaceship by 2018.

The Dragon spacecraft is already the first unmanned ship to successfully deliver supplies to the International Space Station (no need for rocket this time).

The plan is to transport cargo essential to survival first, map the surroundings, and only then bring the people.

The entire Space X strategy for Mars’ colonization is to be released later this year, in September.

Regardless of whether the Mars colonization program will actually take place, the bottom line is that these are interesting times to be alive and with the technological developments going on, it can only get better.

> New leading edge plan for the energy market Astra Innovations has made new strides in relocating electricity.

Cynthia Wandia, Managing Director of the company’s Düsseldorf branch, in Germany, came up with a different approach in making sure every part of the world has electricity, especially areas such as Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

The idea came about as the extent of power assets in Europe, although invaluable, became quite unprofitable. One of the factors that caused this situation is the financial crisis that happened over five years ago.

This caused a decrease in manufacturing, which ultimately caused a decrease in power demand. This in turn caused electricity stock prices to fall sharply. While managing a power plant was and is still a costly investment, most of the costs involved are around getting the fuel necessary to power up the plants. Moreover, gas, which a percentage of power plants use as fuel, is bought at a fixed price. This made gas fuel power plants unaffordable, as investors had to pay a lot, but did not get much in return.

people from Astra Innovations are constantly trying to find strategic ways in which to use this energy, by relocating plants in areas where they are needed the most. But by relocate, we mean that their power plant model is generally re-applied to different ones around the world, making them more affordable than building a power plant from scratch. By doing so, investors are save time by using already existing power plants.

So far, Astra Innovations have created a stream of about 40 projects, which are capable of delivering an estimated energy value of 3000 megawatts. These projects are developing rapidly, with one pilot project of creating a 35 megawatt power plant in 2016. In perspective, building a new power plant can take more than three years, while these projects can be finished in about nine months. Furthermore, the cost prices of these power plants are quite low, comparatively, as it’s simply about relocating a model from one place to another.

Cynthia Wandia believes Astra Innovations’s best asset is working with Now, there is an abundance of energy, somewhere between 20,000 what they have and not redesigning anything new. By doing so, they are megawatts and 50,000 megawatts, that is stranded, meaning saving time and money, which is something that many countries need to dormant, mothballed and even still working, but at a cost. The start thinking about, in order to make electricity more affordable.

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NEWS

> Brain productivity - what happens when we lose focus Everyone has experienced moments when we lose our focus and suddenly forget what we we’re doing. No matter what we do, be it in our office doing work, in the restaurant having a conversation with friends, or doing chores through the house, distractions are everywhere and our brain reacts quickly to them.

According to new research, distractions make our brains flush out what we were previously thinking of. This reaction is important, as it acts as a trigger for when we are faced with dangerous situations.

However, today, when everyone is concentrated on building a successful career, suffering from frequent focus loss can heavily alter your work, making us less productive.

But don’t fret, there are ways to help us sharpen our brains, in order to be more focused and productive.

1. Practice meditation Meditation trains the brain to stay focused for a longer period of time. By practicing meditation, your brain will let those distractions pass by without reacting to or engaging them. As such, your brain will be more productive when doing work-related tasks.

2. Put your electronical devices in silent mode or shut them down Having a text message or other social media notifications pop up will distract your brain to go back and forth from your office-task to your phone. This will definitely decrease productivity. So, to make sure your brain stays focused, clear out external distractions. by putting your cellphone or other electronical devices in silent mode or simply shutting them down completely.

3. Close your door A.J. Marsden, Assistant Professor of Human Services and Psychology at Beacon College, says that workplace distractions can have a negative impact on your productivity rates, such as increasing the chance of making mistakes by twice the normal amount, doubling your anxiety, and delaying task completion time by up to 27% more of the normal time to complete a task. To avoid this, employees should simply close the door. Another way you can channel out office distractions is to wear headphones, if your workplace allows it.

4. Have several short breaks According to Marsden, performance starts to become lacking after you have worked for about 50 to 60 minutes, and it only goes downhill from that point.

However, you can counteract this by talking short breaks every 40 minutes. In doing so, the brain can maintain its focus without experiencing quality losses.

5. Do not multitask Multitasking decreases the brain’s ability to quickly process tasks and send out messages to other parts of the body. According to Marsden, our brain can store from 5, up to 9 short term memories. In other words, it would be quite difficult to do many different sets of tasks all at once. She also states that multitasking decreases concentration by up to 40%, which in the end influences our work productivity.

6. Delete internal distractions The nagging feeling of having to finish tasks creates distractions for our brain. Therefore, it is suggested to write down a to-do list, highlighting the most important tasks. This allows employees to prioritize and focus on doing one task at a time, according to its importance.

> Goldman Sachs Group trades in old performance appraisal system Goldman Sachs Group will soon be revamping its performance appraisal system, which used to rank their employees on a scale from one to nine.

Some of the bigger changes in their performance appraisal system will be the following:

wanted more continuous and constructive feedback sessions, in order for them to improve their work performance.

GSG follows the trend of many other companies that started Performance appraisal system that is online-based changing their PM systems. From An increase in check-ins, up to 50% Accenture, Deloitte, GE and Giving employees daily feedback on their performance Microsoft, to Adobe, Gap and Medtronic, all of these companies Many of these new strategies were suggested by the workers themselves, want better employee performance as they wanted a new approach to the old performance appraisal system. and highly motivated workers, According to Edith Cooper, the group’s global head of human capital which current appraisal systems management, “they wanted more direction with respect to how they can seem to be lacking to deliver. improve.” An internal survey also revealed the fact that staff members JULY 2016

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NEWS

> Embracing the art of networking In any job position, networking is important, especially if people want to achieve more in their careers. For extroverts who love to socialize, networking is something they can do without a sweat. However, for introverts this can prove to oftentimes be quite the hassle, and in many cases, such individuals would prefer avoiding the activity. Many of those introverts consider the idea of networking to be a fake one and merely an organizational method to gain more customers. Contrary to this, research shows that networking is more than just mingling with others. In a research conducted at the Johnson Cornell University, they found out that in an American law firm, many successful lawyers are dependent on good networks, internal and external alike. This goes hand in hand with the fact that those who dislike networking tend to average out fewer working hours, which result in lesser bonuses.

Therefore, it is important to change the way we feel about networking.

Hence, here are some great tips to begin understanding it: 1. Change your mindset for the better As stated before, many introverts dislike networking because they don’t see the point in it. However, many believe that trying to change your mindset, in order to see the benefits of networking, can bring huge changes for an individual. In the same research we find that many of those workers have either “promotion” or “prevention” mindsets. Some of them have a bit of a “promotion” mindset, because they realize all the positivity they can gain through networking, whereas those who are characterized by fully-blown “prevention” mindsets are gated from their full potential.

2. List Common Connections Once we feel networking to be less of a task and more of a learning experience, we can also be more comfortable in gaining networking by understanding the common similarities and connections we have towards the targeted community. Once you understand these aspects and have shared interests, networking will feel more authentic.

3. Think of all the assets you can offer Many of those unwilling to expand their social networks are oftentimes juniors, who feel like they don’t have much to offer. Although many of them try to focus on their practical and social networking skills, quite a few company leaders find other personal aspects, like gratitude and recognition, to be much more important than the ones previously mentioned.

> The growing trend of companies committing to Social Responsibility A swath of businesses, from start-ups to big enterprises, are investing a lot of money in giving back to society or what is more commonly known as corporate social responsibility or CSR. Startup businesses like Meditek, a company selling medical equipment to hospitals, have started donating their trade-in products to international aid foundations in countries like Haiti and Uganda, while big corporate enterprises, like Microsoft, have teamed up with non-profit organizations, for example NETHope, to develop the IT sector in Kenya. These companies incorporate CSR projects in their business plans, to give back to the community.

However, they don’t just give away money based on sympathy, but rather look for these corporate social responsibility opportunities, based on a strategic plan. Witold Henisz, Wharthon Professor of Management believes these companies are investing in sustainability initiatives for quite a few reasons.

The first reason, Henisz believes, is to win the hearts and minds of those either using their products or being interested in them. This is why many companies give back to stakeholders and the reason we see companies like Coke and Pepsi investing in various healthrelated research endeavors, for example. Odebrecht, a Brazilian conglomerate, is another company that’s heavily focused on investing in CSR projects. The company nearly went bankrupt right after its founding, but this strategy saved it, as its strong connection to suppliers and customers offered the financing it so desperately needed. Odebrecht survived because it had a strong relationship with its stakeholders!

Moreover, if the company organizes a networking event, you must be able to bring out everything you have, in order to maximize your social network. Once you do this and start seeing gains from it, you will learn just how valuable you are to others and vice versa, resulting in a much smaller self-promotion effort when you have to participate in another networking event.

This strategy of winning hearts and minds also points out another reason for engaging in CSR projects - generating business opportunities. Havas, a French multinational advertising and public relations company, has surveyed customers all around the world and found that 53% of them would pay 10% more on premium products if they knew that the company selling those products has invested and is still investing in CSR endeavors. Another research done by Edelman, an American public relations company, stated that 68% of international consumers are more likely to remain loyal to a company if it constantly seeks to create a positive social impact.

4. Search for greater intentions Workers that search for higher goals, when they engage in networkinglike helping out their clients or their company, instead of using networking as a means to merely improve their career, oftentimes feel and come off more authentic. Thus, if you want to truly benefit from networking, try thinking in terms of the greater good – helping others, to ultimately help yourself as well.

However, that doesn’t mean companies should shy away from being profit-oriented, but rather look for solutions that result in a winwin situation. Private organizations are now in the spotlight, and the world is waiting to see what positive improvements they bring, both from a social point of view and a financial one. It’s not so much about “just business”, but more about “let’s see how we can make this work out.”

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EVENTS

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT AND KPIs CONFERENCE OCTOBER 17th - 20th 2016 ∙ DUBAI Improvement is not an option. It is a necessity.

The first Middle East Conference that brings tomorrow’s improvement strategies into today’s business world!

REGISTER NOW!

INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW

The Performance Improvement and KPIs Conference is a unique event organised by The KPI Institute Events, the events division of the organisation with the same name. Designed for professionals interested in better performance outcomes, it is intended as a platform for sharing and discussing the most important trends in performance improvement, KPIs, productivity, quality and innovation.

What draws interest to performance management within the GCC is the successful incorporation of elements specific to this region.

The area is a leader in terms of innovative business solutions, transplanting and executing plans from paper to reality with high levels of efficiency and effectiveness.

The Performance Improvement and KPIs Conference has a unique structure, combining main plenary sessions with 3 track sessions taking place in parallel on day one of the event. For this year the track sessions selected reflect some of the key initiatives in government and industry in the GCC area in 2016: Government Performance, Healthcare Performance and Productivity, Quality and Innovation Performance.

12 JULY 2016

The Performance Improvement and KPIs Conference provides an exclusive agenda supported by acclaimed authorities in the field of Performance Measurement and Management. The entire event is designed to carry vital knowledge to professionals of the 21st century. From Strategy and Key Performance Indicators to Analytics, Modelling, and Big Data, from Productivity and Quality to Innovation and Culture the Performance Improvement and KPIs Conference covers some of the most relevant topics in today’s Performance Management practice.

EVENTS

CONFERENCE PREVIEW

100+ 30+ 40+ PARTICIPANTS

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

PRESENTATIONS

KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES

6+

WORKSHOPS

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS Abdullah Bin Zarah, Chief Executive Officer, Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City, KSA; Abdulaziz Abdulbaqi, Consultant, Quality & Patient Safety, Ministry of Health, KSA; Abdulaziz Saddique, Chief Executive Officer, Qimat Taiba Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Factory, KSA; Adrian Brudan, General Manager EMEA, The KPI Institute, UAE; Aisha Zayed, Director of Strategic Planning, Project Management & Accreditation Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, UAE; Altijani Hussin, Health Economics Consultant, Dubai Health Authority UAE; Aurel Brudan, Chief Executive Officer, The KPI Institute Australia; Cameron Mirza, Head of Strategy and Projects, Higher Education Council, Bahrain; Hassan Al-Asaad, Strategist & Business Development, GCC Interconnectivity Authority (GCCIA), KSA; Hassan Harfouche, Head of Strategy, Aspire Zone Foundation, Qatar; Imran Malik, Senior Director – Managed Services, du, UAE;

Plenary Coordinated approaches for performance improvement across organisations; Connect and align KPIs across departments and employees; Build a performance culture, by engaging staff and management; Drive process and quality performance improvements across departments.

Discover new ways of operating performance management systems.

Government Performance Forum New approaches in managing government strategy and performance; Aligning ministry KPIs to national development strategy; Cascading performance management systems within a government department or agency; Government performance best practices from international context; State of government performance in 2016.

Healthcare Performance Forum Ensuring healthcare system performance by monitoring hospital KPIs; Aligning hospital KPIs to central healthcare performance reporting initiatives; Cascading performance management systems within a hospital; Hospital performance best practices from international context; State of hospital performance in 2016.

Productivity, Quality and Innovation Performance Measuring productivity; Applying excellence models for improved organisational performance; Approaches to improving innovation performance; Managing quality improvement; Best practice in performance excellence.

Khalid Alswat, Vice Dean Quality, King Saud University Medical City, KSA; Kim Warren, CEO, Strategy Writer, Strategy Dynamics Ltd, UK; Marius Boghian, Head of Professional Services Australia, The KPI Institute, Australia; Mihai Toma, Head of Professional Services MENA, The KPI Institute UAE; Mo`Ath Hussein, Chief Support Services Officer, Al Fahim Group, UAE; Mohamed Adawi, Chief Strategy Officer, ADNOC, UAE;

MAXIMIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE Access the latest research from The KPI Institute’s research division; Benchmark with regional leaders and learn best practices on performance improvement and quality excellence; Network and engage with professionals from your field.

Mohamed Moustafa Mahmoud, Senior Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Economy and Planning, KSA; Moshen Ba-Abdullah, Executive Director ICT, King Abdullah Medical City, KSA; Naceur Jabnoun, Senior Consultant, Sheikh Saqr Program for Government Excellence, UAE; Obaida Qatuni, Quality Manager, VPS Healthcare, UAE;

WHAT IS IN THE AGENDA? The agenda features 2 days of workshops and 2 days of presentations on subjects like Monitoring government performance in the UAE, Key lessons from measuring hospital performance in Qatar, The role of Performance Excellence Frameworks in organizational success and Business Intelligence Software as a Performance Improvement enabler.

Puruhutjit Surjit, General Manager, KIMS Group in GCC, Bahrain; Samar Aboulsoud, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners, Qatar; Tawfik Khoja, Director General Executive Board, Health Ministers Council for Cooperation Council, KSA; Teodora Gorski, Managing Director MENA, The KPI Institute, UAE.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION & FEES You can express your interest for the Performance Improvement & KPIs Conference by calling our contact person, Teodora Gorski, Managing Director MENA, at +971 4 311 6556, or by sending an email to Diana Zarnescu, the event coordinator, at diana.zarnescu@kpiinstitute.com.

JULY 2016 13

COVER EVENTS STORY

IN DATA WE TRUST OPTIMIZING REPORTING THROUGH KPIS CRISTINA TARÂTA CEO Agenda Insights research study T heperformed

by Gartner, in 2015, indicated

that IT investments have increased since last year and 50% of them are now dedicated to business intelligence analytics tools. These statistics reveal an increased interest in terms of collecting and processing big data volumes.

The age of “big data” has come, and most companies are shifting from “intuitive management” towards decision-making based on data. Nowadays, it has become quite popular to find a number that will justify your strategy. Looking from afar, this seems to be a management best practice, but if we take a closer look, the age of big data does not have a pretty face just yet.

In practice, many organizations are facing challenges like: Too much data, losing sight of what is important; Lack of expertise to process data, to provide visibility and clarity; Lack of expertise in terms of understanding the true meaning of data; 14 JULY 2016

Data gaming; Too much focus on past performance.

Too much data There is a common expression used to express the inability to handle large volumes of information, and most managers are familiar with the saying: “drowning in data”.

One problem is related with having the right technology to collect and work with data efficiently, and another one is about strategy.

Just because we have the infrastructure to measure everything, it does not mean we should actually do so. Having in mind a wellarticulated strategy will enable management to identify what kind of information is essential for decision making, and focus on providing the data that makes a difference.

Lack of expertise to process data Working with numbers is not a job for everyone and, like in any other field of expertise, organizations need subject matter experts such as data analysts, or statisticians, to provide quality data. Key quality dimensions of data are related to accuracy, timeliness, completeness and consistency. However, these

type of specialists may be difficult to recruit and will incur a supplementary cost for the organization.

Lack of expertise in terms of understanding the true meaning of data We can agree that numbers have the ability to reflect an objective reality of our business, but the way we choose to interpret and use those figures can vary widely from one manager to another. In some cases, managers may not have the ability to truly see the picture shaped by the performance report or the skills to ask the right questions, to verify what lies beyond the numbers, in order to get a true understanding of what is happening.

It is a dangerous trap not to question the underlying assumptions based on which data was generated, just because data was produced by the latest analytics model does not mean it is unquestionable.

Data gaming Taking advantage of the lack of expertise, such as the one mentioned above, makes it very easy for people to manipulate data.

Employees have no interest in presenting data that is not working in their interest, therefore

COVER STORY

it is important to ensure the reporting process takes place in accordance to a framework that has the ability to diminish data gaming risks.

Managers can choose what and how to report to serve their interests, but the person in charge with decision making should have the ability to know what to look for in data.

Too much focus on past performance Reporting is retrospective and many performance review meetings have become an opportunity for managers to present the data they need to justify their actions. There should be more interest towards moving forward, towards planning next steps and identifying key areas of action that will ensure the progress of the organization.

Managing data in a manner that benefits the organization is possible, despite all challenges but it needs to rely on a well-functional system and it has to be connected to value drivers, to strategy. To avoid drowning in data, the strategy should be able to define what is important for the organization through clearly articulated goals and objectives. To ensure that objectives are reached, the company should identify several KPIs for each objective.

Besides reporting a hand of 30-50 KPIs that a corporate scorecard may have, other important metrics for the business can be monitored. These usually refer to tracking key processes necessary for objective fulfillment.

By providing clarity through a scorecard and a dashboard, top management knows what figures are needed to take decisions, and it also makes it easier for them to verify the reliability of the data, to ensure a proper KPI measurement and reporting process.

It is not enough to develop a performance management system within the company, but it is also essential to develop the organizational capability to work with data.

Key stakeholders need to be trained into how to collect data, how to report, analyze and take decisions based on information provided by performance reports.

By bringing together 3 components performance management system, the right technology and organizational capability, you can transform the organization from being blinded by a data mirage, to generating true value from working with data.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

+ TECHNOLOGY

+ ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES

= TRUE DATA VALUE JULY 2016 15

INTERVIEWS

EVENTS INTERVIEWS

Chua E Long Senior Vice President/Head of Transformation, Strategy & Transformation, AXA, Malaysia

Organizational Development and Learning Leader, Honeywell, Malaysia

The guiding principle of performance management is not to punish the weak, but to allow everyone to perform at their very best.

As every individual is unique and has distinct strengths, we need to see how we can tailor the system to successfully manage and integrate all of them.

Dermawan Wibisono

Zaid Al Huneidi

Senior Lecturer, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia

Market Research Manager, Kuwait Finance House, Kuwait

Today’s PM experts should focus around a more holistic approach, which is supported by software and easily adapted to fit any scenario.

The biggest challenge for PM is to accurately measure performance and link all objectives to small sets of KPIs.

Matthew Goodwin

Zainab Mohammed

Principal Manager, Performance and Operational Support, West Sussex County Council, United Kingdom People can be phenomenal statisticians and analysts when it comes to sports; that nous could be turned onto public services and open data.

16 JULY 2016

Somita Raj

CEO Property Management & Marketing, wasl, United Arab Emirates For many practitioners, understanding their own business and its critical success factors are limiting factors, in my opinion.

INTERVIEWS

We must recognize that the guiding principle of performance management is not to punish the weak or non-performers, but to allow everyone to perform at their very best.

Chua E Long Senior Vice President / Head of Transformation, Strategy & Transformation, AXA, Malaysia In 2016, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Chua E Long, Senior Vice President/Head of Transformation, Strategy & Transformation at AXA, Malaysia. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.

Which were the 2015 key trends in Performance Management, from your point of view?

Companies are excited by the prospects of switching from yearly performance management reviews to ad-hoc or “daily” models, where input on performance is given “on-the-spot” or rather, based on the progress of work being done by the employee. However, as the trend is still new and needs to prove itself, many companies adopt the wait-and-see approach, partly unsure if this will be a successful model in practice, and largely because no organization has the experience of carrying out the envisioned changes at the early stages of this performance management model evolution. Many companies do not want to be at the forefront of change, for fear of rocking the boat and being eventually held responsible for negative repercussions.

What are your thoughts on the integration of Performance Management at the organizational, departmental and employee level?

Performance management practices should be fully integrated at the organizational, departmental and employee level, to ensure everyone within the same organization is working towards a common objective for the defined period. But obviously, each department or employee has a distinguished day-to-day function and role, thus the objective should stay the same but the means

of materializing the common objective would then be practiced differently. One possibility would be the approach of using the 80-20 or even 50-50 rule, where a department fully adopts an agreed fraction of the top down objective, and then strives to customize the rest of it to suit the practicalities of the department itself; this is then replicated across employees working within each department.

Which will be the major changes in managing performance, in the future?

While many organizations try to quantify performance management systems as much as possible to make it “as objective as possible” vs. measuring it based on the number of beers you had with your appraisers, I believe the future trend is moving towards the opposite direction. This is where EQ (Emotional Quotient) is more appreciated over IQ (Intelligence Quotient).

To be truly successful at what you do, and therefore directly impacting the results of your business and the organization that you work for, having pure IQ is no longer a guaranteed shot for success, unless you work in niche and complex industries like space travel & genetic cloning.

For the rest of us, being able to carry an idea, earn the trust of stakeholders and obtain funding would be key; many great ideas for the industry, or even mankind for that manner, have never seen the light of day just because they were not properly presented and understood. Hence, in the future, successful performance management systems are those that measure the qualitative parts of a success story that contributes to mankind’s development, with the likes of how a service or product benefited the people who use it. For now, we’re stuck with the number of

smart phones sales figures for a particular month or year.

What aspects of Performance Management should be explored more through research?

Research on performance management should largely focus on the non-monetary motivators for outstanding performers. Though financial gains are most commonly recognized as the “hygiene factor” that drives performance, it is not necessarily so with many great performers out there in the market. These are people that see beyond the given “if I work I will get paid anyway”, and strive for that extra reason that makes them want to wake up in the morning and get to work. It is mimicking the spirit of an entrepreneur that works for no one but himself or herself, and finding a way to replicate similar passions within the rest of the workforce, which works for both conglomerates or rather simply someone else.

In the end, we must recognize that the guiding principle of performance management is not to punish the weak or non-performers, but to allow everyone to perform at their very best and then reward them accordingly, hence building a professional ecosystem where we are encouraged to pat everyone on their backs vs. hoping that they will fail in order to make ourselves look good.

Which organizations would you recommend to be looked at, due to their particular approach to managing performance, and their subsequent results?

Maybe I will name one or two in the future, but so far I’ve not come across an organization where I could openly promote their performance management practice. I’ve seen and heard of organizations where performances were predetermined based on your relationship with your manager - who by the way asks JULY 2016

17

INTERVIEWS

Performance should be results-oriented, and not based on inside or outside parameters or the standard 8-hour work day.

questions like “what car do you drive?” during an interview; those where the ratings were pre-determined top down and performance management as an exercise is reduced to just a mere discussion to justify the given rating; to those where tens of thousands of productive hours were spent filling up fields after fields and pages after pages, in an online performance management tool, only to be ignored during the face-to-face discussion session.

At the core of things, employees who fared well during a particular year will hail the performance management system, while the same employee who did badly the following year would accuse the very same system of tyranny and injustice. Hence unfortunately, many companies are still experimenting with new performance management systems and none of them have emerged as the “champion” of performance management. I sincerely hope for the day where a company would be able to boast of its performance management system and be widely recognized as such by other leading players in the market.

What Performance Management question would you like to ask researchers?

“Should we not be trying to find ways to simplify performance management vs. complicating it further?”

Efforts should revolve around simplification, and not making a science or even art out of performance management systems.

Researchers who are able to propose an accurate, yet not so time-consuming performance management model would change the performance management landscape for the better, as less time is spent talking about what was being done last year vs. the continued focus to do well this year and beyond. In the end, we are all harnessing 18 JULY 2016

the limited 24-hour time resource that each of us have, and the choice to spend the hours productively vs. harping on something in the past would logically boost the productivity curve in one way or another.

Which are the main challenges of Performance Management in practice, today?

Most performance management systems that I’ve seen today have been a waste of time, especially companies practicing forced bell-curve systems, where you may end up picking the best amongst the worst and over recognizing him or her from a financial or egotistic perspective, or risk the attrition of really good people by picking the worst amongst the best and demotivating the individual by telling him or her, “it’s just how the system works”. Smart people do not believe in this type of management lie or fallacy, and they eventually leave to contribute to the success of your closest competitor.

There are also performance systems where your fate (and bonus for that matter) is represented by how capable your boss is in arguing a performance case for you. Should you be represented by a really good salesperson who could sell refrigerators to Eskimos, you’re all set to buy that new sports car next year. On the contrary, if your direct manager is a really smart triple engineering PhD holder with a penchant to write Big Bang theories somehow proven true, but not able to articulate your performance well, you better start cutting out and saving those discount coupons from the local prints. This in essence is a very hit or miss type of situation, which puts one’s fate in the hands of randomness and that is never a positive thing.

What should be improved in the use of Performance Management tools and processes?

For starters, there should be an online performance management tool that managers and employees alike could log in, using an existing single sign-in password.

The tool should be light-weight - so that it is financially viable to implement and maintain, intuitive - nobody ever taught you how to navigate around your e-mail interface, and responsive - quick loading times, features to notify the next person on his or her action.

If it is a module as part of the entire Human Resource management system that manages employee benefits, training and talent acquisition, then all the better.

The process must be flexible enough to allow alterations and exceptions; some companies practices quarterly reviews, which may only be applicable to certain departments, for example, sales which warrant a monthly or weekly review, or it could be covered in separate meetings altogether anyways. But coming back to my previous point, these periodic reviews become almost useless when the yearly performance review is the dominant determinant of the entire year’s results. How I see it, it’s pointless to be told that you are an outstanding performer midyear, when you end up being an average performer at the end of the year, which then in turn determines your bonus.

As such, maybe bonuses should then be distributed per performance evaluation cycles. And yes, I have come across companies that pay quarterly vs. annual bonuses, which in my opinion is a rather good rudimentary strategy to keep good people from leaving; unfortunately, that keeps under performers from leaving as well.

What would you consider as a best practice in Performance Management?

At the end of the day, a “best practice” is best determined by the employees themselves.

Conducting an employee survey and asking them the ultimate question of “would

INTERVIEWS

Everyone is different and it is fatalistic to try to categorize and group people into a few distinct themes or quadrants.

you recommend the company’s current performance management system to anyone?” would determine what works and what didn’t. Practically, the survey would not strive for a 100% positive response rate, but any scores above 80% would sufficiently address the practicality and continued usage of the performance management “best practice” within a company’s culture.

The questionnaire should never really ask the question of “do you think you are being paid fairly in this organization?”, as most respondents, imbued with human nature, are more likely to believe that they are underpaid anyways; hence, it would not be a reflective measure of the performance management system.

Which aspects of Performance Management should be emphasized during educational programs?

How to “beat” the system, ethically and legally. Performance management is a very dry subject to start off with, and it’s not hard to empathize with employees that just want to get it over with, at the end of the year. That is due to the common belief that they are not in control of the results, and sometimes it’s not their fault, as the performance management system was designed in such a manner. To approach the subject from an unconventional perspective, like how to “beat” it, should draw the necessary attention towards practice performance; the do’s and don’ts, the envisioned effort, the raised expectations, the teamwork - allowing employees to devise a planned approach towards obtaining positive results at the end of the performance management cycle.

What are the limits that prevent practitioners from achieving higher levels of proficiency in Performance Management?

That everyone is different and it is fatalistic to try to categorize and group people into a few distinct themes or quadrants. Behavioral modeling always remains a model, and never quite addresses the fact that individuals are all unique. Once we categorize our workforce like blood groups, we fail the very basic need to treat each of our fellow human being respectfully and appreciate their individuality.

which coincidentally would contribute to their work the very next day, but we must leave this choice solely to the employees themselves and yet again, measure their performance based on their results and not the total number of hours clocked. So instead of even glorifying it with the word “trend”, I would call it a lack of sensitivity for life itself, and respectfully encourage people whom strongly feel otherwise to “get a life”.

Also, performance management is a system, and the various interpretations of the system itself, by fellow practitioners result in the same system being implemented differently, thus shaping the mixed experience of those in the system. To have a human resources officer that “follows the book” and exercises no flexibility would equate to upfront failure being imposed onto the system itself.

Practitioners need to be selected, trained and retrained in a continuous cycle, to keep up with the evolving needs of their fellow employees, the company and the industry as a whole.

What personal performance measurement tools do you use?

I do not impose a personal performance tool upon myself; I’m leaning towards a more fulfilling qualitative life vs. a quantitative life, where I try to measure how much money I make per hour, what is my productivity rate, and how fast I can complete an everyday task before I move on to the next one. If there is one “tool” ever, it would be how many hours of sleep do I get every night.

What is your opinion on the emerging trend of measuring performance outside working hours?

It’s pure foolishness to be thinking of categorizing performance during and outside of working hours in the first place.

Performance should be results-oriented, and not based on inside or outside parameters or the standard 8-hour work day. An employee could be spending 14 hours in the office, 2 of which are spent surfing social media sites, another 2 exchanging gossip and stories unrelated to work, another 1 for a total of 4 smoking breaks, and so on.

It is always a choice for employees to spend their evenings singing karaoke or reading an article from the Harvard Business Review,

Which were the recent achievements in generating value from performance management, in your organization?

Our company performs a yearly employee survey to determine areas where we excel as a company and also to seriously look into those where we were told improvements were necessary. In general, our last year’s results were above the market, and that itself is a positive indicator that the company is on the right track to building a symbiotic 2-way relationship with its employees.

The results of the survey were kept anonymous at the individual level, but granular enough to the departmental level, so as to enable each manager to look into how they could address the employees’ minor concerns upfront before they fester into major dissatisfactions over time.

JULY 2016 19

INTERVIEWS

A holistic approach must be the main goal for today’s PM experts, one that is supported by software and is easily adapted to daily managerial tasks.

Dermawan Wibisono Business Improvement Manager, Senior lecturer, Institut Teknologi Bandung - Indonesia, In 2016, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Dermawan Wibisono, Senior Lecturer at the Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.

Which were the 2015 key trends in Performance Management, from your point of view?

After the Balanced Scorecard has flourished in 2000 and Prof. Kaplan retired, there isn’t any other surefire, popular approach to be implemented in many organizations. As such, I have come up with my own framework, aimed especially at Indonesian organizations, namely Knowledge-Based Performance Management Systems, which have different perspectives and offer guidance in choosing indicators, as well as being supported by software. As of right now, some of them are still in an implementation phase, according to each context. This is because many companies in Indonesia still do not understand its mechanism properly and some of them implemented it separately, for their daily practices.

What are your thoughts on the integration of Performance Management at organizational, departmental and employee level?

This is the most difficult task in practice.

There is a lot of data, but some of it is collected without looking at such kind of links between different levels of management. As such, some companies, e.g. Telkom Indonesia and Pertamina have designed their performance systems to suit at least their departmental level.

Still, there are gaps between the departmental and employee level.

20 JULY 2016

Which will be the major changes in managing performance, in the future?

Although many research endeavors have studied the vertical links between the corporatedepartment-shop floor level, there are also many links between the indicators used to measure their performance. This part has not been explored thoroughly and as such, we do not have much research on this topic. I think that in the future, the Analytic Network Process (ANP) that explores any link between indicators used for the same perspective, would become the main concern for many researchers and be a point of interest for many companies.

The ANP would also need to be supported by software and with this in mind, it would make it attractive for organizations working in what I call the macro area, which are governmental agencies.

What aspects of Performance Management should be explored more through research?

The link between vertical and horizontal indicators would be a nice topic of research, in my opinion.

Which organizations would you recommend to be looked at, due to their particular approach to managing performance, and their subsequent results?

At the macro level, any sector can prove insightful, from government agencies and NGOs, to state-owned and private-owned companies in the Health Care, Financial, Manufacturing or Education industry.

What Performance Management question would you like to have answered by researchers?

Is there any research on Performance Management Systems that strongly analyzes all topics of interest within this subject: which indicators are more valuable, what links are

more significant, are there any benchmarking thresholds or standards for performance?

Which are main challenges of Performance Management in practice, today?

Knowledge, especially related to the inner workings of Performance Management Systems, is still quite lacking. Most practitioners always have different opinions about performance management and performance appraisal. Even academics do not share the same opinion about performance management systems. Some sort of unity should be found.

What should be improved in the use of Performance Management tools and processes?

A holistic approach must be the main goal for today’s PM experts, one that is supported by software and is easily adapted to daily managerial tasks. A system that is built around experts, aided by AIs, which would help many organizations streamline their day-today activities and also support leaders in any decision-making processes.

What would you consider as a best practice in Performance Management?

One of the best practices I see today originates from the USA. Multiple American companies have implemented a BSC that is supported by various software tools. Now, even some of these do not feature a full mapping of the links between vertical and horizontal indicators, but it’s a very good practice nonetheless. Here in Indonesia, very few companies try such an approach, as they see these tools as still being quite new and requiring further testing.

Which aspects of Performance Management should be emphasized during educational programs?

We have to introduce many new approaches and methods in performance management

INTERVIEWS

There should be a stronger focus on good data, as opposed to presentation and management of the message.

education, including things like the Balanced Scorecard, the Performance Prism, the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award, the KnowledgeBased Performance Management System, the Six-Sigma approach, and also strengthen the student’s understanding of these approaches with statistical operations like regression analysis, correlation analysis, Analytic Hierarchy Processes, Analytic Network Processes and Benchmarking methodologies.

Which limits need to be surpassed in order to achieve higher levels of proficiency in Performance Management, among practitioners?

Many practitioners oftentimes are limited by their own understanding of what Performance Management is and what it is good for. In Indonesia, from what I know, only ITB has been offering correctly designed Performance Management package services. Many other providers only know about the Balanced Scorecard and that’s it.

What is your opinion on the emerging trend of measuring performance outside working hours?

I don’t really know what to say about this, as I haven’t heard much about this topic.

What personal performance measurement tools do you use?

The Knowledge-based Performance Management Systems, the BSC, the Prism, the Malcolm Baldrige, the Six Sigma approach.

We are developing a database of subjects/ degrees in Performance Management. What are your suggestions relevant to the database (i.e. subjects/degrees such as the Masters in Managing Organizational Performance)?

You should look for something like a Master’s in Corporate Management Systems, focused on the following subjects:

The Balanced Scorecard The Performance Prism The Knowledge-Based Performance Management Systems The Six-Sigma Scorecard Regression analysis Correlation analysis Analytical Hierarchy Process Analytical Network Processes Expert systems Benchmarking

Matthew Goodwin Principal Manager, Performance and Operational Support West Sussex, County Council In 2016, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Matthew Goodwin, Principal Manager, Performance and Operational Support at the West Sussex County Council, United Kingdom.

His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.

Which were the 2015 key trends in Performance Management, from your point of view?

There are various trends. Firstly, within the public sector, there has been an increasingly stronger focus on measurable outcomes, ideally over longer time frames. These outcomes are intended to demonstrate the impact of outputs on the broader population or whole systems.

The challenge here, though, is to show how an output directly impacts on the outcome being tracked. That linkage is often hard to demonstrate, which can impede meaningful and practical performance discussions.

Another trend which continues apace is the focus on transparency and open data. This is not a new area, but is one that is being broadened,

for example, into the performance reporting which is traditionally the reserve of internal discussions. This means the challenges faced by an organization are made very public, but it is a clear conduit for direct accountability with the people the organization serves. It does, however, place a stronger emphasis on accuracy and providing clear, timely explanations of what is happening, in terms that customers understand.

The final trend I will mention is the idea of interorganizational performance frameworks. Again, these are not new. In the United Kingdom, partners across sectors have often developed common plans, which need to be accounted for. However, it is a strengthening trend, driven by areas where many organizations contribute to a single customer pathway. It is also driving increasing focus on methods for integrating information drawn from several sources, to create one performance picture. This includes the concept of different organizations using common references for customers, for example.

What are your thoughts on the integration of Performance Management at organizational, departmental and employee level?

This is considered the zenith of effective planning and performance management. Use of the term ‘golden thread’, with its connotations of a line of sight from corporate goals, through business plans and all the way down to personal objectives, is common place. The determination to deliver this ‘golden thread’ remains strong. However, it continues to be highly problematic. Public sector organizations often have a breadth of duties, many statutory, which will go beyond key change goals or priorities; you cannot make everything a priority and not everyone can be working on a priority. There are also support services, whose ‘business as usual’ are vital, but whose contribution to the wider strategy of an organization are hard to articulate clearly and simply.

JULY 2016 21

INTERVIEWS

I have noticed that people can be phenomenal statisticians and analysts when it comes to sports; that nous could be turned onto public services and open data.

Even with a direct line of sight, between a department or team’s work, what they do tangibly affects outcomes, which can be hard to identify, certainly in a causal way. Often they are one part of a picture, and will succeed or fail as a consequence of others. If a department does what it is targeted to do, but the outcome is not achieved, and no-one is sure why, how is that treated? Not an easy question to answer!

This becomes more apparent when trying to tie individual actions to organizational outcomes.

If it is problematic to clearly link department outputs to outcomes, then what chance do individuals have? Instead, what happens is that you will establish a notional link, where the link between personal action and the impact on the outcome is stated as existing, but could never feasibly be evidenced. .Which will be the major changes in managing performance, in the future?

The major changes I expect will build on the elements mentioned previously. There will be an increasing need for, and use of, systems and technology which allow the integration of data from multiple sources and applications, and which support holistic analysis, a common picture of performance at a geographic or whole system level. This will see common references for customers and services, across multiple organizations, and, increasingly more common terminology and definitions. Often the hardest thing is to be clear about what is being measured in performance terms, and to define the specifics of that measurement. Increasingly that will need to be standardized and will come predefined.

The increasing use of open data and transparent performance reporting will drive what I will term as an informed transparency. There will continue to be growth in parties who complete and promote analysis of public data beyond an immediate hunt for potential wrong doing (interest groups) and I 22 JULY 2016

would expect the public themselves will become more savvy. Furthermore, with the growth in social media, they will start to share those observations and perhaps start to collaborate on more complex pictures, in a way more common to the academic world, think tanks or interest group analysts. I have noted that people can be phenomenal statisticians and analysts when it comes to sports; that nous could be turned onto public services and open data one day!

What aspects of Performance Management should be explored more through research?

There are several which I feel would be explored further (with due apologies to any who have thoroughly explored these areas). One is to examine the true public appetite for open data and transparent reporting. This should consider what they are genuinely interested in, how they want to be engaged and what steps might be taken to promote their engagement. I see some valuable experimentation in the field of engaging public with data, but not much indication or evidence on what the public appetite or interest is.

Another area would be to consider what would truly drive an interest amongst public sector staff and the data they help collate. Everywhere I have worked, data entered by front line staff has been vital to completing a valid and informative performance picture. Yet is has never been clear to either them or me how this can be truly beneficial to them. There exists a gap between the reality they face on the job, the systems they use and data they must enter, and the final use of that in planning and performance management at a strategic level. It would be good to showcase and present examples of good practice, where that has been delivered most effectively.

Which organizations would you recommend to be looked at, due to their particular approach to managing performance, and

their subsequent results?

Within the public sector, I would recommend an examination of the performance reports and arrangements relevant to Acute Trusts with the National Health Service in England. This is because I feel it represents what can be both good and more problematic about performance.

On the plus side, you will find via a simple web search, a full run down of the extensive data sets and associated analysis used by Acute Trusts, and via the reports and minutes of meetings, made openly available, what they do with them. You will see data covering a range of operational, clinical, financial and governance areas, often down to quite a granular level. There are masses of data and it receives a prominent focus, often from the Board to the hospital ward. In the best organizations, this drives excellence throughout, in a transparent and demonstrable way. And in the worst, it is possible to see the germs of things they should be acting on, but perhaps aren’t.

On the other side, it could be possible to opine that there is too much information, and it is difficult to discern what the key actions and the key management headaches might be.

At a more strategic level, you can also see declining performance, which happens when key stakeholders either ask for too much to be prioritized, or change the focus away from something which is still diligently measured. As I said, worth a look; I will leave people to draw the lessons they want.

What Performance Management question would you like to have answered by researchers?

Where have there been particularly good instances of openness and transparency, which have fostered true public engagement, with a public sector organization?

Which are main challenges of Performance Management in practice, today?

INTERVIEWS

I would like to see more design models that focus on the end result, with regards to systems, IT implementations and process re-design.

There are many challenges for performance management in practice, which, whilst apparent in the public sector, may also affect the private sector. These include: Sourcing good data: Typically, this requires information to be entered into a variety of applications, by professionals and administrators with a large number of competing priorities and pressure. Often, the systems they use are complex and not intuitive. As such, it would be fair to say there can be issues with the timeliness, quality and completeness of data. This is something that requires active focus, to make it easier for staff to ensure they have the time and training to follow up where data entry is lacking. Otherwise, we lack the raw material needed to report on and effectively manage performance.

The pace of change: It is a well understood maxim that change is constant, and a currently reality that the pace of change is high. This makes performance recording, reporting and management that much more challenging. If processes keep changing, how do you establish any trends, track records or comparisons? If users are supposed to enter data to use, how do they keep up with ever evolving requirements? If your data is system generated, how does it work if system parameters keep being altered? If you want to measure outcomes, but have changed what underpins those outcomes many times, how do you discern the decisive factors? I pose these as questions as I do not have the answers. However, it is something that needs to be considered.

Crossing organizational boundaries: It used to be that you might have to worry about organizational silos when managing performance. Now you will be dealing with different organizations entirely.

That can lead to variability in systems, processes, definitions, cultures, feedback and response mechanisms, amongst a raft of factors. This

creates complexity in obtaining data, translating it into meaningful performance information and seeking a response to what it is telling you.

What should be improved in the use of Performance Management tools and processes?

There are several areas, as a practitioner, where improvements could be considered: Firstly, there should be a stronger focus on good data, as opposed to presentation and management of the message. The latter elements are vital but can be where discussions begin.

Instead, sourcing and validating good raw material needs to be given prominence. This brings in my point about engaging front line people who may provide that data.

Secondly, and linked to the above, there needs to be more design with the end in mind, with regards to systems, IT implementations and process re-design. Organizations will always want information on how processes and services are performing. As such, this should never be an afterthought. Instead, it should be a key factor in any process re-design or system development exercise. Making it easy for users to enter data into systems is also pivotal. It needs to be in there to get it out!

And, finally, I want to mention the ‘less is more’ convention. It can often be the case that performance data leads to a request for more performance data. Or alternatively, people start out with a concept that we should capture and measure as much as possible, with no discernible idea as to who will read, analyze and actually use what is provided. From my perspective (and I am prepared to be alone on this), there needs to be more focus on the most fundamental measures of performance, and on acting, when it is clear action is necessary on the spot.

What would you consider as a best practice in Performance Management?

Some of the traditional concepts remain the best.

I would love to see the concepts of strategy maps and Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan and Norton) applied more rigorously and appropriately where it is attempted. This should include a proper consideration of the “bottom line” and outcomes, and the specific measurable drivers for these, working through all the necessary bases. The idea of considering all dimensions and focusing on what supports effective delivery remains the essence of good performance management.

Which aspects of Performance Management should be emphasized during educational programs?

Overall, I would suggest the human factor.

Performance management often focuses on process, systems, presentation and analysis. It therefore can come across as bit of a technical discipline, certainly from my experience.

However, the human factor is important in many ways, in terms of: Who provides information, whether people entering data onto a system, people using a system that generates data automatically or people interacting with an organization in a way that affects performance.

Whose behavior drives performance, specifically the people delivering a service or process, the people designing it, the people managing it, and the people using it. People also bring an added dimension which will defy a strictly logical or technical perspective.

Whose behavior you need to affect, to improve performance for the above-mentioned reasons.

Who is ultimately interested in how a process or service performs (that is, stakeholders) and JULY 2016 23

INTERVIEWS

The idea of considering all dimensions and focusing on what supports effective delivery remains the essence of good performance management.

how they take in and perceive what is being presented.

There is obviously a lot of material, academic and practice-based, about motivation and what drives people. However, I feel there should be greater emphasis on the part where performance reporting and management interfaces with the human condition.

Which limits need to be surpassed in order to achieve higher levels of proficiency in Performance Management, among practitioners?

The limits which need to be surpassed include: Crossing organizational boundaries, to allow joined up performance regimes. These need to settle on common definitions, a shared language and joined up perceptions and judgements on what is important and what the data is saying. And certainly within the UK, governance needs to be reviewed to support this.

Integrating data from different systems. This is related to the aforementioned and parallels it in requiring common definitions and data dictionaries, facilities to secure and easily share data and common frames for analysis. Shared capabilities for system development need to be considered.

On a more human level: A fear of what I will term as ‘beta’ performance material. In my experience, performance material gets better with use and benefits from feedback gathered from ‘field’ testing.

However, what I have seen is a frequent desire to check and challenge data, refine presentations or re-work material. This can lead to a failure to launch and to the mistaken view that good performance information is 24 JULY 2016

a substitute for effective action. Performance information is all about delivery and it needs to be in play to be of use!

What is your opinion on the emerging trend of measuring performance outside working hours?

I have not personally encountered that one!

From my perspective, it has a place, if used ethically and openly, and in consideration of things like work-life balance or maintaining the well-being and sustainability of the workforce.

No discretionary effort should be a given and the impact of measuring this performance could well be a decline in performance. It is the difference between doing something because you enjoy it and are motivated, and being made to feel as though you are on the clock, even when you are not meant to be.

It would be brilliant to see greater emphasis on the part where performance reporting and management interfaces with the human condition.

What personal performance measurement tools do you use?

If by that, it means my own performance, I only use minor manual tools. These include the usual ‘To Do’, task lists and tracking

against action plans. Typically, this will involve office IT suites, though paper is frequently involved. More sophisticated elements are saved for team and department level operations.

In terms of managing work, philosophically and practically when I can, I remain a fan of ideas espoused by David Allen, in ‘Getting it Done’ (2001). People have so much to deal with as individuals; it is vital to keep it under control, both mentally, online, and in the physical world.

Which were the recent achievements in generating value from performance management in your organization?

Performance management has added value in our organization in many ways, which include the following: Promoting accountability, transparency and engagement with our customers, via a regularly updated public facing performance dashboard, covering key corporate goals.

Providing vital operational information to managers, so that they can service customers better and resolve issues. Our organization provides vital services to thousands of people, every single day, so the effective management of performance is critical.

Supporting the analysis of wicked problems.

Public services work in a very complicated arena, so the use of performance material to understand problems and support solution generation is very important.

Understanding the benefits and progress of key change initiatives.

All of these have featured over the course of 2015.

INTERVIEWS

There should be a stronger focus on good data, as opposed to presentation and management of the message.

Somita Raj Organizational Development and Learning Leader – ASEAN, Honeywell In 2016, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Somita Raj, Organizational Development and Learning Leader at Honeywell, Malaysia. Her thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.

Which were the 2015 key trends in Performance Management, from your point of view?

First, I feel that adopting the proactive approach to drive performance rather than relying on performance indicators to guide individuals on what needs to be achieved or delivered, was a pretty major trend. Then, a sort of more immediate and constant feedback to an individual’s performance as and when the need arises rather than waiting for the mandatory mid-year or year-end cycle to provide feedback has emerged and is taking roots in many organizations. Lastly, coaching for performance and success – much related to a proactive approach to drive and manage performance has started to become more widespread.

What are your thoughts on the integration of Performance Management at organizational, departmental and employee level?

It is highly relevant as this allows for alignment from top level, all the way to the bottom and reduces the chances of objectives and goals getting disconnected, resulting in nonachievement of objectives and goals.

Moreover, it enables objectives and goals to be cascaded to departments and employees in a way that is meaningful, in order for it to be acted upon and delivered again, resulting in the organization achieving its objectives and goals.

Which will be the major changes in managing performance, in the future?

More intensity on managing performance on a real-time basis and not just as a mid-year and year-end process – this could include monthly feedback and coaching sessions, one-on-one with superiors as and when the need arises.

What aspects of Performance Management should be explored more through research?

How can organizations move away from conventional KPI’s as a measure of performance, to a more robust performance measurement approach that looks at each individual’s unique strengths and contribution, when measuring individual performance. In addition to this, I would like to find out how adopting a proactive approach to managing responsibilities and driving results vs a pre-set KPI to ensure responsibilities are carried out and drive results, would play out.

Which organizations would you recommend to be looked at, due to their particular approach to managing performance, and their subsequent results?

Accenture – moving away from Performance Management and adopting the proactive approach to managing self-performance.

What Performance Management question would you like to have answered by researchers?

Again, how can we move away from current, existing, conventional KPIs as units of measurement for performance, to a more robust measurement approach, which takes into consideration every individual’s strengths and weaknesses.

Which are main challenges of Performance Management in practice, today?

Every individual is unique and has distinct strengths, so how can we ensure that the system

is customized to cater to each individual would be the first one. Then, another one would be between the emerging millennials in the workforce and their approach to work, where the need to have immediate feedback and robust performance management vs. the older generations that are used to conventional performance management approaches. Therefore, in order to manage differences, I believe a balanced approach, which caters to different generations in the workforce and moves away from a one-size-fits-all approach is the recommended method.

What should be improved in the use of Performance Management tools and processes?

To ensure more real-time data gathering tools/systems and that structured processes/ mechanisms are put in place, to gather feedback, in order to drive performance and performancefocused dialogue.

What would you consider as a best practice in Performance Management?

When the system is driving the right behaviors among employees, whilst still achieving results and meeting objectives and goals.

Which aspects of Performance Management should be emphasized during educational programs?

At an educational level, the awareness of having measurements shape or drive results, be it better grades in school or better co-curriculum involvement – as a performance indicator approach. Currently, it’s focused merely on end grade results, but it does not have milestones or indicators on how to get to the end result.

Which limits need to be surpassed in order to achieve higher levels of proficiency in Performance Management, among practitioners?

Being open and receptive to various different generations and individuals in the organization.

JULY 2016 25

INTERVIEWS

The biggest challenge for PM is to accurately measure performance and link all objectives to small sets of KPIs.

What is your opinion on the emerging trend of measuring performance outside working hours?

Parameters need to be very clear on what is being measured outside of working hours - it should be very objective and clearly communicated to all employees.

What personal performance measurement tools do you use?

I do not use any personal performance instruments, be it tools, apps or gadgets of any sort.

Zaid Al Huneidi Market Research Manager, Kuwait Finance House In 2016, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Zaid Al Huneidi, Market Research Manager at the Kuwait Finance House, Kuwait. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.

Which were the 2015 key trends in Performance Management, from your point of view?

I believe there is a growing trend to achieve corporate sustainability, structure the organization to become flexible to market conditions, and encourage a generation of innovative solutions.

What are your thoughts on the integration of Performance Management at organizational, departmental and employee level?

Performance Management processes are key to aligning all of the organization’s efforts and resources, to achieve a well-planned set of goals that would create focus and steer the organization in the right direction. The common approach to do this is to have the objectives set from top to bottom at different 26 JULY 2016

organizational levels and functions. The main challenge, however, lies in successfully aligning all the objectives, to create the thrust that would push the organization forward.

Which will be the major changes in managing performance, in the future?

With exception to senior executives and sales staff, and due to the difficulty of having full control on achieving objectives, I believe that organizations will slowly steer away from or have a more balanced approach to measuring performance from actual data and achievementbased results, to measurements that have more to do with staff skills and attitudes.

What aspects of Performance Management should be explored more through research?

Alternatives or better combinations of reward systems for improving performance, such as promotions, bonuses and granting company shares. The optimal size of these rewards, for each alternative, should also be researched.

Which organizations would you recommend to be looked at, due to their particular approach to managing performance, and their subsequent results?

Google is following an interesting peer-based review, which includes co-workers that are junior level. They are asked to state one thing the reviewee should do more of and one thing that they can do in a different way. Finally, managers decide on the final evaluation of an employee, based on the summaries of these assessments.

Which are main the challenges of Performance Management in practice, today?

The biggest challenge is to accurately measure performance and link all objectives to small sets of Key Performance Indicators – KPIs, so that managers can spot any deviations and are able to react accordingly.

What should be improved in the use of Performance Management tools and processes?

Real-time reporting and escalation of measures that fall behind or which are ahead of the target, from bottom or middle level management to main KPIs. This can help predict results and offers time to adjust poor performance at early stages, before it affects top levels.

I believe it’s important to balance work and personal life.

What would you consider as a best practice in Performance Management?

Effective use of the Balanced Scorecard, along with a systematic performance appraisal system, where the objectives of the employee are aligned with those of the organization and again, are monitored through a Balanced Scorecard. Next up would be linking results with performance appraisal, so that employees who achieve their objectives can be rewarded. This process interconnects organizational success with that of the employees and makes them more engaged, which also results in higher employee satisfaction. Some organizations even go as far as giving shares to all staff, which motivates them to excel at their jobs and generates ultimate staff engagement.

INTERVIEWS

When it comes to best practices, Balanced Scorecards, when properly and systematically deployed, are still the top choice.

Which aspects of Performance Management should be emphasized during educational programs?

Exploration of different performance management processes, according to different organizations - in size and nature, with the ultimate goal of getting one’s staff engaged. This can mainly be emphasized through case studies and practical applications.

Which limits need to be surpassed in order to achieve higher levels of proficiency in Performance Management, among practitioners?

Getting data in real-time is one of the issues that can support tracking performance and adapting quickly to what really works, to further push performance in the right direction. Another pressing issue is the involvement of all staff members in the goal-setting process, which broadens the organization’s view for goal selection, and encourages commitment by staff to achieve these goals.

What is your opinion on the emerging trend of measuring performance outside working hours?

I believe it’s important to balance work and personal life. Hiring the right people and automating processes can surely help in keeping managers at ease outside working hours. There are also software tools that can be programmed to send alerts in case of unfortunate circumstances, which require the manager’s attention. This brings comfort to managers and makes them feel in control, without obsessing over figures by the minute.

What personal performance measurement tools do you use?

On a personal level, I am obsessed with measuring everything from my weight, sleeping patterns, to spending and savings. I usually use Microsoft Excel since it’s very flexible and easy to use.

Zainab Mohammed CEO Property Management & Marketing, Wasl In 2016, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Zaid Al Huneidi, Market Research Manager at the Kuwait Finance House, Kuwait. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.

Which were the 2015 key trends in Performance Management, from your point of view?

Employee goals are increasingly more aligned with organizational visions. SMART objectives are increasingly set by employees, instead of managers. A key benefit of this is employees being the owners and drivers of their own success. Managing risks through performance management is also a developing trend.

What are your thoughts on the integration of Performance Management at organizational, departmental and employee level?

Integration of Performance Management at all organizational levels is of paramount importance. Organizational vision must be cascaded across all departments, including functional, divisional, department and employee relations. For instance, we see Balanced Scorecards being implemented in many organizations, but rarely beyond the departmental level.

Which will be the major changes in managing performance, in the future?

We believe a major change will focus on ongoing performance improvement. Instead of it being a one-time annual event, primarily linked to rewards such as salary increase or bonus, forward thinking organizations will regularly utilize performance management exercises.

These will be tools to constantly improve

employee skills and capabilities, resulting in improved efficiency across the organization.

What aspects of Performance Management should be explored more through research?

Greater understanding is needed to find the optimum number of reviews conducted in a year and how to align rewards to performance more objectively. Research regarding how to carry out performance management can be seen as a more comprehensive human resource management system and would also be beneficial; this will combine an employee’s professional development and career aspirations with alignment to goals.

Which organizations would you recommend to be looked at, due to their particular approach to managing performance, and their subsequent results?

Motorola and GE received much attention in recent decades, with Silicon Valley giants such as Google setting examples in the present.

Google has had sustained performance even during challenging economic scenarios, and combined this with highly effective employee engagement, resulting in it being highly valued by current and potential employees as one of the best companies to work for, particularly due to workplace motivational factors.

What Performance Management question would you like to have answered by researchers?

How to link rewards to performance during recessions or sluggish economic conditions.

Which are main challenges of Performance Management in practice, today?

Linking rewards to performance in an objective manner and retaining good employees.

JULY 2016 27

INTERVIEWS

Understanding their own businesses and its critical success factors are limiting factors for many practitioners.

What should be improved in the use of Performance Management tools and processes?

Objective goals, accurate updates, timely updates and reporting. Where it’s possible, monthly or quarterly reporting of performance is a must, for which good performance management tools and processes are a prerequisite.

What would you consider as a best practice in Performance Management?

In my opinion, Balanced Scorecards, when deployed properly and systematically.

Which aspects of Performance Management should be emphasized during educational programs?

Setting objective goals, accurate measurement of performance indicators, combined with timely and frequent feedback.

I believe it’s important to balance work and personal life. Hiring the right people and automating processes can surely help in keeping managers at ease, outside working hours.

28 JULY 2016

Which limits need to be surpassed in order to achieve higher levels of proficiency in Performance Management, among practitioners?

Understanding their own businesses and its critical success factors are limiting factors for many practitioners.

The next one would be to accurately articulate the necessary KPIs. Good practitioners master both of these two aspects.

What is your opinion on the emerging trend of measuring performance outside working hours?

Only performances that consistently impact the organization’s bottom-line count.

What personal performance measurement tools do you use?

No specific tool, but for my function, I measure overall performance against KPIs on a quarterly basis. Key customer-centric KPIs are measured more frequently, some even on a weekly basis.

Which were the recent achievements in generating value from performance management in your organization?

Wasl has successfully deployed enterprisewide SAP, which provides instant performance information on various key KPIs. At an individual level, many employees are part of the organization-wide personal development program, for which accurate and timely measurement of performance is also key. This has helped in succession planning and retaining outstanding employees.

INTERVIEWS

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JULY 2016 29

PORTRAIT EVENTS

MARC LAWN Mentoring people.

Transforming businesses.

ANDREI COSTEA

M transformation leader. He focusses on improving the

arc Lawn is a commercially focussed strategy &

performance of international businesses (BP, Vitec PLC, Honda & Britvic to name a few) of all sizes & industries by creating clear strategies & performance criteria.

He is passionate about unleashing the power of talent in any business using clear objectives, performance management techniques & all supported by a commitment to continuous professional development.

His diverse background (Sales, Marketing, Operations, HR & Strategy/Transformation) enables him to connect the dots in a way that is easily communicated across functions and cultures.

30 JULY 2016

“Performance management to me is all about being clear on what is critically important to you personally or your business.�

PORTRAIT

Most strategists think in words yet most people think in pictures – performance management sits at the centre of that potential for ‘lost in translation’ if done well.

The makings of a dedicated Performance Manager We don’t often have time to think in retrospect about who or what helped us get to the point in life where we are right now. We’re always working, going from point A to point B, thus such thoughts are almost always reserved for those little moments when we take a break from it all.

And when we finally pause our lives for a bit and think about all the individuals that we’ve met and known whilst embarking on our life journey, more often than not, we think about two persons. Two persons, who through their teachings and guidance during the early stages of our lives, managed to forge strong characters that can take on any of life’s challenges. And for Marc Lawn, a commercially focused strategy & transformation leader. He focusses on improving the performance of international businesses (BP, Vitec PLC, Honda & Britvic to name a few) of all sizes & industries by creating clear strategies & performance criteria, the same holds true.

British Petroleum’s Strategic Lead and Project Director of the OD Transformation Programme and the founder of The Business GP, who also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Law, a NVQ, Level 5 Management Certificate and a Doctorate in Business Administration, sees his parents as the being the makers and shapers of what he is today. Both his mother and father taught him valuable, yet different life lessons, which were the first steps in understanding the fact that although human beings can have very contrasting sets of ideas, these can oftentimes be complimentary.

In his words, his parents “were almost a complete yin & yang for his personal development”. From his mother, he learnt that hard work pays and that sometimes, the pain is worth it, since the rewards outweigh the costs.

This instilled in him a burning passion and drive to make an impact in business, to build a lasting image. Nothing great comes your way if you simply stand there, waiting for it to happen. You have to go out there and work for it. And this can be seen in practice, today, as his knowledge and expertise have managed to further Global Organizational Changes, Business Transformation Programmes & Strategic Initiatives, with a 90+% success rate.

His father brought teachings from the other side of the spectrum, bestowing upon him knowledge of balance in all matters of life.

This made him understand that some things require patience, that they cannot be rushed into fruition and one should always try to assess what type of approach is needed for each situation, since very few things in life have cookie cutter solutions to them and as his professional development has shown him, the business environment is no different. The simpler the vision or objective the more effective the delivery, but simple should not be confused with easy – simple is rarely easy, but if the business wins then everyone involved wins. It is imperative that all leaders spend time balancing and understanding objectives & measurements, in order to avoid unintended consequences.

In business, technical skills are very important for an individual’s development, but as Marc Lawn sees it, it is way harder

to master your emotional sensitivities and reactions. Yes, businessmen and business workers have feelings and emotions too, and on more than one occasion, these can cloud their better judgements if they do not fully understand what is going on through their minds and hearts.

In his opinion, his more eclectic professional path through life was one of the key factors which ensured that his understanding of the strategy and performance field was comprehensive. He first started out by working in operations, followed by time spent in the HR field, after which he moved on to the sales & marketing environment that ultimately sparked his interest in the ideas of strategy, performance and transformation.

Understanding the world around him Having travelled all over the world and worked in a plethora of industries, meeting thousands of people and racking up a very diverse and rich background, Marc believes that very few careers in the business world follow a certain surefire path to success.

Every experience counts, every person you meet adds something to your world, every book you read contributes to your overall knowledge level and all of these ultimately contribute to the same goal – understanding yourself and the people around you, whether they are co-workers, friends or family.

Regarding the last point, on reading books, he mentions that he sees books as a way of taking a break from the world, while still learning much about it. With 12 books read only in JULY 2016 31

PORTRAIT

the last month, he believes that any book, whether highly acclaimed or not, can teach us something new about the world we live in.

Today’s world is constantly evolving and as Marc sees it, its complexity becomes even more staggering when we look at individuals.

He mentions the junior/middle managers of Gen Y and the Millennials as examples of groups of people that completely change entire notions related to what work means and how to go about it. And in order for us to build a bright future for the generations to come, we need to adapt, we need to work together and understand each other.

For him, a big part of understanding each other came when he decided to leave the comfy environment of a corporate job and move on to a consulting position. And this was the moment when things got real. There were no more failsafe measures in place, the training wheels were off and it was time to see if he could take life head on. Everything he had learnt and experienced, up to that point, was about to be tested by one of life’s oldest arenas – the free market. He thus entered the world of pay for performance, where as he put it “you either sink or swim – there’s no time to feel your way through”. But he was very grateful for having decided to go this way, as it emphasized the aforementioned point about working with each other and conferred him a deeper understanding of how individuals function and what drives performance.

Early beginnings When you fill the role of a manager, in general, you don the mantle of performance management, which was exactly how Marc started out in the field. Sadly, as he puts it, more often than not, you are left to your own devices, to figure out how everything works and this can make things way trickier than they already are, since there are no pointers, no signs, no nothing.

As such, the main thing you can do to begin with is to start analyzing what is critically important either to you personally or to your business, ensuring to you maximize your focus on that particular aspect. This teaches the individual the importance of strategy, which lies at the heart of any improvement effort, as it highlights the fortes of an individual or a company. According 32 JULY 2016

to Marc, it does not matter whether your company has a competitive advantage in say the delivery department, compared to other companies. If that is not clearly stated as a focus point in your strategy, then it cannot be all that important to you, right?

Furthermore, apart from not understanding strategy, another aspect that Marc quickly noticed was that companies relied purely on financial terms to measure success, completely ignoring two aspects: 1. What separates them from the rest, in the eyes of the consumer?

2. What brought them all that financial wealth?

From his point of view, regarding the latter, it’s all a matter of the human dimension.

And this was what intrigued him most about the performance management field of expertise – being equally critical and supportive of your employees. Although financial numbers are extremely alluring and look really well when followed by as many zeroes as possible, a company’s strongest point is in fact supporting the very individuals that make those numbers happen. Human development, in the pursuit of business improvement, should be at the core of any company. Lead and lag indicators, if one wishes to put it in more technical terms.

The highs and lows of Performance Management

We often put too much emphasis on the demands of work and not enough on the requests of life. Our bosses demand and our families ask. It makes it very easy to sacrifice life.

Another key component of Performance Management is its unmatched ability to unify teams across all leadership levels.

What Marc means by this is PM’s role as a translator of objectives and goals.

One of the best aspects of Performance Management, in Marc’s view, is the fact that it makes an individual be honest towards and stay true to his conscious strategic decisions.

Furthermore, it can always be used for both assessing an individual’s current level of progression and finding ways of enhancing it.

Most individuals within a company do not hold dear the same targets, goals and so forth. For each and every one, something else is more important. PM aims to fix this by prioritizing certain end goals over others and making sure that everyone is on board with this decision.

It is a mirror into the past and future, and what’s most disheartening is the fact that many companies do not learn anything from either of these sources, given the low level of successful implementation of PM systems, which is one of the main, real areas in which a company can pick up a competitive advantage.

Marc mentions that in one of the books he read, he remembers a part about strategists thinking in words, while your average individual thinks in pictures. According to him, this is where PM comes in handy as a sort of “translator of worlds”. If nothing is done, people are “lost in translation” and the company will never overcome inertia.

PORTRAIT

Now, if we’re to tackle the issue of shortcomings and challenges, Performance Management has its fair share and one of its most often cited issues is the idea of being used as a battering ram against people.

But one may ask how can an inanimate system be seen as a weapon against those it should help? Well, first off, because emotions get in the way.

Metrics and indicators are faceless and heartless tools that, in the eyes of many, are simply used to categorize employees into As and Bs, generating animosity and discontent.

What needs to be done to fix this is to create a feeling of collective ownership and support around performance management issues, while trying to explain to people that many metrics do actually carry single owners. Thus, employees need to be told that it isn’t so much about what he or she does in relation to what another colleague does, but what he or she does for that specific goal. Period.

Ownership creates desire for improvement and accountability, both of which lead to performance. The aim of PM should be around creating feelings of inclusiveness, support and worth, not marginalizing individuals as mere copies of one another.

Secondly, if Performance Management Systems are not implemented properly, they tend to be viewed as binary instruments that tell people you did good, you did bad. This is similar to the first point, but the devil is in the details. You can put people into A and B bins without judging their work, thus creating a feeling of content or discontent around the idea of what is a job well done and what is not. But when you tell people that one individual did his work properly and one did not, you judge multiple things, from their mental process, to the manner in which they conduct their work.

Thus, on two different levels, if managers do not pay enough attention, PM can be quite counterproductive.

This is why Marc believes that mature performance management conversations should take the form of coaching sessions, whereby individuals and entire teams alike maturely assess the good, the bad and how they should go about improving the latter and maintaining the former.

His advice on how to best approach such scenarios would be to keep metrics simple, allocate time to align your objectives and teams to each other and afterwards, review your efforts and try to understand what went well and what not.

Performance Management, in practice Although the previous lines might be a bit on the darker side of things, there are still very many companies out there that have successfully implemented Performance Management Systems, tailored to suit their needs. Marc offers the example of Apple.

They have managed to come up with a very flexible system, that reflects the specific objectives of particular areas of their business, while keeping it simple enough to ensure they don’t tie themselves up in knots.

The general theme of it all is “individuals have appropriate ideas on how to generate ideas”. This entails a very crucial point – it limits costs, not the rate of failure. As such, people are encouraged to try out new things and keep pushing the limits, with production having more raw hard metrics to measure and keep track of.

But these are large sets of data, which are used to understand the macro level and very rarely contain any information about the individual.

That’s where Individual Performance Management kicks in and on that topic, Marc has his own personal take on things.

necessary skills that allow him to achieve the next appropriate level of development.

This also supports Marc’s succession management process. The basic idea behind it is that such a method allows him to have a “pipeline” of talented individuals, readily available to move further up the ladder of succession, with enough information to somewhat bridge the gap between the ranks that will be filled.

Essentially, he wants his employee to not only think about work, but invest time in self-improvement. He offers us an example of an individual, who a few years ago was being performance managed about writing a screenplay. He didn’t find time to actually do it, but the simple fact that writing a screenplay was on his mind was a telltale sign of an individual who was bent on selfimprovement.

Outside of our work schedules, we are nowadays blessed with access to almost limitless possibilities of self-development and in Marc’s eyes, any such endeavor enriches an individual much more than knowing how to improve at the job you already are doing fine. Find something you love, learn it, embrace it, let it educate you and the chances of improving your professional development suddenly start to rise sharply.

This final point also applies to one of Performance Management’s hot topics: employee buy-in.

From his standpoint, he believes that the best way to do things is to hire for attitude and train for skill. It is way more important to get a general feeling of what makes someone tick, what they are all about, what are their views on work and life. On numerous occasions, such aspects offer you a better insight into a future employee’s character, allowing you to see who you are going to work with, then trying to gauge his technical skills.

For Marc, the development process of a prospective employee is as follows:

Very many managers around the world believe that they the golden solution to obtaining an employee’s buy-in regarding PM, but given how PM’s popularity varies according to region or time-span, this point doesn’t hold up all that much.

Start with a “develop A, B, C skills” type of scorecard (which are tailored to suit his role)  Stretch yourself – this means Marc wants his employee to explore further areas where he could improve  Mentor the employee on how to develop the

Simply telling their workers that they are all about performance, effectiveness, efficiency and productivity will not earn their trust.

One needs to be living proof of it – practice what you preach, as the saying goes.

According to Marc Lawn, buy-in, like many other aspects of PM, is tied to emotions. If managers want their employees’ buy-in, they need to live and breathe Performance Management, on a daily basis.

JULY 2016 33

PORTRAIT

I always have a ‘selfish’ personal objective for each individual. I never want someone to only have work on their mind.

Individual drive and performance

The balancing act: life and work

Personal performance is a topic that has only recently gained popularity, as people became increasingly aware of the fact that they were actually measuring their performance even outside working hours, by checking their heart rate, blood pressure or counting how many squats, push-ups and bench presses they did at the gym; others take it a step further, and measure how fast they can learn a new foreign language or a new skill altogether.

As a final point in our discussion, Marc mentioned that it’s disheartening to see very many managers and employees alike not know how to properly balance their lives.

From Marc’s point of view, this is a very welcomed development, but only if it is done out of true human inquisitiveness and not simply as a way of getting the moral high ground when compared with others who may not share the same drive. Also, he believes that the current generation’s desire to perform outside the workplace is a twofold event: First off, we have people wanting to take even greater care of their health and/or improve their current skill level Secondly, this endeavor, due to its nature, has sparked a deeper interest in data This latter development is especially positive, as there is so much data to work with. Marc himself admits that he is fascinated by data, constantly checking his Microsoft Band 2, which monitors his heartbeat, helping him understand his own stress triggers way better than he would if he didn’t own such a device.

34 JULY 2016

Work and life are two faces of the same coin, the individual, and how he manages to work around both of them will determine how manageable his life will be.

More often than not, people tunnel vision on work, ignoring any of life’s calls, focusing on the idea that a greater sacrifice now will yield a greater reward later. But this is rarely the case.

Bosses demand, families ask. Just because the latter does not issue peremptory requests as much as the former, that does not mean you should ignore it. Our aims in life should be kept simple, straightforward – getting better at one’s job should be coupled with getting better at understanding life, yourself and the people around you.

If you feel overwhelmed, simply take a break – go out in town, for a walk or drive, watch a movie or anything that will unplug you from whatever mechanical routine you’ve got going on in your life. In Marc’s words – “get up and walk, it’s amazing how things suddenly become clearer.” Your career will not suddenly end if you allow yourself some time off. We need that special something called “me time”, where we focus on us.

And if you’re wondering how can you pull off such a great balancing act, Marc believes that the following three rules should help out with that:

1. Never stop learning You think you know everything, but you don’t 2. Listen intently and offer yourself genuinely to people In the world of the free market, business, performance and sales, “people buy people”, much more often than they buy products, as the saying goes.

3. Find a mentor This one banks on the first one, given that no one knows everything; as such, we all need some help from time to time.

Although these do not seem very revolutionary, in fact they seem more like life lessons rather than career success rules, very many people forget about them. People forget about themselves, and this oftentimes leads to feelings of dissatisfaction and they start asking themselves the same question – where did it all go south?

Well, one answer might be that somewhere along the way, we forgot to enjoy ourselves.

We forgot that we’re not getting any younger, we’re not getting any of our years back. So, instead of focusing on what we need to do to get from point A to point B, we might as well start focusing on the journey, trying to learn as much as we can from it.

Remember, no path is a straight line to success and very few are akin to one another. We all have to travel our very own life journey, so we might as well enjoy the trip, because sooner or later, we’ll get to the destination.

STATE OF EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT REPORT 2016 GLOBAL EDITION conducted in partnership with

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PARTICULAR TOPICS

Useful to any executive manager, HR professional as well as entrepreneurs and analysts interested in employee performance management

The report is available in electronic format on store.kpiinstitute.org

AROUND THE WORLD

KUWAIT’S WORKFORCE DEMOGRAPHICS TRENDS Does national culture matter?

CATALIN STOIA

W roughly nine out of ten people work in the

elcome to Kuwait, the country where

public sector and where the unemployed are still not willing to join the private sector anytime soon. The reasons? Plenty and of all kinds.

Aside from the socioeconomic circumstances that led to this acute public-private imbalance 87% of Kuwait’s manpower works in the public sector, there are also cultural factors affecting workforce behavior. Thus, this article will look over all these potential causes, but will press on the cultural traits which not only attest the Kuwaiti people’s partiality for a job in the public sector, but also influence human performance.

But in order to get a handle on this, let’s first take a look over at Kuwait’s profile and numbers, the recent changes in national workforce demographics, as well as its economic growth prospects.

Kuwait’s oil reserves account for more than 6% of global supply and its dependence on oil is quite obvious, since over half of the GDP and 89% of government income are a result of petroleum sales. Under these conditions, the country’s growth forecast is most highly associated with oil prices, which are by no means good enough at the moment, standing at a modest US$ 44/barrel. An oil price of at least US$ 50/barrel is needed, so that Kuwait can rebalance its economy, a curbstone hard to hit if OPEC and non-OPEC members will not reach an agreement with regards to the current oversupply. This is an improbable culmination, given the last meeting in Doha.

On April 17th, Iran and Saudi Arabia stood their ground, stating that there is no room for an oil production freeze.

36 JULY 2016

And as the world oil producers met in Qatar, Kuwaiti oil workers started a strike over pay reforms. The strike made OPEC’s fourth largest oil producer reduce its output to 1.1 million barrels/day, down more than half from Kuwait’s daily average of 3 million barrels/day. Even so, non-Kuwaiti oil workers were not on strike, already feeling uneasy with the rumors about a dire drop in foreign employee numbers, with expats accounting for over 70% of the total 4.2 million people living in the West Asian country.

the sharp drop in crude oil prices that occurred last January. However, as severe as this situation may seem, national culture might answer to (y)our perplexity; Geert Hofstede, a Dutch professor and social psychologist, well-known for his cultural dimensions, highlighted the importance of a society’s culture on the values its members. It is extremely interesting to see how cultures affect the way people think and act, and even more interesting, the way they do business and how they behave at work.

The number of employees in Kuwait totals up to 42% from the total population, namely 1.8 million, out of which only approx. 340,000 are Kuwaiti nationals. The actual unemployment rate in Kuwait is 3.5%, which means that almost 12,000 people are currently looking for a job. What is surprising, however, is that 58% of the unemployed Kuwaitis would rather stay at home, instead of joining the private sector, as a survey conducted by Kuwait’s Central Statistical Bureau reveals. Inexplicable, at least at first sight, given the fact that public sector employees will be the first ones to suffer from the new payroll schemes that are going to be introduced this year, coming as a response to

But let’s see if cultural factors might explain this tendency for public sector jobs; thus, let’s take a look over Hofstede’s cultural framework and the scores Kuwaitis got for the dimensions this is comprised of. Even if the model consists of six dimensions, namely Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long Term Orientation and Indulgence, the data available for the latter two was not conclusive enough, whereas the scores for the rest of those revealed important aspects. Bear in mind that even if culture can be only used meaningful by comparison, it can still offer important indicators concerning human behavior.

The Hofstede Centre, Kuwait Culture Information, Available at https://geert-hofstede.com/kuwait.html Kuwait*

90

80

40 25

Power Distance

Individualism

Maculinity

Uncertainty Avoidance

Long Term Orientation

Indulgence

AROUND THE WORLD

Kuwait scores high on the Power Distance dimension, achieving a score of 90, which shows that people have deep respect for hierarchical order and that they have no problem with the unequal distribution of power. Working in the public sector comes with influence, by no way achievable if being an entrepreneur or working for one – or, at least, this is what most of the Kuwaitis think. Public sector jobs also accommodate higher salaries, oftentimes less exhausting work, shorter working hours, and more public holidays. In short, power.

Individualism refers to the extent of interdependence a population or society cultivates among its members. Judging by the score Kuwait got for this dimension - 25, Kuwait is considered to be a collectivist society, characterized by devotion and commitment to the group. And when little short of all your friends work in the public sector, one cannot but empathize with their thought-process.

With a score of 40 for the Masculinity dimension, Kuwait is considered a relatively feminine society. This reveals a predisposition to submissiveness, whereas standing out of the crowd is considered to be out of the common road, which is usually trailed by a group. Thus, starting your own business or working for a private sector entrepreneur is not seen as a common road approach.

Uncertainty avoidance relates to a society’s perception regarding future. In many cases, this refers to job security. A score of 80 for this dimension reveals a predilection for staying away from uncertainty. Which, indeed, can be easily accomplished by working in the public sector, in any country, not just Kuwait. As it can be observed in the above chart, there is currently no score for the last two dimensions.

So what have we learnt from all of this?

Well, for starters, culture does matter. Not only the national one, but also the organizational one. Furthermore, culture is what makes us different in the first place. Of course, it cannot influence or have a massive impact on oil prices, terrorism eradication efforts, environmental sustainability issues, neither decide the UEFA Champions League winners, but it will always represent that small part that should never be neglected and cannot be neglected. Culture is everywhere around us, in an ever-changing state and it is up to us as individuals to decide what’s a productive culture and what is not.

JULY 2016 37

AROUND THE WORLD

SOUTH KOREA’S NATIONAL PENSION SYSTEM Coverage gaps and gaming IRINA PALESCIUC

A due to dropping birth rates and rising s populations are aging across the globe

life expectancy, governments are faced with new challenges when it comes to their mostly outdated thinking about retirement and the elderly. South Korea’s situation is especially alarming, as it has one of the most rapidly aging population in the world.

Demographics of South Korea According to the latest projections, by 2040, 32.3% of the population in Korea will be 65 years and older and it is aging faster than any country in history. The elderly share of the population doubled from 7% to 14% in just 18 years, which took other countries such as France 115 years to reach, the United States 71 years and even Japan, which is notorious for its rapidly aging population, 24 years to reach.

Contrary to neighboring China, which is also aging rapidly, South Korea is already a high-income country, with a majority of the population used to middle-class living standards. Yet, in comparison to nearby Japan, South Korea has to face the issues of an aging population while in the middle of modernization. The dramatic changes in the population composition will put enormous pressure on businesses, government budgets and slow the country’s economic growth.

In the past, South Korea had the challenge to raise itself from being an impoverished agrarian society, to becoming a wellestablished economic power and managed to do so with great success. Now, the next 38 JULY 2016

challenge for South Korea will be to take on its aging population, which is every little bit as great as the previous one.The task ahead will certainly not be without efforts.

However, those who are familiar with the country will know that the Land of the Morning Calm will be more than capable of accomplishing it.

Current status-quo Now, some of the main issues with South Korea’s National Pension System are as follows: 1. Financial instability and inadequate size of accumulative funds. The funds are projected to be depleted in 2060 and no plan is set in place for the period after depletion.

2. Precarious management of the national pension fund with concern to policy directions of fund operations, appropriate assets allocation in domestic and foreign markets, stocks, bonds and other investments.

3. Under the current contribution-benefit system, present generations receive greater benefits in relation to their contribution. The burden of this gain will have to be carried by the other generations to come.

4. A general sense of unfairness between generations and income levels.

5. Immature and lacking income security system – although the different schemes in the system are competitive, on various points they are quite contradictory.

Paving the way for the future Given its current state, reforming the pension system is a must and it can be accomplished through initiatives such as: Setting up a short term and long term blueprint for the income security systems, by firstly explicitly defining the minimum and adequate standards of the income security.

Implementing measures to enhance the pension system’s sustainability.

Setting clear financial goals to make the pension system’s future more predictable.

Forecasting and monitoring future total public pension expenditures, in relation to the GDP. Restructuring the income security system, to be more efficient and effective in the future.

Improving equity between generations through an increase in the contribution rate.

Setting up a plan and procedures to deal with shocks from the differences between present and the to-be-reformed system.

It is imperative that South Korea organizes its National Pension System in such a way that the different pillars do not contradict each other, but instead complement each other.

AROUND THE WORLD

CREATING A BETTER EDUCATION SYSTEM WITH THE BALANCED SCORECARD MARIETTE WAHYUNINGSIH

B

efore the invention of Balanced Scorecards, organizations and companies used financial and/or quality operations and programs to measure how well they performed. This becomes problematic over time, as those factors do not directly contribute to the organization or company’s strategy. However, with the basic principles of a Balanced Scorecard, any organization or company can obtain major benefits, by understanding that: One cannot govern it nor make it better, when it cannot be measured Measurements give people motivation This is especially true in any educational system, and as an example, we will showcase the Atlanta Public School System. According to the AASA – The American Association for School Administrators, the Balanced Scorecard has dramatically improved Atlanta’s public schools when it comes to students’ academic performance and decreased student absences.

The key is to not only create strategy, but to also put strategy as the core factor in leading and managing. The Atlanta Public School System successfully uses five basic pillars in creating a strategy-focused management: 1. Push changes with strong leadership 2. Turn strategies into practice 3. Shift the organization towards a strategy 4. Make fulfilling the strategy’s objectives as being every individual’s job 5. Turn strategy into a continuous process

Push changes with strong leadership Superintendent Beverly Hall, the Atlanta district leader, drives the public school system with a clear strategy and vision regarding their objectives. This is quintessential, as it helps with implementing the former. Without a clear vision and strategy, one will not know the direction where their organization currently is and where it will be heading.

Make fulfilling the strategy’s objectives as being every individual’s job Once they are committed to shift the organization towards one strategy or another, they are able to understand what must be prioritized and those that are less important. It is essential to implement the strategy in both incentives and individual objectives as to get a bigger picture of what should be achieved first.

Turn strategies into practical terms It is important to develop strategies that can be easily understood, since these contain the steps needed to improve the organization.

In Atlanta, Alexis Kirijan, Chief Strategy Officer for the Atlanta Public Schools, is the one responsible of annually changing and shifting objectives and targets. By doing so, the public schools of Atlanta were able to get more funding from foundations, as transparency and a streamlined process became the main pillars on which future improvements would be built.

In this case, after using the balance scorecard, schools in Atlanta understood what the people of the district wanted and how to do it. Therefore, all units share the same strategy to fulfill the big picture.

Shift the organization towards a strategy Once a strategic plan is set in place, around the vision of leader, the next step is to bring these two elements into the organization and break down any existing limits and barriers. Moreover, such strategies usually require an interconnected effort, which is why it is crucial to explain to every member of the unit how he or she helps in fulfilling and contributing to the end goal. By implementing a top-down system in Atlanta, their schools were able to reset themselves on the right track and become held accountable for their performance.

Turn strategy into a continuous process Remember – upon starting to use the Balanced Scorecard, strategies are implemented continuously and not annually.

The Atlanta school administrators now know that short-term success is appreciated, but long-term improvement and benefits are the key goal. The Balanced Scorecard helps one know what his current status is and how he can advance even further.

All in all, creating a strategy is only the first step – implementing it is a whole other story. By entertaining a strategyfocused management approach, leaders can analyze the cause-and-effect relationship behind a strategy, improve top to bottom performance, focus on and prioritize certain goals and motivate everyone to understand what and how they can fulfill the overall plan.

JULY 2016 39

AROUND THE WORLD

THE SECTOR-LED IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM Building desire for improvement TUDOR MODRUZ

T in the United Kingdom, underlines the he Sector-led improvement (SLI) program,

improvement approach developed by the Local Government Association (LGA) towards building a sustainable development of the local authorities’ capabilities.

The Local Government Association seeks to promote better local government processes and maintains a continuous communication channel with all its offices, in order to identify best practices. According to the LGA, the local authorities should: Be responsible for their own performance; Be accountable on a local level; Develop a sense of collective responsibility, for the performance of the sector as a whole.

The English Government stated that the previous assessment regime was too expensive in the current economic climate, as the National Audit Office reported an estimated cost of £2bn a year was needed for monitoring the local authorities’ performance.

Therefore, the LGA, alongside the local authorities, developed a new approach to improvement. In June 2012, the LGA released a document, entitled “Sector-led improvement in local government“, in which a coordinated approach to sectorled improvement is described. The Sectorled improvement program is based on the following key principles: 40 JULY 2016

Councils are responsible for their own performance and improvement and for the delivery of improved outcomes for local people in their respective areas.

Councils are primarily accountable to local communities (not government or the inspectorates). Stronger accountability, through increased transparency, helps drive improvements for the local population.

Councils have a collective responsibility for the performance of the sector as a whole (evidenced by sharing best practices, offering their member and officers peer reviews etc).

The role of the LGA is to maintain an overview of the sector’s performance, in order to identify potential performance challenges and opportunities – and to provide the necessary tools and support to help councils take advantage of this new approach.

Following the LGA’s commitment to provide development to local authorities and political leaders, through the sectorled improvement program, they offer one subsidized entry for each local authority, in one of the following programs: “Leadership Academy” A two-day academy training session, in which the leading councilors learn from experts in the field, and also share their best practices with one another.

“Leeds Castle” An intensive 10-days program, in which council leaders and chief executives enhance their understanding of the link between leadership, council success and locality.

“Next Generation” Is a prestigious leadership program, developed with the aid of political party experts, aimed mainly at ambitious councilors, enabling them to face and overcome their current and future political challenges.

Another improvement initiative from the SLI is represented by the “LG Inform” initiative – a data platform for local councils, which grants access to a wide range of financial and performance data. This platform enables performance comparisons between the local authorities’ scorecards and reports.

“The Knowledge Hub” is a web-based service designed by the LGA, which enable councils to share best practices and ideas, learn from each other and work together.

The SLI represents a success story in England’s governmental environment, strengthened by the positive feedback received from national stakeholders, council leaders, directors and chief executives. An evaluation published in May 2014, stated that: 1. More than two-thirds of respondents (70%) are fairly satisfied with the way their

AROUND THE WORLD

council runs things, and when people were asked whether they trusted the councils or the government to make decisions about how services were provided in their local area, 77% indicated local councils.

2. The Councils’ performance in a wide range of metrics improved. An analysis containing 97 metrics, indicated a positive direction, with an average of three quarters of them seeing an improvement since 2010.

3. The approach given by the LGA is highly valued by councils. In a survey performed by the LGA,93% of the leaders were aware of the program, and 93% of chief executives stated that the support and resources given by the LGA had a positive impact on their office.

Local councils’ commitment and dedication in achieving performance is evidenced by their shared support for this objective.

By the end of March 2014, councils had actively contributed with more than 2,500 days of officer and senior councilor time to corporate peer challenge teams, underlining a considerable investment in its own development – this was equivalent to millions of pounds’ worth of consultancy.

INCREASED COUNCIL SELF-PERFORMANCE RESPONSIBILITY

COUNCIL ACCOUNTABILITY IS PRIMARILY TOWARDS THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES

COUNCILS ARE COLLECTIVELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF THE WHOLE SECTOR

THE LGA MAINTAINS AN OVERVIEW OF THE SECTOR’S PERFORMANCE

JULY 2016 41

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EVENTS BALANCED SCORECARD

ERP SYSTEMS, THE BALANCED SCORECARD AND KPIS BUDI SETIONO

I been a global trend towards integrating n today’s business environment, there has

business processes and company strategies with Enterprise Resource Planning systems.

Many studies have explained that Enterprise Resource Planning systems, ERP for short, can increase a company’s competitive advantage in the information technology era.

Advantages of Enterprise Resource Planning systems

There are two benefits that can be obtained from ERP implementation efforts, which are classified into tangible and intangible benefits.

Tangible benefits include reduction of inventory, reduction of personnel, increased productivity, improvements in order management and many more.

Intangible benefits refer to the increased visibility of corporate data, new or improved business processes, improved responsiveness to customers, improved communication and so forth. Despite these significant benefits, one major problem is that ERP systems cannot measure the performance impact which these systems have on companies.

As American analytics expert Thomas H. Davenport pointed out, many companies failed to consider whether the system they were evaluating will match their overall business strategy.

ERP – BSC – KPIs Many studies tried to identify the critical factors influencing the successful implementation 44 JULY 2016

of ERP systems. In one research, professors Jaideep Motwani, Ram Subramanian and Pradeep Gopalakrishna applied a case study methodology to compare a successful and unsuccessful ERP implementation, finding that the main factors behind a successful implementation consisted of cautious, evolutionary, bureaucratic implementations, backed by careful change management, network relationships and cultural readiness.

Regardless, since we know that the business environment generally is characterized by a high level of uncertainty, the process of ERP system assessment involves numerous problems. Because implementation is a complex process, businesses that are implement it successfully need to carefully examine all factors relating to increased operational efficiency.

Constructing a systematic and holistic performance framework, to assess ERP implementation efforts, is therefore essential to subsequent decision-making.

Evaluators frequently adopt the common ERP evaluation criteria as performance indicators, without developing a few that include cross-function analysis and crossfunctional measurement. One solution that can be adopted is to use both the Balanced Scorecard and KPIs as ERP Performance Measurements.

The Balanced Scorecard provides the quantitative and qualitative basis to a complex decision-making process, in which high-tech firms need to measure ERP performance against multiple criteria.

Kaplan and Norton indicated that the

TKI

BALANCED SCORECARD

TKI

TKI

Landcorp Farming Agriculture Resources

Transportation

Healthcare

Resources

Financial Government Healthcare

Healthcare

Government

original Balanced Scorecard turned business strategies into measurable indicators. The Balanced Scorecard provided a series of performance measurement indicators that could be utilized to guide objectives and the strategic direction of a company.

An ERP implementation should help the organization improve performance as measured by KPIs. Organizations need to find KPIs that reflect strategic value drivers rather than just measuring non-critical business activities and processes.

The four dimensions of the Balanced Scorecardbased ERP performance measurement system are as follows:

Key Performance Indicators define a set of values, whether they are target values or goals, used to measure performance, and they can be collected on paper or uploaded online, into a system. They can also be grouped in various ways, based on their core characteristic:

Financial perspective: the goal of the system is to reduce costs and improve return on investment, ROI for short; Customer perspective: the main functions of ERP implementation are to meet customer needs more effectively and eventually increase customer satisfaction; Innovation and learning perspective: the goal of the system is to teach employees how to use the system; Internal business process: one of the more widely discussed issues is the need for an ERP-based process to fit business and process changes; as such, improving business process efficiency is one of the most important tasks for an ERP system.

Measurements and indicators Organizations can’t manage what they don’t measure. Thus, during the implementation process, functional teams will need to define which metrics – e.g. key performance indicators or KPIs, they intend to measure, in order to determine the success of their ERP project.

Source: http://www.coloradomtn.edu/web/about-cmc/aqip_accreditation/balanced_scorecard

Transportation

3

Resources

Government

Financial

Source: http://store.kpiinstitute.org/hr-scorecard.html

Source: http://www.landcorp.co.nz/assets/NEW---Our-Business/Financial-and-StatutoryInformation/Annual-and-Half-Year-Reports/Landcorp-AR-2013-WEB-29-Oct13.pdf

Transportation

Financial

Education

Education

Education

Agriculture

The KPI Institute Template

office@kpiinstitute.org +61 3 9028 2223

Agriculture

Colorado Mountain College The KPI Institute Scorecards Catalogue

Action based indicators: these are triggers that measure changes in the overall management of an organization; Value based or quantitative indicators: a measurable, quantitative value, represented by a number;

examples of tools that can be used to achieve just that. ERP systems can be made much more successful by designing the right Scorecard and/or choosing the right KPIs for each scenario.

DID YOU KNOW? By measuring and analyzing KPI results, managers gain a better understanding of how their business works.

Status or directional indicators: it specifies whether an organization or an employee is improving or not; it describes the direction (up, down) of the status-quo.

Financial indicators: used in performance measurement and when looking at an operating index; Process-based or practical indicators: these indicators are related to business processes.

As a conclusion, ERP implementation can improve a company’s performance levels, as long as it can be measured with the right tools. The Balanced Scorecard and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are two of JULY 2016 45

1992

2002

2008

2016

THE BALANCED SCORECARD JUST AS RELEVANT AFTER 24 YEARS MARIETTE WAHYUNINGSIH

B and David P. Norton have introduced

ack in 1992, Drs. Robert S. Kaplan

to society the greatness and benefits of a Balanced Scorecard. However, 24 years later, business leaders and managers wonder if the tool is still relevant today. Some are skeptical, but many believe Balanced Scorecards are still relevant, even after it has been more than a decade since their introduction.

Besides the fact that the Balanced Scorecard is among the top 10 most popular tools used in performance frameworks, the following are six reasons why this tool is still relevant and important in any company: 1. Tethers the company to strategy execution 2. Aligns every member in the organization to the same mission and vision 3. Makes organizations be responsive to abrupt changes 4. Presents the health of an organization 5. Enhances transparency 6. Connects projects to measurements and measurements to strategy Tethers the company to strategy execution Like many other strategic frameworks, just having a Balanced Scorecard does not mean it will help the organization successfully execute strategies, by itself. It is a matter of collaboration and teamwork, all the way from leaders to subordinates and connecting every element of the company to create a better understanding of how the overall strategy should be understood.

In other words, a Balanced Scorecard is a plan that is handed out to a company, but it requires everyone within the company to 46 JULY 2016

also focus on how the general strategy should be executed. This helps a business find any mistakes that might be made during their progress and learn from it, instead of being heavily dependent on good strategy, yet less on the strategy execution part.

Aligns every member in the organization to the same mission and vision Over the time, the Balanced Scorecard has become a great framework for organizations, which many consider to be quite indispensable. It helps create a strategy map, in stunning graphic visualizations, so that managers can reach out to their employees.

By doing so, the Balanced Scorecard links every member of the company, allowing them to focus on the same mission and vision.

Makes organizations be responsive to abrupt changes The Balanced Scorecard helps companies manage current progress and future performances. By having the indicator measurements provided by the BSC, company leaders will know beforehand if they are heading towards a bad situation.

This of course helps business leaders from landing in a bad situation.

Presents the health of an organization A Balanced Scorecard helps with finding and fixing a problem. Yet, if we take a look at strategy, in order to have a better one, an organization must link it with the overall objective and then insert any of the selected measurements. In other words, in order to ensure success, an organization should put forward smartly selected indicators.

Enhances transparency An organization that is successful in executing its strategy is proud to show it to the rest of the world. Due to this reason, most Balanced Scorecard strategy maps are great publication materials and illustrate the successful path that that respective organization has undertaken.

This is a very important element for shareholders, as it shows the company’s selfconfidence levels. Therefore, transparency shows to both competitors and shareholders just how successful and confident in its practices a business is.

Connects projects to measurements and measurements to strategy Many people believe that project management and strategic measurements should be kept separate, yet having those two elements divided is a mistake.

By connecting projects to strategy, an organization can obtain a greater understanding of how to improve measurements. This can also point out any misalignment in the organization. In doing so, strategic initiatives can help ameliorate any underperforming measurements.

All things considered, a Balanced Scorecard is a “framework for frameworks” – that any organization should implement and adapt, to suit their own style and pace. Although it has been over twenty years when it was first introduced, a Balanced Scorecard still holds people’s attention, given that it is a basic business tool that any organization can take advantage of and make it their own.

KPIS

KPI BALANCING AND KRIS MIHAI TOMA

A KPI Institute on LinkedIn, Selecting Key

ccording to a poll conducted by The

Performance Indicators (KPIs) has resulted to be the most difficult aspect in deploying KPIs, as more than 50% of respondents chose this option when asked “What is the most challenging aspect in working with KPIs?”.

In order to address this issue, it is recommended that organizations employ selection techniques to facilitate the process of choosing their KPIs. Balancing KPIs is a technique deployed in KPI selection workshops that allows companies to measure the achievement of their established strategic objectives from two perspectives.

Balancing implies selecting KPIs that complement one another. The main balancing approaches refer to ensuring that we measure both: Quantity and Quality; Subjectivity and Objectivity; Efficiency and Effectiveness.

When selecting KPIs, it is very important to have a clear picture of how the organization is performing, and balancing

KPIs will provide a complete overview of organizational performance. For example, in the case of a Call Center, it is essential to handle customer service requests from the first call, this implying achieving high levels of % First call resolution rate. However, monitoring only this KPI will not reflect how efficiently the organization manages customer requests. In order to arrive at a more detailed and accurate picture, this KPI can be balanced with one that reflects efficiency, such as # Call duration.

Selecting this KPI in addition to % First call resolution rate, will enable a Call Center to monitor how long it takes a customer service agent, in average, to solve a request.

Adopting this approach ensures that both of the efficiency and effectiveness aspects are being monitored when measuring the achievement of an objective.

Furthermore, balancing KPIs is recommended in order to prevent the appearance of negative behaviors. An example is employees focusing on achieving the target of merely one KPI, while disregarding the results of others, a tendency that can be significantly minimized if KPIs are selected in a balanced manner.

Moving on, while Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used to assess the achievement of a desired level of results in an area relevant to the evaluated entity’s activity, KRIs are used to assess emerging risks, which identify the need for actions to be taken.

Essentially, they are metrics used by organizations to provide an early signal of increasing risk exposures in various areas of the enterprise.

An example of a KRI can be % Large customers in financial difficulty, which indicates how large the company’s exposure is towards its clients.

Other examples: % Employee engagement index is a KRI for % Turnover % Customers in financial difficulties is a KRI for % Write offs # Days Inventory at hand is a KRI for % Order fulfilment rate KRIs provide opportunities for a proactive risk management, which may lead to fewer episodes of crisis management. They can be used to alert about trends that may adversely influence the achievement of the organizational objectives.

JULY 2016 47

EVENTS OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ONBOARDING ANDREEA POPONEA

Why Onboarding matters In recent years, research has shown that companies have started to focus more on the onboarding process for new employees, even if not all of them understand the importance of having such a well-established plan that prepares employees for their new experience.

Based on what Michel Flacon has said in one of his articles, ”Often, companies confuse onboarding with training. While training does have a role within onboarding, it doesn’t represent the entire scope of the process.”, we are reminded that the process itself is quite critical and very often we see companies making a huge mistake by confusing onboarding with training, even if these two are very different.

But what does Onboarding mean?

According to the Society for Human Resources Development, onboarding is “the process of helping new hires adjust to social and performance aspects of their new jobs quickly and smoothly, and learn the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors required to function effectively within an organization.” In other words, onboarding 48 JULY 2016

is the process of integrating new employees within a company.

This process can also be split into two categories, for greater clarity: Informal onboarding, which is the process whereby new employees learn about their job, without an explicit organizational plan.

Formal onboarding, which refers to a written set of organized tasks and procedures that assist an employee in adjusting to his or her job.

Now, when it comes to actual practice, Bryan Burkhart – a contributor for The New York Times, wrote an article about how big companies like Birchbox, Fab and Warby Parker deal with the onboarding process.

For example, Fab, an e-commerce design website, wants to help new employees by sending an e-mail the day before their first working day, which contains details about their first day tasks and schedule.

Furthermore, on their first day, employees

get an illustrative gift: a bag filled with stickers, buttons and a pop phone, showing the company’s enthusiasm.

Another example, Birchbox, a New York City-based online monthly cosmetic subscription service provider, offers the equipment for the first day of work, along with a candy bowl and handmade message that reads: “Hi. I’m new. Come say hi!”

Furthermore, introducing the new colleagues to the entire team is an equally important task to be done on the first day and should not be brushed aside as something that will happen naturally over the course of the following days.

Regarding this specific point, we have Bonobos, an e-commerce-driven apparel company, which in order to make it easy for new employees to meet everyone, sends via its HR department an e-mail to all members of staff, attaching a photo of the new employee.

But this is not all. They take it a step further than many other companies, by inserting a trivia game in that same e-mail: “Two truths

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people.

At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.

- Lawrence Bossidy

and a lie”. The purpose of this game is to make employees guess which is the lie from the three sentences, right after they meet the new employee.

Compliance The first level, which includes all the rules and regulations that the new employee has to learn;

In his book, The first 90 Days, author Michael D. Watkins says that if the President of the United States gets 100 days to prove that he is the right person for the job, then for the rest of us, 90 days are more than enough to demonstrate our capabilities.

Clarification The company has to make sure that the new employee understands what he/she has to do, according to his job description and employer expectations.

The Four C’s The Onboarding process contains four levels named The Four C’s. In order to establish a very good onboarding process, the company must adhere to these elements:

Culture A crucial element, whereby the employer has to instruct the new employee on what the organizational norms are, both formal and informal.

Connection This refers to the vital interpersonal relationships and information networks that new employees must establish.

All in all, although nowadays companies try to find and implement different strategies to help new recruits adapt more easily, the onboarding process is still sometimes ignored and should be treated with high importance, because it can be one of the reasons why new employees decide to leave the company all of a sudden.

Fitting in is just as large a part of a work environment, as it is in a society.

Trying to ignore this aspect and simply brush it off as unimportant may not produce any undesired short term effects, but as time goes by, if your newly hired employees are not the type that take matters into their own hands, then at some point, they will end up feeling left out, since they’ve essentially arrived way after the party has started.

Onboarding is important, as it nurtures a feeling of belonging for your newer employees, it helps your existing roster of staff extend their social network and get to know their new work partners and when you combine these two together, the end result is good fortune for your company, since the people working in it are fully in tune with one another.

JULY 2016 49

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE AND YOU MARIETTE WAHYUNINGSIH

I everything, as managers and CEOs want n the business field, productivity means

to see the maximum potential of all their teams. In order to evaluate how well the productivity levels of a company really are, they measure operational performance.

By doing so, the company’s managers and leaders can see the impact of their efforts on the business’ financial results.

Therefore, productivity levels are key when it comes to increasing the overall operational performance of the company. The following suggestions are ways in which a company can increase both their productivity and operational performance: Communicate often with your employees In any organization, communication is essential if we are to get any work done.

Before assigning a project to a team, lay out some basic objectives and goals for each of them to reach. Once this is done, your team can set the most optimum workload pace and path, to achieve those objectives and goals as quickly as they can.

While a project’s in progress, ask the team managing it if they face any struggles or difficulties. Listen to them and try to provide solutions. If they are doing great, compliment them; if not, offer your assistance. Remember, it’s the people that are involved directly in a project that know exactly what they need in order to be more productive.

Provide consistent access to information Having a secure, internal Wi-Fi network is quite important, as it allows employees to quickly go through classified company information that is both unobtainable by individuals outside company walls and 50 JULY 2016

many times necessary for employees to finish their tasks. It certainly beats having to constantly ask someone for a file. The speed of a company’s internal processes can oftentimes prove to be a competitive advantage, especially for small to medium sized companies.

Furthermore, if any employees are consistently tasked with field work, they should be given a company cell phone, which they can use to keep in touch with their higher-ups or can be contacted by them.

Interact with customers Constant interaction with customers boosts the organization’s customer satisfaction rate by a large margin.

In order to achieve this, organizations can connect customer service departments with IP communications system. By doing this, you ensure that customers are assisted in the quickest fashion. This helps understanding and connecting with each and every customer, in order to make services and products better.

Make collaboration easy Collaboration between employees, partners, suppliers and customers is extremely important, as it strengthens the relationship between these parties from all sides.

Moreover, it proves to be a very effective tool for reducing costs.

By using tech such as integrated video voice chats, online databases, video presentations and many more, you ensure that everyone is kept posted and it smooths out collaboration between parties, as it makes transparency and communication its main pillars.

Develop a long-term plan for your hardware Replacing faulty hardware will oftentimes disrupt the workload of those employees working directly with it, causing them to be less productive. In order to avoid this, managers should come up with a plan that covers such scenarios. If it’s a systemic issue, whereby leaders foresee such disruptions recurring at a certain rate, say every few months, then they should take this into consideration and if the issue cannot be avoided, i.e. power outages, then back-up plans should be formulated. They could also sketch out short and medium-term plans that take notice of this aspect.

Overall, in order to increase productivity and operational performance, the key essentials that a company should focus on are the following: 1. Developing an efficient method of communicating with employees and one that can be used for inter-employee communication; possibly the same one, with different channels; 2. Ensuring a streamlined communication channel with its customer 3. Providing a secure, internal network and solutions for any technological issues that may arise By focusing on these three points, a company can easily detect any problems holding back its employees’ work progress or any customer service or product-related issues, and quickly solve them before they get out of hand and start affecting other departments or the company as a whole.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

WHAT DOES JOB SATISFACTION MEAN ANYMORE? MARCELA PRESECAN

Job Satisfaction, in theory There’s talk about job satisfaction having considerably increased in the years following the recession. There is this assertion that employees are more satisfied with their jobs than at any time since 2005. However, what does job satisfaction even mean these days anymore?

Is it us being desperate about not losing our job? Is it the true declaration of gratitude that keeps us away from getting unemployed?

On the one hand, maybe it’s just the promise of a whole two weeks’ time to take a moment and literally tend to our personal lives. On the other hand, it may actually be about people finally having found a way to pursue and stick to what they love.

There is an inexhaustible debate here that ultimately leads us to the following question:

What does job satisfaction mean to each and every one of us? How can we measure it, so that all the limitless expressions of what employees love and consider meaningful, fit into this one big equation of general contentment and gratitude?

Management’s recognition of employee job performance (feedback, incentives, rewards)

According to a recent survey, published

by The Society for Human Resource Management, job satisfaction is seemingly an expression of the following aspects:

Autonomy and independence to make decisions

Respectful treatment of all employees, at all levels Compensation, pay and benefits Job stability and security The relationship with immediate supervisors

Career advancement opportunities within the organization

Overall corporate culture (e.g. organization, reputation, work ethics, values, working conditions) Meaningfulness of job (understanding how your job contributes to the organization’s mission) Relationships with co-workers and teamwork between departments/ business units

JULY 2016 51

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

In Denmark, semi-skilled women (with less than 12 months of training) – typically employed in low quality jobs in terms of the physical environment and remuneration – are as satisfied as women with higher educational qualifications. Moreover, men Job Satisfaction, in practice According to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions: “Job satisfaction is measured in many different ways in national surveys, with a variety of questions and wordings.

There is no consensus about the best or standard way to measure job satisfaction.”

Measurement is commonly carried out through national surveys, comprised of various questions that address both extrinsic and intrinsic aspects of job-related issues, as well as the manner in which they are perceived by company employees. These surveys are generally composites of single-item and multi-itemized questions that provide an analytic approach and overall rating on job satisfaction, from multiple perspectives.

All things considered, is job satisfaction about a single, personal view on work, in general? Is it about happiness? Is it about access to education and social stratification?

Is it about the colleague that never does his job right? Is it compensation measured against the cost of living? Is it about the twisted relationship between baby boomers and millennials?

The simple answer to all of these questions would be: “No. Job satisfaction is simply how people feel about their jobs.”

52 JULY 2016

But if I feel one way, and you don’t, then what is our common stand on the entire issue?

The Society for Human Resource Management, SHRM for short, and The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, also known as Eurofound, have published surveys that show an overall high job satisfaction among the populations in both the US and Europe, but people should keep in mind the following bit of information: the thing with measurement is that it objectifies something that is otherwise very subjective.

Nonetheless, as we stand right now, surveys are what we consider to be the optimal measurement tool to reflect on the general perception of job satisfaction.

However, the fact of the matter is they will never be an expression of our individual reality, of the social inequalities, of all the exhaustion and the post-factory work diseases. And there are countries, for instance, in which access to higher education is available to just about anyone, yet job satisfaction is low.

In other countries, social stratification is incredibly high and people are still quite satisfied with their jobs. There are a few that are satisfied no matter what

with no vocational training are more likely to be satisfied to a ‘high degree’ than semi-skilled male workers.

- The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions they do, regardless of their education and qualifications. And to add to all of this, if anyone’s looking to get the truth from a job satisfaction survey, well that’s not how it works. It may tell you the facts, but it will not tell you the story behind all the sugarcoating.

So what does job satisfaction mean? Is it a rating? Is it an index? Is it a human feeling?

Is it a measure of all things work-related and much more?

The most straightforward answer is: “No. Job satisfaction is simply how people feel about their jobs.”

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

THE ART OF GIVING NEGATIVE FEEDBACK DOS AND DON’TS RAMONA GLIGOREA

O skills each manager or team leader should ne of the most important communication

possess is the ability to give and receive feedback, especially negative feedback.

It is one of the most challenging aspects in a working environment, and it is vital for managers to learn how and when to give negative feedback.

Most often than not, dysfunctional negative feedback occurs when feedback is only given when employees fall short of performance requirements.

The first thing to realize is that people tend to respond more strongly when it comes to receiving negative feedback than positive one, as discovered by professor Andre Miner, together with his colleagues from the University of Minnesota, in a study published in 2005.

For most people, it is not easy to open their mind and digest the negative feedback they may get from others and try to learn something from it, especially when it is not given in a constructive way.

What to do?

Schedule regular check-ins with your employees, regarding the projects they are working on, so that giving feedback – both positive and negative – will become a normal part of their daily activities.

In this way, you are also able to identify in advance any aspects that need improving, before getting to the final stages of the projects, where things might get more complicated.

Create a positive culture, where managers at all levels help employees feel they are doing worthwhile work and are therefore important.

The type of culture that avoids giving dysfunctional negative feedback, as it can belittle one’s sense of importance; one where employees are not afraid to make mistakes and see them as references for improvement.

It might sound odd for a manager to ask permission to give feedback to its employees, but this can tip people off that criticism is incoming and might make them more receptive to hearing it and trying to understand what has to be improved.

It is also extremely important to frame criticism in terms of the results employees have to achieve and how they can get there, rather than making employees feel bad about their mistakes. One cannot understand how to meet expectations, when there is no explanation of what has to be improved.

Employees need to know exactly what went wrong and what is expected of them. Also, give examples of how things should have been done, which will further clarify matters and possibly gain you the respect of your team, as it shows you are truly involved in helping them improve.

JULY 2016 53

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

What to avoid?

Avoid jumping to conclusions, before giving finding out the causes of underperformance or unwelcome behaviors. If someone comes late at work and leaves earlier, this does not necessarily reflect lack of commitment; if someone makes a mistake, this does not reflect malevolence towards the company. Employee explanations should come first, jumping to conclusions second.

Also, it is not recommended to store feedback for a long time, be it either positive or negative feedback. It should be given right away. Waiting for the annual feedback session, for instance, when the employee cannot do anything more than just hear criticism that has been stored for a certain period of time and is being blasted at him/her, is extremely counterproductive.

Never feed someone a “sandwich”, as it has no point to bookend your criticism with compliments. Everybody knows that this is just a technique used by managers and many others, to simply ease out criticism.

Instead, it is better to be sincere and start an early discussion about what happened, why it happened, and what kind of support would the employee need to better align with the company’s expectations.

Avoid giving dysfunctional negative feedback messages, as it definitely does more harm than good. It can be deeply harmful to an individual’s self-confidence and self-esteem, especially when it comes from a prime point of authority, such as a parent or a boss. Next time a mistake happens, the employee will feel terror thinking about what he did wrong. Or in other cases, there will be no more similar situations, as many employees choose to end this type of collaboration.

Last, but not least, although nowadays there are experts who disagree with the old notion of praise in public, criticism in private, from my point of view, it is better to deliver your criticism in private, if not praises as well.

54 JULY 2016

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.

– Frank A. Clark Praises and criticism affect both the person being criticized, and his/her entire team. Managers or team leaders are supposed to be role models, and if that is the attitude promoted inside the company, then it has to be taken into account that other colleagues might follow their attitude and bring harm to their co-workers, thinking this is the right way to handle this.

All in all, making useful sense of giving and receiving negative feedback is difficult, but still possible and extremely important. It is on managers, team leaders and HR professionals to be willing to learn how to approach feedback sessions, but employees also have to understand that acting defensively in response to negative feedback simply makes it so that they deny themselves the opportunity to benefit from it.

It has to be seen as it is: a two-way street and a learning process for everybody.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

CONFLICT AT THE WORKPLACE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES RAMONA GLIGOREA

G encounter at work, the range of activities iven the various personality types we

that must be achieved together and the fact that people differ in the way they approach others, it is no surprise that conflict is a part of life in every organization and for every employee.

Understanding conflict and how it can be used for effective resolution strategies is not easy, but if it will not be addressed effectively, individuals will suffer.

Whose job is it to manage conflict in the workplace?

When it comes to whose ultimate responsibility is to ensure conflict is managed more effectively, usually the answer would be HR professionals or senior leaders. However, even though HR professionals might be better trained in this area, they should not have the weight of the world on their shoulders when it comes to dealing with conflict.

Everyone plays a part in conflict management.

Usually, by the time HR professionals are involved in a workplace conflict, the situation already got out of hand. What is desirable is for all employees to be able to manage conflicts before they escalate. One advice would be for organizations to put in place training programs for everybody, regardless of their place of employment, but especially for the ones who more frequently encounter such situations.

The causes of conflict Although causes of conflict are as varied as their resolutions, according to a study conducted by Psychometrics Canada, to evaluate Canadians’ experiences of conflict at work, certain triggers

are common. Employees reported that personality, leadership, communication and the work environment play important roles.

It was discovered that 86% of respondents see personality clashes and warring egos as playing a frequent role in conflict. Poor leadership was the second most commonly mentioned cause of conflict (73%).

Another study conducted by the Public Service Commission of Rwanda, between 2009 – 2013, revealed that causes of conflict range from employees’ behaviors to institutional culture, leadership management style, recruitment and placement system and employee harassment.

Costs for the company When managed poorly, in worst cases, conflict can lose you both customers and employees.

Being involved in a disagreement or managing a conflict between co-workers can be a total waste of time, if no positive conclusion is reached. For an organization, all these translate in financial losses.

It is also common for conflicts to escalate, rather than being promptly solved. As research found, due to the higher number of cases where escalation occurs, more management time is required to calm the situation down and ensure that employees are re-engaged in their activity.

Costs for the employee When conflicts are not addressed effectively, there are a lot of consequences at the individual level. As stated in the study conducted by the Public Service Commission of Rwanda, consequences include broken relations, employee instability and insecurity, loss of work

commitment, unjustified absenteeism, forceful resignation, as well as moral and psychological harm. Unsurprisingly, poorly managed conflict also reduces cooperation among teams.

Although conflict is often viewed negatively, it can lead to enlightenment when it is managed correctly.

In the same study, it was discovered that properly managed conflicts can build team cohesion, improve organizational practices, policies and procedures, reduce tasks’ vagueness and improve the quality of decisionmaking, just to name a few.

Everybody in the organization has to understand how important it is to identify and address underlying tensions before things go wrong. Also, when people see conflict as purely negative, they tend to avoid it and solve it as quickly as possible. But that might not be a good idea, as when conflict is a result of differing ideas, it might not be in the group’s interest to immediately solve the tension and try to reach a compromise that integrates multiple points of view.

By taking the time to work through differences, you can generate better solutions and exceed expectations. This requires people to reconsider their perception of conflict, to embrace the fact that we are all different - which is a good thing, and that by working together to solve our differences, we might bring about a hefty amount of creative energy. The challenge is finding the best ways to handle conflict and take advantage of the uncomfortable situations that are created in its wake, to find out what is not working and how improve it.

JULY 2016 55

STRATEGY

6 DIRECT MARKETING TIPS FOR SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS TO BOOST YOUR BOTTOM LINE PERFORMANCE JAIN DIAS

D advertising

irect marketing is a form of advertising based on different channels. This allows business organizations to communicate directly with customers through various advertising techniques, including mobile text messaging, email, interactive consumer or business websites, online display ads, database marketing, fliers, catalog and much more. Having a direct, immediate response with your consumers, would give way to a better lead generation strategy.

Following below are the 5 must know direct marketing tips for smaller business organizations that will boost up their bottom line.

difference in terms of telemarketing. By targeting your prospective customer’s emotional chords, you’ll deliver an effective message and boost the odds of converting a higher number of clients.

Measuring Success The Clickthrough rate is considered to be one of the most important metrics for ranking success, but it’s not the best way to measure success, or optimize the campaigns for online retail and e-commerce. Conversion rates is the only metric that matters when it comes to the e-commerce industry, so why not try and measure your success by optimizing Building Buzz the campaigns according to conversion rates? Organizations using Try and pay attention to your direct marketing campaign. Whether it is conversion measurement with CPM (Cost per Mile) with Facebook have delivered via email, through a blog, or a social media campaign you need seen 40% lower costs per conversion, when compared to the cost per to make sure that your content is original, engaging and maybe even a click campaign. bit of edgy, exciting, depending on who your marketing audience is and what they are interested in.

Finding out ways to cut down on the costs While creating a budget for your marketing campaign, try and consider You will need to tell your prospects what kind of information you have teaming up with other business organizations, departments, in order to for them in order to raise their eyebrow. What will make them take a step split down the costs of mailings. You could also try and mail in bulk for back and say “Huh, wow, you don’t say?” cheaper postage rates, keeping track records of replies and follow-ups with customers, spending a certain amount of money Asking what your customers really want from you on mailing lists for the customers with whom you Try and interact with your potential customers by offering them a survey have a consistent record of accomplishment. to complete in exchange for a small reward. Ask them what their needs are so that you can gain a better understanding of who your target market To conclude, by following these direct marketing is. These responses will help you create communication strategies that tips you will be able to create a communication are much more relevant for them. path that will help attract new customers, as well as keeping old customers happy.

Looking at what the other companies are doing So try and send out emails on a Placing yourself on the mailing lists could help you find and send mails consistent basis, and stay on the to your target audience. By looking into the direct mail services, you same page length with your can find the required lists above. By doing a proper research on your marketing target group. competitors, you would get to know what they are interested in, get inspired in your campaigns and also see what not to do.

Emotional Value Why do you think that a consumer product company that sells detergent powder prefers appealing to women proclivity for a cleaner, good smelling house, rather than just expounding on the various qualities of the detergent? Emotions are what make a huge 56 JULY 2016

STRATEGY

YOUTUBE MARKETING WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOUR BUSINESS? ANDREEA MOISE

$

W of video uploaded every minute and 17%

ith over 1 billion unique users, 100 hours

$

of all internet traffic flowing through, YouTube is undeniably the largest video sharing website, accounting for over 4 billion video views a day.

Recognizing the importance of video, when it comes to an effective marketing strategy, is crucial, however few businesses invest in YouTube marketing, losing the opportunity to expose their brand to a huge audience.

So why are businesses avoiding YouTube marketing?

Firstly, everybody knows that written content is a lot easier and less pricey to create than video content, so when it comes to choosing A vs. B, a lot of marketers don’t know that, in the long run, the cost of a good video marketing campaign can be worth every penny and then some.

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic When we are talking about social platforms as big as YouTube, every business is guaranteed to find an audience, as long as its content is educational, entertaining and provides solutions to their problems. With that in mind, there is no wonder that YouTube has become the Holy Grail of quick answers and “how-to videos”, this being an important starting point for your campaign.

What are the types of questions your customers and audience members are asking,

or could be asking in the future? – this kind of mentality allows you to drive engagement, by providing unique & customized solutions and answers to your target customers, through instructional content. Leveraging a video content strategy, in our overall marketing plan, makes your content and services easier to track, due to the relationship between Google and YouTube. Google Universal Search blends together images, videos, books and local searches in Google’s search results, allowing people to find the most useful information for what they are looking for at the moment.

This can be taken advantage of, for example, by creating written content for your website and then a complementary video on your YouTube channel, meaning that you build backlinks to your website, which allow you to be tracked more often in searches and increase your website’s authority. As a direct result, increasing your website authority means that your pages will rank higher in the search results, and considering that over 60% of searchers click on the first 3 results on Google and over 90% of all searchers click on the first 10 results, higher ranking is not something to be overlooked.

Content never dies Kick-starting a video campaign does not necessarily have to make a big hole in the marketing budget, when content re-purposing

can deliver great results. However, this must be approached with caution, as many marketers make the mistake of seeing YouTube as an allpurpose video platform that can hold every video, ever recorded by the company.

Also be aware that your viewers will want to interact with your content, via commenting, making suggestions, voting and becoming a part of your community, and by uploading videos that were meant for a different platform, e.g. Meerkat, Periscope, you are telling your audience that you don’t care enough to create or customize content for them.Developing your strategy should always start from the message that you want to convey.

What does your brand’s target audience care about? What does your brand stand for?These are the questions that you should attempt to answer, in order to decide what kind of content is best for your strategy.

All things considered, remember that It is impossible to build an audience overnight. Take small steps into gradually building an engaging library over time, by constantly generating content and interacting with your audience and as your brand grows, don’t shy away from useful tools – such as YouTube Analytics and YouTube Ads, in order to maximize your revenue from your video campaigns.

JULY 2016 57

CUSTOMER SERVICE

LONG TERM PLANNING TO ENSURE CUSTOMER SERVICE PROFICIENCY CASANDRA COVALEOV

L short-term

eaving behind pride, misplaced priorities, profit orientation and the failure to understand the reality of today’s competitive service economy will help service strategies get the attention they deserve.

A strategy must be developed and implemented through impartial analysis, intense concentration and commitment — along with serious spending and a thorough management of skilled employees.

Obtaining positive results The Customer Service department will have the results you want once you develop a longterm strategy for it, for the customer’s needs.

Begin by analyzing these factors:

Even if customer service structures and tools are in place today, they’ll likely need to be different tomorrow. Customer service isn’t a perennial policy that lasts forever.

Instead, managers should view customer service as a long-term strategy, since it pays off to think about the future and not the present.

This requires commitment on behalf of the managers and enthusiasm from the employees, maintained over a long period, so that an outstanding service can make a name for itself.

The short-term approach to any customer is not service. Service is service, at the end of the day.

The better thing to do is develop a service strategy, so that you know exactly which customers you want to serve and figuring out what kind of service will yield the best financial rewards for you.

58 JULY 2016

All of your policies and procedures They must be customer-oriented.

Your work flow It should promote a reliable delivery of customer orders.

The company’s capability to react to unexpected event Create a contingency plan that ensures service to customers will continue uninterrupted when the computer blows up.

Customer wants and needs They must be considered at every step.

The goal should be to create a customer service program that’s well established in the culture of the company, making it a long term commitment to better serve your clients.

E-mails may not be the newest or flashiest communication channel out there, but you can’t deny they’ve got sticking power. There

are more than 4 billion e-mail accounts in the world, outpacing newer channels, like social media platforms, by more than 2 billion.

When you look at e-mails in business, research from Dimension Data, an information technology company, found that more than 90% of contact centers offer e-mail-based support. What’s more, 70% of customers prefer e-mail as a means of communicating with companies, greatly surpassing every other channel in the survey.

Why? Because using an e-mail reply system for customer service gives you: Well-targeted customer communications Timely company responses An automatic record of the conversations Easy integration with support software Additional updates and special offers The e-mail is a popular means of communication, but companies can’t rely on e-mail alone for customer service. That’s because customers are now using more channels than ever to contact customer services, and they demand service that is omnipresent.

In fact, three out of four customers use at least three different channels to contact customer service, and more than 85% of customers think brands need to do a better job at providing service across channels.

Let’s put up here 3 effective, long-term customer service strategies that are in fact more than business initiatives; they’re attitudes that should be taken by and celebrated throughout the organization.

1. Service as a product Most buyers don’t have the technical knowledge to make the best choices when they’re purchasing products – most of the times.

They want you to reassure them that support and service will be available if problems arise. So make sure that assistance as another deliverable service you offer, one that has real value.

Managers should view customer service as a long3. Strive for reliability Reliability means consistent performance that meets the expectations of all your customers all the time. Admittedly, this is ideal. But a superior service program will come very close to achieving the ideal.

Don’t forget to empower your employees Showing employees that you appreciate them is especially important for start-up companies, because, let’s face it, you don’t have very many of them. Today’s leading small businesses are making it a priority to ensure they’re supporting and engaging their talent pool, especially for customer-related roles, where employees are the face of the brand. And employees agree with this view.

With 49% of small business service teams reporting that employee retention and satisfaction are extremely important to them, it’s a no-brainer for small businesses to invest in the people who will be on the front lines, communicating with and engaging customers.

Companies often throw up roadblocks, complicating approval processes, sales initiatives, the scripts that dictate customer communication and this blocks your employees from exercising judgment and doing the right thing.

2. The customer is in charge This is more than a message; it’s grounded in the very core of the company.

You already know that, so you can use this phrase as a slogan, given that the mission of the customer service department is to retain and to encourage increased business from customers by efficiently satisfying their needs with respect to ordering, shipping, invoicing, handling claims and adjustments, and responding to inquiries, complaints, and related activities.

Just keep this in mind at all times and you will be fine.

It’s very important to examine and mend any process that gets in the way of employee performance. Even in companies that are not particularly customer-focused, most employees believe in providing excellent service. Therefore, a company should instead offer guidelines that allow for flexible and situationally appropriate actions to solve customer problems.

Companies that view service through a single lens — that of customer complaints— are missing the bigger, long-term picture.

Service isn’t just a game plan to satisfy unhappy customers; it’s an ongoing strategy that makes every interaction, between every employee and customer, at every contact point, a positive one.

term strategy, since it pays off to think about the future and not the present.

The most important strategy is relying on the fact that people want to deal with other people, not brands or companies. Therefore, there is nothing less personal than getting an email from a brand with no individualized message.

We all seek human to human engagement.

So let’s make sure that every customer engagement experience is a personalized one.

It’s an opportunity to build a strong relationship with a client. A relationship that extends beyond expectations and one that will lead to a memorable experience.

Phone calls to customers must be taken as a marketing opportunities to build a satisfactory customer experience. It is very difficult to enforce any KPIs around conversation times, since each discussion is different and each client tells a different story.

Also, a very solid customer service department renders the marketing department’s efforts a wee bit less expensive. This might not be quite clear at first, but by employing a passionate and hands-on approach to understanding each individual customer’s needs, we will leave a lasting, positive impression on our clients, which will ease the Marketing department’s task of creating ads, messages or online campaigns that amaze your customers, since they are already primed due to the Customer Service’s earlier endeavors.

Such dedication will eventually generate loyal customers, which will keep coming back for more and can easily bring in new customers, due to word of mouth. Basically, this is the equivalent of solid gold for your company.

JULY 2016 59

ASK THE EXPERTS

ASK THE EXPERTS

HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE KPI REPORTING? CRISTINA TARĂ‚TA

R management

eporting is an important stage in the performance process, although managers can sometimes fall into the trap of considering it as the end of the performance cycle. However, just reporting performance data will not ensure the improvement of results. Improvement is possible when decisions are made based on the insights provided by data.

Common issues in reporting are the overload of information, which makes it hard to focus on what is important, the unavailability of information in due time or the inaccuracy of data.

By following these 10 pieces of advice, you can solve the above-mentioned problems, ensure a better reporting and, consequently, improve the decision making process.

1 . Ensure data timeliness by clarifying the responsibilities

of data custodians and the data gathering process. Sending reminders also helps in receiving data on time;

6 . Inform all participants about the performance review meeting

agenda and make sure you stay on topic, in order to ensure the important issues are solved in due time.

Should you be interested in conducting efficient and effective performance review meetings, make sure to include topics such as: Presentation of results; Discussions on the KPIs that are far from reaching targets; Analysis of the possible causes of underperformance; Review of the portfolio of initiatives; Decisions upon the next steps.

7 . Discuss the KPIs on red should with priority and identify the root

cause of the problems;

2 . Verify for data accuracy by requiring for raw data as 8 . Avoid finding responsible persons for poor performance. Instead,

well and analyzing it before compiling the report. Frequent data audits ensure better accuracy;

focus on finding solutions and assigning accountability to make sure the initiatives agreed upon will be implemented;

3 . Make sure performance results are accompanied by 9 . Keep it short, by assigning a meeting coordinator to keep discussions

comments. Data custodians should also provide the context in which either high or low levels of performance occurred;

on the right track! A performance review meeting should not last for more than 2 hours;

4 . Display data in tables and graphs by maintaining a 10 . Send a follow-up email with the meeting minutes and all

simple and appealing visual design of the report;

initiatives established, along with their responsible persons and deadlines.

5 . Send the performance report to all stakeholders at least

When it comes to KPI reporting, improving this process represents the basis of a better, more informed and efficient decision making process. As such, be careful and diligent in this endeavor, lest you wish your decisions to be built on shaky ground.

3 days in advance of the performance review meeting, in order to ensure data is reviewed before the discussions; 60 JULY 2016

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LIFESTYLE

LIFESTYLE

TRAVELLING THE BEST WAY TO BOOST YOUR PERSONAL PERFORMANCE ADELINA ACATRINEI

O it. We spend our lives in a back and forth, home-office-home type of

ur world is rapidly changing and we don’t even have time to realize

YOUR DAYS OFF ARE SACRED

routine, wondering if this is how a regular lifestyle looks like. We begin to question ourselves only when we realize that our work performance is very low, when reading a book after work becomes a real challenge and stress becomes our closest friend.

Numerous studies have shown that job-related anxiety is by far the biggest source of stress in our lives and that it has progressively escalated over the past few years. Increased levels of job stress have been demonstrated to be associated with increased rates of hypertension, heart attacks and depression, the so-called diseases of the 21st century.

So how can we solve this?

TRAVEL ALONE

First of all, avoid sleepwalking through life. A daily routine can quickly reel in negative thoughts, so you better start planning a trip, to get some time off work; you will see that your mindset will slowly change to a more positive one.

Remember – if we are doing the same things day in, day out, it’s quite easy for negative ideas to get stuck in our heads.

PLAN YOUR TRIPS AROUND WEEKENDS

According to a number of researchers from Columbia University and the University of Pittsburgh, routine and habits can limit our mental capability and it’s very important to spend time in new environments, because different cultures can improve our way of thinking.

We spend our lives worrying about financial aspects and career improvements, whilst bearing a lot of unwanted stress. And when that happens, it’s important to take a step back, start packing and go visit some new place.

SET-UP A TRAVELLING BANK ACCOUNT

62 JULY 2016

Dare to experience different ways of living and your eyes will see a whole new world and then you’ll realize that work isn’t everything. Travelling makes our relationship with our jobs much healthier, due to us spending some time away from everything, and this will automatically improve our work performance.

LIFESTYLE

Also, when you travel you have the chance to gain new skills or to improve the ones you already have: you become independent and your cultural competences will be increased, your communication skills will be improved, you’ll be more confident and adaptable, but above all, you will gain new perspectives.

Can we travel the whole world with a full time job?

Yes, we can! However, from the beginning we have to establish some new habits: Your days off are sacred So do not waste them! Studies show that employees only use 51% of their eligible paid vacation. You work hard and need to take a vacation. Vacation days are not only part of your overall compensation package, they are part of your ”recharge” system.

You need to understand the fact that taking time off is important for your mental health, which directly affects your performance at work, attitude and productivity.

reward, known as me time, which gives you the chance to analyze your life in retrospect.

Plan your trips around weekends And if it is necessary, you can either clockin some overtime or maybe even work remotely. Sounds weird, right? Who wants to work during their vacation? Hear me out on this.

If you want to visit South America and you know that you’ll need at least three weeks to do that, but you only have 10 days of vacation, you can do one of two things, depending on your workload.

If you have a smaller project that you’ll not be able to finish before departing, you can still work on it while abroad, for about 2 hours or so. If it’s a larger scale one, you can clock-in some overtime, either while you’re at the office or from home, if your job allows it. This is all about maximizing your time.

future article, we will discuss some tips and tricks on how to create a travelling budget and how to become better at it.

As a final thought, for those wishing to improve their personal performance and maintain a healthy relationship with their job, just start packing, randomly place your finger anywhere on a map of the world and buy a plane ticket for that destination.

TOP 5 CHEAPEST CITIES FOR FREELANCERS Using data from the NomadList, the Global Peace Index and the Happy Planet Index, Jay McGregor, contributor for Forbes Magazine has compiled a list of the top 5 cheapest destinations for freelancers. The following cities are listed in no particular order.

Seoul, South Korea

Travel alone It would be fun and you’ll spend a lot of time with you. Sometimes it is hard to find somebody who is able to come along in the same period, therefore it’s important to start packing your bag and go solo.

Set-up a travelling bank account and start “travel hacking“ Once you’ve created a travel savings account, try to save up some money each month. You can also set up an automatic transfer, so when your paycheck has arrived, a predetermined amount will go directly to your travelling account. Now that you have the necessary budget, start the travel hacking process.

From that moment on, you will become a better problem-solver and an independent thinker. Travelling yields a very precious

This very short guide, presented by Forbes Magazine, should help you get a better understanding of what this process is. In a

Berlin, Germany

Bucharest, Romania Taipei, Taiwan Lisbon, Portugal

JULY 2016 63

LIFESTYLE

FROM ABCS TO C++ ANDREEA MOISE

T that programming skills are becoming

he inescapable fact of the 21st century is

ever more important, quickly turning into the core competency for a vast majority of workers. It has become obvious that even if you have a non-technical job, computer skills are essential because, after all, they heavily influence the way you interact with computers.

From scratch, to C++ In the past twenty years, we have witnessed computers the size of a room shrink down to fit in everyone’s pocket and work a hundred times faster. This makes it exponentially harder to predict how the future will look like when technological advancements are developing at a much faster pace than we can keep up with, thus making coding languages a gateway towards obtaining a better understanding of what’s going on “behind the curtains”.

So does that mean that everybody in the world should start learning to code and struggle with programming? Actually no.

The most important thing that we need to understand is that just learning the code is not enough, but rather increase the number of people that understand what code can actually do.

Roughly said, it is not about what you know by heart, it’s about the way you think. This is a principle called “computational thinking” – a way to devise a step-by–step process, in order to achieve a desired outcome, just like cooking a meal or building a house.

64 JULY 2016

Far from the concept of “coding is only for mathematical geniuses”, computational thinking actually starts with a feat of pure imagination and with the ability to visualize how digitized information can be combined and changed into something with new applications.

Fifty Shades of Coding Now, coding isn’t as bland as simply knowing how to do it and getting paid for it.

Learning how to code has many underlying benefits and has been proven to improve certain abilities, such as problem-solving, overcoming challenges and attaining better focus levels, which goes to show that if you wish to improve one aspect of your life by acquiring new knowledge, you can end up improving many more.

Moreover, coding becomes especially relevant if we ponder the fact that most of the decisions we make depend upon logic; the most obvious example here is regarding decision-making being if/else and the thing we execute.

In the Lost Interview with Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder stated that “everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think”, emphasizing the fact that in his vision of the future, coding will become a fundamental digital literacy.

A common assumption is that nowadays, everyone should have coding skills in order to get a better job, however seeking employment

based on a singular skill is an outdated way of thinking. It is true that with the rapid advancement of technology, we should constantly reconsider which hard skills are in demand, but this is a short term strategy.

Coding is not the cure all solution, but integrating technical skills with knowledge is what matters the most and being able to leverage technology to your advantage, towards strategic implementation, will be a constant demand for the workforce of the future.

There are a lot of resources that can kick start learning code in an easy and timely manner, however mastery of any programming language or generally speaking, any new skill, requires a bit more time than just a few months.

But it is enough to make people start thinking as programmers, and understand that a big part of coding literacy is the problem solving mentality it induces.

The ability to understand and build systems that not only improve work, but automate it, can prove crucial in today’s business environment, where time is of the essence.

Also more and more people are starting to realize that code training does not only provide societies with the next generation of developers, but also develops better managers, who understand what can be done with code and are aware of the risks and rewards that come with using it in an effective manner.

LIFESTYLE

MINDFULNESS: ONE STEP CLOSER TO PERSONAL PERFORMANCE RALUCA VINTILA

W changing world, with the evolution of

e can all agree that we are living in a fast-

When was the last time you’ve felt you were on ‘automatic pilot” mode?

information and communications speaking for itself.

When was the last time when you’ve wanted to have a clone help you?

Change implies movement or transformation on different levels: mental, physical or spiritual.

That’s when Focus and Awareness are in danger.

And that’s also when stress appears!

Being on the spot, up-to-date, taking the step forward, all of this produces tension and keeps us away from being present in the moment and our nervous system stays revved up. Although this is not exactly part of the personal performance story, it seems to be how the everyday 21st century individual perceives his daily life.

Given this context, we have to deal with a huge challenge: do we live life or do you let life live us?

When was the last time when you’ve listened to someone on one hand, but doing something else on the other?

Nowadays, there is a lot of rumor going around about the benefits of mindfulness practices and their positive impact on individuals’ lives, in terms of mental health, long-term focus development and well-being.

That’s part of the performant individual image that is so often seen as key nowadays.

And this is exactly why we are discussing about it right now.

I used mindfulness practice to....

First of all, let’s discover what does the concept refer to and how can we measure our own mindfulness level, in order to clearly define our starting point.

What’s all this about?

Mindfulness represents the receptive state of mind in which attention, informed by a sensitive awareness of what is occurring in the present, simply observes what is taking place.

This contrasts the driven mode of processing.

Basically, you get to the point where you are able to increase focus and awareness, and also decrease stress.

Why would I do it?

When it comes to benefits, you can examine The Applied Mindfulness Process Scale (AMPS), as the evaluation criteria will certainly prove alluring.

Never

Rarely

Sometimes

Often

Almost Always

Observe my thoughts in a detached manner

0

1

2

3

4

Relax my body when I am tense

0

1

2

3

4

See that my thoughts are not necessarily true

0

1

2

3

4

Enjoy the little things in life more fully

0

1

2

3

4

Calm my emotions when I am upset

0

1

2

3

4

Stop reacting to my negative impulses

0

1

2

3

4

See the positive side of difficult circumstances

0

1

2

3

4

Reduce the tension when I am stressed

0

1

2

3

4

Realize that I can grow stronger from difficult circumstances

0

1

2

3

4

Stop my unhelpful reactions to situations

0

1

2

3

4

Be aware of and appreciate pleasant events

0

1

2

3

4

Let go of unpleasant thoughts and feelings

0

1

2

3

4

Realize that my thoughts are not facts

0

1

2

3

4

Notice pleasant things in the face of difficult situations

0

1

2

3

4

See alternative views of a situation

0

1

2

3

4

JULY 2016 65

LIFESTYLE

How mindful am I? Measure your current state!

Kirk Warren Brown, Associate Professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, with a solid background in consciousness, mindfulness and social neuroscience, has developed a tool that measures the actual level of mindfulness practices.

Day-to-Day Experiences Questionnaire

It is a questionnaire with 15 questions, which capture everyday experiences under a set of core characteristics of mindfulness. You can assess your current level of mindfulness on a 1-6 scale, depending on frequency or infrequency.

6. I forget a person’s name almost as soon as I’ve been told it for the first time.

1 = Almost always 2 = Very frequently 3 = Somewhat frequently 4 = Somewhat infrequently 5 = Very infrequently 6 = Almost never

10. I do jobs or tasks automatically, without being aware of what I’m doing.

Now that we know what mindfulness is, the next is why does it matter and the how should we assess its current levels in our lives. The following are a few suggestions: Mindful eating Integrating mindful practices in your relationship with food and eating, and the whole science behind eating habits. Beyond this, it stretches to other ideas, such as healthy weight and healthy eating.

Mindful walking and mindful breathing It refers to the pace, position and feelings you get; Mindful pregnancy and parenting Mothers and fathers integrating mindfulness practices in the journey of parenthood; Mindfulness in schools Believe it or not, people are thinking about teaching this in schools, considering that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has become a frequent disorder found amongst many children.

As a final thought, for those wishing to achieve higher levels of proficiency in their personal lives, try your best to improve your life through mindfulness practices, take note of everything you experience, respond to well-known issues in novel ways, take a deep breath and make wise choices.

66 JULY 2016

1. I could be experiencing some emotion and not be conscious of it until sometime later.

2. I break or spill things because of carelessness, not playing attention, or thinking of something else.

3. I find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present.

4. I tend to walk away quickly to get where I’m going without paying attention to what I experience along the way.

5. I tend to notice feelings of physical tension or discomfort until they really grab my attention.

7. It seems I am “running on automatic”, without much awareness of what I’m doing.

8. I rush through activities without being really attentive to them.

9. I get so focused on the goal I want to achieve that I lose touch with what I’m doing right now to get there.

11. I find myself listening to someone with one ear, doing something at the same time.

12. I drive places on “automatic pilot” and then wonder why I went there.

13. I find myself preoccupied with the future or the past.

14. I find myself doing things without paying attention.

15. I snack without being aware that I’m eating.

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Livescribe 3

Poros Cedar

For many, understanding an employee in terms of interaction is a difficult task, especially in a large community-based environment. However, the Japanese company Hitachi invented a product to help managers and leaders understand how their employees interact with one another in the office.

For businessmen and women, travelling with a fully charged phone or tablet means hours of productive work, on the fly.

However, in many occasions, they forget their charger or to fully charge their device before leaving their house. People struggling with this issue can now stop worrying. A new product from Poros, a briefcase and bag producer, is here to save the day. Their solution is an advanced travelling bag, equipped with the ability to charge devices. Founded in 2014, Poros is eager to bring communications to another level, by way of ensuring people always have their devices fully charged.

Getting through meetings and classes effortlessly

The Hitachi Business Microscope is a device worn on the person’s neck in order to recognise body behavior, face time, voice tone and even how far the employee’s distance is to the listener when communicating.

It uses microphones, an accelerometer and other devices embedded in the ID card that the employees wear. The data received is then instantly sent to the central server, where managers and CEOs are able to analyze individual information.

Hitachi Business Microscope uses the advantages of technology and innovation to understand an employee’s style in collaborating, interacting with one another and their network of close colleagues.

In an article from the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, we find that Hitachi’s main goal is to “efficiently evaluate the effectiveness of management policies and workplace environments in a company.”

In some sense, the product’s goal has been achieved, as Hitachi’s found a connection between longer periods of physical movement and elevated levels of happiness, along correlating the latter with an increased productivity in the sales department. However, others believe that the product only gathers quantitative data and foregoes the qualitative side of things, which is a major loss for those wishing to create a better collaborative environment.

Regardless, the Hitachi Business Microscope gives companies the necessary utility to understand their employees on a much larger scale, rather than with the old traditional one-on-one personal approach. It gives companies a convenient and effective way of gathering data that will help cultivate a better work environment.

68 JULY 2016

The bags of the future

The Poros Cedar bags are made from leather that is both durable and stylish. It offers four compartments, a main, larger one and three additional, smaller ones. It also has two pockets where you can fit your device– both being tailored to perfectly accommodate your Apple and Samsung products. Upon purchasing it, you are also given three types of adapters: an Apple 30-pin, Lighting or Micro USB. Not only that, but it is able to recharge devices up to six times. The bag itself can be fully recharged after 2 to 10 hours, relatively dependent on its’ battery condition. These features offer people the utility of having both a traveling bag and a charger, all in one.

Now, a review isn’t a review without negative points: the Poros Cedar is quite bulky and heavy. Once stuffed with personal belongings, laptop, magazines and some other items, the bag becomes quite cumbersome. The bag itself, without anything in it, is four pounds.

Even more so, the electronic component, used to charge devices, can be seen from the outside These are definitely some points worth thinking about when considering to buy the product.

Regardless, the Poros Cedar does the job well, as it is able to recharge numerous devices, multiple times. And as long as you do not mind carrying around a somewhat bulky bag, its structure offers people carefree travelling experience.

HARDWARE

The Portal router

Ili

For many, having a fast Internet connection can be quite a hassle to get hold of. Many Wi-Fi router devices offer consumers a fast Internet connection, but oftentimes it is quite unreliable. Introducing Portal, a device created by Ignition Labs, a technology company, which offers consumers access to fast Internet, with a twist: 5GHz spectrum airwaves. Typically, such airwaves have only been used for radars, but Portal is the first non-radar device that gives that option to everyday household users.

Experiencing a language barrier is a real hassle in any negotiation or mediation process. However, all of this will soon be a thing of the past due to a small device that bears the name Ili or ili. This device is the first wearable gadget that is able to translate in real time.

300 times the speed of regular Internet connections

Its developers believe that Wi-Fi networks are lacking their product’s speed because Wi-Fi channels are consistently under greater strain. This causes congestion, especially in highly populated areas. Interferences from other Wi-Fi routers and devices creates lag and slows the speed at which communication is transmitted over various channels, but Portal avoids all of that, going around the usual disturbances that affect a Wi-Fi connection.

Its strong congestion management and expanded spectrum feature allow users to get a 300x faster Internet connection, which helps with streaming high-definition videos and other heavy bandwidth tasks.

The Portal router is also able to support multiple units, from other family members’ PC, to cellphones and tablets, being compatible with most of today’s devices. Also, its sleek design has dual-band antennas, supporting both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks.

Portal is priced at $149 and will become available for purchase sometime around this year’s summer.

As technology develops, so do our needs. By not having a proper Internet connection with high speed download and upload rates, users are forced to waste countless minutes or sometimes even hours, just to finish one task.

The first real-time translation device

Larger than a USB stick, yet very similar to it, this device allows listeners to understand their speakers, without having to know their native language. The simplicity of the design offers users a straightforward and streamlined experience, with a single button and speaker that provides high quality playback.

Not only that, but this instant translation device works without a Wi-Fi or 3G connection, making it convenient to use on the go.

Ili also offers users that intend to go a long trip abroad the option of understanding some foreign language words via its own embedded dictionary. The travel lexicon, as it is known, helps those that are constantly on the move by providing several important words and catch phrases that can come in handy when trying to entertain a smooth conversation, even if you do not know that specific language.

This device had already been extremely hyped by the media and general public, with its presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show – CES 2016. However, this product will only appear on the market starting during the summer of 2016.

Those interested must also be aware of the fact that this product is only available in three languages right now: English, Japanese, and Chinese. However, the developing company – Logbar, is planning to add more languages in future versions, to appeal to a wider variety of consumers.

However, with Portal, users are able to experience a faster Internet connection that speeds up any Internet-based activity, so that one can finally get on with the next task at hand.

But given its language barrier-breaking ability, this device is worth waiting for, especially if you plan on going to China or Japan, and its simple design and ability to work without a wireless connection makes it an extraordinarily useful device to use on the fly.

Never again will you be gated from getting your job done by having to rely on a slow or intermittent Internet connection.

And since it barely takes up any space, you can easily fit this in your pocket, in order to have it readily available at all times.

JULY 2016 69

SOFTWARE REVIEW

SOFTWARE

Toto Health

SumHR

Mobile app trends are becoming increasingly popular in Africa, especially an app that helps pregnant women go through their pregnancy. The creator of the app is Toto Health, a Kenya-Based company, that wants to make sure expectant mothers and their children are provided with rich health-related information.

A new software product, sumHR, will aim to make the jobs of HR professionals a lot easier. SumHR gets rid of the ordinary excel spreadsheets that are still in use today and replaces them with a new human resources management tool that makes the jobs of HR experts more expedient, completely abolishing any chances of making mistakes.

An app helping African lives

Toto Health works by giving pregnant women and mothers tips and health information about their pregnancy or the development of their children.

For pregnant mothers, the app shows how many weeks of pregnancy they are in and what kind of vitamins and nutrients are needed to make sure the baby is healthy. It also tells them what food products to look for, in order to get the right amount of nutrients.

This technology has empowered African women, as they are constantly reminded of their health, via text messages. This app also has the potential to help out other citizens and maybe even people in other African countries, greatly enhancing its usefulness.

For many Africans, being digitally literate is oftentimes seen as a novelty. However, with the popularity of mobile phones and applications, people can start multitasking. Getting payments delivered on time or requesting crucial information on whatever topic of interest they might have are just some of the ways in which technology can help African lives.

Overall, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ICT), the use of cell phones has increased dramatically, from 1 billion in 2000, to 7 billion in 2015. Even more so, the use of Internet has sprung up, with 3.2 billion people boasting an Internet connection, with 2 billion of these people being from developing countries.

The trends in Africa, for some, might seem less influenced by technology. However, for those who have never had a phone before and are handed a cell phone, it can mean a lot. These small devices are transforming and saving lives everywhere.

70 JULY 2016

Powering your HR department

The software uses a cloud-based system, with workers being able to access it even outside their offices, if they wish to keep track of their working hours, when working outside the office. Not only that, it also keeps tracks of working schedules, vacation leaves and attendance, all in one package. In addition, sumHR can even cut the company’s expenses in half when it comes to RFID trading, and boasts a swipe card with an attendance tracker, that is capable of memorizing 3,000 different fingerprints and 1,000,000 transaction records.

Many users, familiar with the sumHR product and features said that it is a straightforward piece of software, with a user-friendly interface and extremely time-cost efficient.

This, of course, helps organizations of all kinds, but it is especially useful for start-up companies, allowing them to focus on key issues, like building their business and developing their products.

This great multifunctional software is a recommended must-have for start-ups and small industry companies, as it makes the HR department’s work more streamlined.

It also eliminates any hassle and mistakes that HR management professionals might expose themselves to when using traditional excel spreadsheets.

Overall, sumHR can help small-sized companies start, build, grow and maintain their business, all the while providing the necessary tools for proper business administration and people management.

SOFTWARE

SlideDog

Wunderlist

Having a great presentation tool is a must-have if you want your ideas to be noticed by others that may ultimately wish to buy or invest in them. Yet many people believe that simply using the wellknown PowerPoint tool will not catch people’s attention any longer.

That’s why the market has seen a sudden influx of presentation instruments, in recent years, each boasting more options than its competitors. One of them is SlideDog, SD for short.

Having a to-do-list is a must for those who like to focus on completing task after task. Luckily, given that today’s tech world is rapidly evolving, creating and being reminded of your daily tasks has never been easier. With Wunderlist, a brilliant app that replaces the old handwritten to-do list, you’ll never forget your day-to-day plans.

Presenting with style

Right from the get-go, we notice one of its greatest features: the tool allows users to insert content from their PowerPoint, PDF, Prezi presentations, movie clips, web pages and so forth, into one single presentation. This is also its main difference when compared to PowerPoint, the fact that it is not your usual software creation tool.

SlideDog takes content from all of those aforementioned formats and wraps them up neatly into one solid presentation. It lets users create new content from existing files, including things like basic presentation files or polls and YouTube Videos.

It is also able to broadcast the presentation over the Internet, allowing one’s audience to fast forward through the slides, if they do not wish to go through them at the host’s pace, without disturbing the host or other viewers. Audience members and viewers are able to chat with one another and hosts are able to ask them feedback regarding each session, via a live poll. The professional version of SlideDog also offers users the ability to change the background image and present their information in a dual screen mode, giving them more control over the presentation.

Wonderful for productivity

This software, compatible with Android, IOS and even PC platforms, is one of the best productivity apps out there. It is a straightforward software, that allows users to make, edit and rearrange a digital todo list, based on a task’s relative importance, set by the user.

Furthermore, Wunderlist gives you the possibility to share your list with family members, friends or co-workers, in addition to its regular deadline reminder options, so that you are completely covered when it comes to daily responsibilities. Another noteworthy feature is its collaboration settings.

This basically allows the user to give editing rights to certain individuals, in case he/she will not always be there to update the status. This comes quite in handy when you are working on a group project, but it can serve more mundane functions too, like allowing your spouse to edit the shopping list, before you leave for the store.

While its main feature is combining various other presentation files, one of SlideDog’s more important cons is its inability to modify or change existing presentations. It is also limited to Windows users, rendering Linux and Mac users unable to use this software.

Another positive point about this app is that it offers its basic essentials for free. But nothing’s perfect and as such, Wunderlist has a few drawbacks. One of the more notable cons is that it does not offer location-based reminders, which is a feature that exists in many other productivity apps. Even if you purchase the professional version, which is quite on the expensive side, you still do not get that feature.

Nonetheless, SlideDog provides a solution for a gap in the market that many people have decried over the years, allowing users to generate their own innovative content by combining numerous parts into one glorious final project. Adding the fact that SD integrates in its kit the ability to interact with your audience, while maintaining an uncomplicated interface, we quickly see why many people rushed to add this to their Windows tools library.

If this does not bother you, then rest assured that Wunderlist is excellent at what it does. Its smooth interface, numerous compatibility and sharing options, coupled with its free flowing collaboration mode, which lets you continuously update a list, are just some of this app’s stronger points, especially if we compare it to other such tools that do not offer this particular mix of options.

JULY 2016

71

RECOMMENDED

RECOMMENDATIONS

Must-haves for your 2016 reading list 1

3

2

4

6

1. The Tyranny of Uncertainty: A New Framework to Predict, Remediate and Monitor Risk

2. Marketing Performance: How marketers drive profitable growth

The authors offer a revolutionary solution to risk management. It’s the unknown risks that keep leaders awake at night―wondering how to prepare for and steer their organization clear from that which they cannot predict. By adopting a scientific approach to risk management, we can escape the limited and historical view of experience and statistical based risk management models to expose dynamic complexity risks and prepare for new and never experienced events.

Top marketers today don’t shy away from financial accountability. In fact, they actively seek to account for the return on their companies’ investments in marketing – because they want their budget to make a difference for their brands and for their business: more relevant messages, more effective campaigns, more satisfied customers, more profitable promotions, higher returns to shareholders.

By Nabil Abu el Ata, Rudolf Schmandt

3. Risk Assessment: A Practical Guide to Assessing Operational Risks

By Georgi Popov, Bruce K. Lyon, Bruce Hollcroft

Covers the fundamentals of risk assessment and emphasizes taking a practical approach in the application of the techniques.

It is Written as a primer for students and employed safety professionals covering the fundamentals of risk assessment and emphasizing a practical approach in the application of the techniques. It also includes interactive exercises, links, videos, and downloadable risk assessment tools.

By Thomas Bauer, Tjark Freundt, Jonathan Gordon, Jesko Perrey, Dennis Spillecke

4. Assessing and Stimulating a Dialogical Self in Groups, Teams, Cultures, And Organizations

By Hubert Hermans

This book presents 9 theory-based and practice-oriented methods for assessing and stimulating a multi-voiced dialogical self in the context of groups, teams, cultures, and organizations. All of these methods are based on Dialogical Self Theory. The book deals with the practical implications of this theory as applied in the areas of coaching, training, and counselling.

5. Educating the Deliberate Professional: Preparing for future practices (Professional and Practice-based Learning)

6. Hostage at the Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others, and Raise Performance

As a whole, this book argues for the importance of educating deliberate professionals, because, in the current higher education climate, there is a need to reconcile critique (thinking), participation (doing) and moral responsibility (relating to others) in professional practice and professional education.

An international leadership professor, consultant, and veteran hostage negotiator - explains that it is only by openly facing conflict that we can truly progress through the most difficult business challenges. In this provocative book, he reveals how hostage negotiation techniques can be applied to any business relationship.

By Franziska Trede, Celina McEwen

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5

By George Kohlrieser

RECOMMENDATIONS

The “John Oliver Effect” as new breed of entertainment E recognized

ntertainment shows have long been the mediums which discuss societal issues in a context that is often comical or ironical and sarcastic. However, traditional entertainment begins and remains confined to the shows that created it. It rarely goes beyond the purpose of entertaining the masses. To be more precise, entertainment shows are not regularly transposed into actions that would benefit the society we live in.

And here is where “Last Week Tonight” enters the stage. On the one hand, the show satisfies people’s need for entertainment, jokes, and parodies. On the other hand – each episode takes down one particular subject (be it political, economic or social) and, based on intensive research and proper documentation, the producers provide real-life, viable solutions that would enhance and optimize the subject in matter.

Comedians have often been criticizing the system we live in. Obvious faults and errors basically constitute an endless fountain of inspiration for such media. But there are little to no cases where the public itself is interested in going farther than laughing at a cynical joke, in what can be considered a bitter sweet situation.

John Oliver has created and continues to create massive waves of change that trigger the reactionary reflex of what are normally passive citizens. His influence has spread so far in the past 3 years in which the show has aired that Time magazine has called it “the John Oliver effect,” a phrase that has quickly spread to multiple other periodicals.

What separates Oliver from other comedians?

The “John Oliver effect” is widely discussed on the internet and debated even by prestigious

publications like Time or Fortune magazines.

Conclusions draw to Oliver being truly a man of this age, knowing that the internet is the best engagement tool, should you provide the necessary means and directions for this.

Truth be told, entertainment that motivates people to demand a change for the better is entertainment at its best.

So enough of the theory, here are the facts showing results obtained by John Oliver through his calls for action during the “Last Week Tonight” show.

The Net Neutrality issue The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got to thinking that the internet should not be treated equally, and some websites deserve faster connection than others, in exchange for a special price.

After discussing the issue and the policies involved, John Oliver encouraged his audience to submit their public comments on the FCC website. The same night, the FCC’s servers were down due to the high influx of website visitors.

The Miss America Pageant faulty scholarship scheme After revealing that the association to which the pageant donated with the purpose of supporting women’s development required of all its receivers to be unmarried and have a “mint condition uterus,” John Oliver encouraged the society to seek more viable scholarship receivers, providing them with multiple examples. Shortly after, the Society of Women Engineers reportedly received in just 2 days 15% of what is their annual income, or $25,000, to be more precise.

Legal matters John Oliver’s main topics are most of the times political. In this sense, he has often attacked faulty policies and lawmakers for their decisions and rationale. One such case was the bail procedure due to which low-income citizens were imprisoned even before being found guilty of a crime. Having been imprisoned basically places social and professional stigmata on your life. Thanks to his on point remarks, the legislature has now taken a more relaxed approach regarding bail requirements for those who committed non-violent crimes or misdemeanors.

Thanks to this decision, the persons who find themselves in such situation will not have their chances of getting a job taken away from them.

Beyond these real changes mentioned above, however, stand the people who supported Oliver’s guidelines. And these people have been reached and engaged via the Internet. The “Last Week Tonight” show stands out through its online engagement activities. The host, John Oliver, often connects with his public via Twitter or Facebook and has even famously been engaged in Twitter spats with people whose actions he had discussed during his show, like the President of Ecuador, or Donald Trump.

What’s most importantly, is that these actions and the strategies supporting them are not done with a mere desire to create a media stir, but to actually initiate a change wave. For this change to happen, apart from the efforts the team puts into research and methodology, the show maintains a continuous connection with its audience via social media. Offering and responding to live feedback fills in the gap between a traditional entertainer and John Oliver.

JULY 2016 73

THE GCC HOSPITALS PERFORMANCE 2016 BENCHMARKING REPORT

FAST AND EFFECTIVE ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE DATA ANALYSIS

The continuous process of benchmarking allows hospital executives to see how their organizations stack up against competitors as well as national leaders.

COMPLETE STRUCTURE ENCOMPASSING THREE EQUALLY IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS

PATIENT FOCUS

HOSPITAL RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION

HOSPITAL PROFILE

This dimension focuses on patient experience, assessing the interaction between hospitals and patients in terms of medical service quality, timeliness of medical care or patients experience and safety.

This approach provides insights into the core operations and hospital related activity, being centered around the following areas: finance, technology, staff engagement, compliance and governance.

This dimension relates to the operational profile of the hospitals and the aspects concerned with this dimension are: hospital demographics, hospital profile and social responsibility.

For more details, visit our store at: store.kpiinstitute.org

Performance Magazine, Printed Edition. Fifth issue, July, 2016. Content: News. New Leading Edge Plan for the Energy Market.

Embracing the Art of Networking. Elon Musk is on his way to revoluzionize space travel. Venezuela’s response to the recession is a two-day working week. Increase of Air Pollution in the Poorest Cities. The growing trend of companies committing to Social Responsibility. Avocados, the new oranges. Brain productivity – what happens when we lose focus. Companies that are stepping up their Performance Management. Events. Performance Improvement and KPI Conference - Dubai. Cover story: In data we trust: optimizing reporting through KPIs. Expert Interviews: Matthew Goodwin, Principal Manager of Performance and Operational Support at West Sussex County Council, United Kingdom. Zainab Mohammed, CEO of Property Management & Marketing, wasl, United Arab Emirates. Zaid Al Huneidi, Market Research Manager at the Kuwait Finance House, Kuwait. Chua E Long, Senior VP/Head of Transformation, Strategy & Transformation at AXA, Malaysia. Dermawan Wibisono, Senior lecturer at the Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia. Somita Raj, Organizational Development and Learning Leader – ASEAN division at Honeywell, Malaysia. Portrait. Marc Lawn, Strategic Lead and Project Director – OD Transformation Programme at BP and Founder of The Business GP, United Kingdom. Transforming businesses. Mentoring people. Around the World: Kuwait’s workforce demographics trends – does national culture matter? South Korea’s National Pension System: coverage gaps and gaming. The Sector-led improvement program: building desire for improvement. Creating a better education system with the Balanced Scorecard.

Individual Performance. What does job satisfaction mean anymore?. The art of giving negative feedback: dos and don’ts. Conflict at the workplace – Causes and Consequences. Operational Performance. What you need to know about Onboarding. Operational performance and you. Balanced Scorecard. ERP Systems, the Balanced Scorecard and KPIs. The Balanced Scorecard, just as relevant after 24 years. KPIs. What is KPI balancing? Customer Service. Long term conditions for your Customer Service. Strategy and Performance Management. 6 direct marketing tips for smaller organizations to boost your bottom line performance.

YouTube marketing: what’s in it for your business? Ask the Experts. How can you improve KPI reporting? Lifestyle. Travelling – the best way to boost your personal performance. From ABCs to C++. Mindfulness: One step closer to personal performance.

Hardware Review. Livescribe 3 – Getting through Meetings and Classes Effortlessly. Poros Cedar – the bags of the future. ili – the first real-time translation device. The Portal router – 300 times the speed of your regular Internet connections. Software Review.

SumHR: Powering your HR department. An App Helping African Lives. SlideDog – presenting with style. Wunderlist – wonderful for productivity. Recommended. Titles to include in your 2016 reading list. The Tyranny of Uncertainty: A New Framework to Predict, Remediate and Monitor Risks, By Nabil Abu el Ata, Rudolf Schmandt. Marketing Performance: How marketers drive profitable growth, By Thomas Bauer, Tjark Freundt, Jonathan Gordon, Jesko Perrey, Dennis Spillecke. Risk Assessment: A Practical Guide to Assessing Operational Risks, By Georgi Popov, Bruce K. Lyon, Bruce Hollcroft. Assessing and Stimulating a Dialogical Self in Groups, Teams, Cultures, And Organizations, By Hubert Hermans. Educating the Deliberate Professional: Preparing for future practices, By Franziska Trede, Celina McEwen. Hostage at the Table: How Leaders Can Overcome Conflict, Influence Others, and Raise Performance, By George Kohlrieser. The “John Oliver Effect” as a new breed of entertainment. Keywords: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Balanced Scorecard. Performance Management. Performance Measurement. Performance Improvement.

Strategy and Business Planning. Employee Performance Management. Personal Performance Management. Data Analysis. Data Visualization. Benchmarking. Customer Service Performance. Innovation Performance. Balanced Scorecard Management System Performance. Measurement. Evolution. Accuracy. Big Data. Management. Business Intelligence. Ethics. Education. Solution.

Problem-solving. Decision-making. Project Management. Project Planning. KPI Selection. KPI Documentation. KPI Evaluation.

KPI Life-cycle. Data gathering. Data presentation. Expert Interviews. Academics. Consultants. Practitioners. Events. Research.

Mission. Vision. Strategy. Best know-how. Data and Facts. Common Sense. Data Accuracy. Performance Magazine Focus Categories: Editorials. News. Interviews. Multimedia. Strategy. Balanced Scorecard. KPI. Organizational Performance. Operational Performance.

Individual Performance. Personal Performance. Around the World. Interviews. Articles. Editorials. Multimedia. News. The KPI Institute’s Professional Certification Programs. Certified Strategy and Business Planning Professional. Certified KPI Professional and Practitioner. Certified Performance Improvement Professional. Certified Employee Performance Management Professional.

Certified Personal Performance Professional. Certified Data Visualization Professional. Certified Data Analysis Professional.

Certified Benchmarking Professional. Certified Supplier Performance Professional. Certified Customer Service Performance Professional. Certified Innovation Performance Professional.

Certified Balanced Scorecard Management System Professional. Training locations in 2016: Vail. Boston. Las Vegas. Washington D.C. Singapore. Melbourne. Kuala Lumpur. Perth. Hong Kong. Bangkok. Kuala Lumpur. Jakarta. Dubai. Doha. Istanbul. Cairo. Tehran. Lahore. Mumbai.