How to Link Individual Performance to Corporate Goals
By Ann W. Parkman, Executive Vice President

In our consulting experience, we have seen countless cases in which little or no obvious connection exists between individual performance and corporate goals. In analyzing job descriptions, for example, we have found that, when they exist at all, the individual tasks reflected in the descriptions often have little or no relationship to the specific needs of the business. Many of the job descriptions we have seen are either written in terms that are too vague to serve any practical use or are too out-of-date to reflect actual roles and responsibilities.

Without clear, detailed, and up-to-date job descriptions, it’s often up to the performers and their supervisors to determine individual roles and responsibilities. Usually only the top performers (generally no more than 10 percent of the workforce) figure out exactly what they should be doing and why. The majority of employees, however, never make this connection, resulting in job performance that can be inconsistent with a company’s mission-critical goals.

So how do you link individual performance to corporate goals? Here is a step-by-step overview of the process CEP’s consultants use.

Step 1. Identify and quantify desired business results
When approaching a performance improvement project, the first and most critical step in tying it to desired business results is to clearly and explicitly define what those results should be. On the surface, this may appear to be a simple task, as the stakeholders will (or should) have a fairly solid idea of why this particular initiative is needed. The challenge lies in ensuring the results are stated measurably and explicitly. If the desired result is stated in fuzzy or abstract terms (as in “We need to provide better customer service”), it may be difficult to demonstrate definitively that the result has been achieved. In the above example, quantifiable results could include:

• Reduce sales processing errors by one-half
• Reduce customer complaints by 25 percent
• Improve average customer service survey scores from 2.3 to 3.5 or better
• Increase new customer sales by 1 percent
• Increase existing customer sales by 2 percent

The desired results should not be arbitrary; they must tie directly to the sales and operational forecast goals of the organization.

Step 2. Identify All Accountable Jobs
Determine what job(s) must contribute to the achievement of desired business results. In virtually every case, more than one job will be involved. In the case of our customer service example, accountable areas would include such jobs as the call center director, sales and service representatives, and customer care representatives.

Step 3. Determine the Job Accomplishments that will Achieve Desired Results
Your goal here is to identify, for each accountable job, the specific accomplishments of each job that will support the achievement of the desired business results. A job accomplishment is an outcome of value that the jobholder produces. It is not an activity that he or she performs, but rather something that you can see, or see the results of, in the absence of the performer. Examples of appropriate customer service accomplishments could include a complaint resolution report, the establishment of a new account, or a contract for goods or services sold.

In most organizations, the number of accomplishments in need of improvement exceeds the resources to commit to the performance improvement effort. By first listing all of the job accomplishments, you can then set priorities and select the accomplishments that will have the greatest impact on business results and/or are in most need of improvement.

Step 4. Identify the Tasks Required to Produce Critical Job Accomplishments
The next step in tying individual performance to corporate goals is to determine the specific tasks that people perform. To ensure that everything we do is performance-based, we define a task in very precise terms. To us, a task is an activity that:

• Has several steps
• Has meaningful outcomes
• Is observable and/or measurable

Focus only on those tasks that are necessary to produce the desired accomplishments. Although this is happening less frequently in many organizations because of the increasing demand to do more with less, people are still performing tasks that add little value. There’s still a lot of “we’ve always done it that way,” in part because those closest to the job have a hard time recognizing tasks that do not contribute to desired results. Those accountable for the accomplishments should be able to answer “yes” to this question: Are all of these tasks necessary to produce this accomplishment?

In addition to identifying only those tasks that add value, it is important to identify all the tasks of accountable jobs that are necessary for each accomplishment. To ensure that no required tasks are omitted, you should receive a “yes” answer to this question: If all of these tasks were performed competently, would the accomplishment be achieved?

For each task you identify, list the standards or criteria by which acceptable performance will be judged. Be sure to make these standards observable and measurable. For example, if you are documenting tasks for a job in a manufacturing plant, there will probably be performance standards involving safety, speed, and accuracy in following specified steps. If you are documenting leadership behaviors, there will probably be standards regarding the quality of human interactions. Each task should also have its own meaningful cues (something that prompts an employee to perform the task) and outcomes (a product, service, or other result that is produced as a result of performing the task).

Step 5: Determine how tasks should be performed
For tasks that are new or are not being performed to standard, you will need to conduct additional analysis to determine exactly how each task should be performed to meet the task standards. To do this, work with exemplary employees and supervisors to document (either in the form of a step-by-step list or a flowchart) all of the steps and decisions involved in performing a task to standard. Be sure to include all of the tools, equipment, materials, information, or other resources that someone would need to perform the task successfully.

Step 6: Eliminate barriers that may prevent employees from performing tasks to standard
At the same time you are conducting Step 5, keep a lookout for any barriers that could prohibit employees from performing tasks to standard. For example, do people have all of the skills and knowledge they need to perform to expectations? If not, then you’ll also need to provide training to eliminate the skill/knowledge deficiencies. Are there any motivational or environmental obstacles that might get in the way of desired performance? If so, you’ll need to come up with feasible non-training solutions to mitigate these barriers.

Step 7: Institutionalize the tasks and task standards
Make sure that all performers are aware of the performance standards for all job-critical tasks. While this may sound too basic to even mention, we’ve seen cases in which clear performance expectations for a position existed, yet the performers had no clue of their existence. Also, to ensure that performance doesn’t revert back to “normal,” it’s important to tie the tasks and task standards to such institutional systems as performance appraisals, compensation programs, succession planning, hiring, and training.

These steps are based on the upfront analysis techniques derived from Criterion-Referenced Instruction (CRI), the research-based methodology we use to help our consulting clients achieve their corporate goals. If you would like to learn how to use CRI to maximize your organization’s workforce performance, go to http://www.cepworldwide.com/workshop/cri.html.

Need help linking individual performance to corporate goals? Contact Paula Alsher at 770-458-4080 or palsher@cepworldwide.com for a FREE consultation.