MAKING AN IMPACT: BUILDING A TOP-PERFORMING ORGANIZATION FROM THE BOTTOM UP

Conventional performance improvement consulting is inherently reactive -- when management determines that a performance problem exists, a performance improvement consultant generally is approached for a solution. Yet while performance improvement consultants have the technology and tools for analyzing and solving performance problems on behalf of their clients, in today’s aggressively competitive and ever-changing business world, these problems rarely disappear entirely. They may subside temporarily, or change form, but they do not go away.

"The alternative," says Timm J. Esque, author of Making an Impact: Building a Top-Performing Organization From the Bottom Up, "is to empower our clients to solve performance problems on their own." When clients learn to take ownership of their own problems and develop their own solutions, their level of commitment to those solutions, and the chances for success, increase exponentially.

By implementing a Self-Sustaining Performance System across all levels of an organization -- the individual/small group level, the cross-functional level, and the organization-wide level -- performance improvement consultants can:

1. Help businesses steer clear of most problems,
2. Immediately identify problems when they do arise, and
3. Resolve those problems in such a way that they do not reoccur.

Making an Impact includes a number of actual cases in which Self-Sustaining Performance Systems have resulted in impressive business gains. In one example, on-time delivery of repaired aircraft parts by an engineering and machine shop increased from 60 percent to over 80 percent within one month of implementing a Self-Sustaining Performance System, and this increase has proven sustainable over time. In another example, a semiconductor equipment producer implemented a Self-Sustaining Performance System as a way of capitalizing on a breakthrough in mask pattern technology. Within two years of fully implementing the performance system, revenues increased over 175 percent and the company was acquired at eight times its annual earnings.

Esque’s three-part formula for implementing a Self-Sustaining Performance System builds on the work of management consultant William R. Daniels, who introduced the concept of an integrated system for sustaining performance improvement on an organization-wide level. "Every member of an organization, in some way, is responsible for managing performance," notes Esque. "Individual contributors are responsible for managing their own work, others are responsible for managing work within a team or function or across functions, and still others are responsible for managing the entire organization. When performance is managed well across all of these levels, individuals and organizations will almost always meet their goals."

In Making an Impact, Esque describes how performance improvement consultants can implement a Self-Sustaining Performance System across all levels of an organization. On an individual level, this begins by using existing Human Performance Technology and tools to ensure that the following three conditions exist for each performer:

1. Clear performance expectations -- Each performer must know exactly what he or she is expected to do and how well, and must commit to these expectations.
2. Frequent, self-monitored feedback -- Each performer must know, at any given point in time, whether he or she is meeting these performance expectations or not.
3. Control of resources -- Each performer must know that, if he or she provides warning that performance is not meeting expectations, the response from management will be to help the performer succeed or to change the expectation.

Several studies have shown that implementing the first two conditions results in performer productivity increases of 30 percent or more within a very short time. The third condition -- control of resources -- ensures that these productivity increases are sustained over time.

Individual performers are the foundation of every business. However, in today’s complex world, there are very few finished products or services that are produced by any one individual. As a result, the key management challenge that most organizations face is how to effectively coordinate work across many individuals, sub-teams and departments. Installing a Self-Sustaining Performance System on the cross-functional level simply means taking the three conditions mentioned above and elevating those conditions to fit this new audience. In this situation, the critical conditions that must exist include:

1. Clear process or project outputs and success measures -- All involved teams must agree on exactly what they need to accomplish and how well.
2. Frequent team review meetings -- All involved teams must be involved in tracking the progress being made toward the outputs on a regular basis.
3. Link to individual performer conditions -- Any bottlenecks that arise during these review meetings should be addressed by applying the critical conditions required of individual performers.

Addressing the third and final level of a Self-Sustaining Performance System -- the organization-wide level -- helps to ensure that a company’s strategic business goals are firmly tied to the teams and departments of people with ownership of those goals. To implement a Self-Sustaining Performance System at the organization-wide level, the following critical conditions must exist:

1. Clear business objectives -- All involved senior staff members must agree on three to seven immediate business objectives that the organization must achieve.
2. Frequent work review meetings -- All involved senior staff members must be involved in tracking the progress being made toward these objectives on a regular and ongoing basis.
3. Link to the cross-functional and individual performer conditions -- Any bottlenecks that arise during these review meetings should be addressed by applying the critical conditions required of both individuals and cross-functional teams.

Implementing a Self-Sustaining Performance System works best when the individual performers are committed to the performance expectations; hence, performers should have a say in the development of performance goals. Additionally, management must be trained to implement the performance system at all levels of the organization. "In my experience, once management begins implementation and sees the potential impact, it is very likely they will want to drive the performance system throughout the organization."

About the author: Timm J. Esque is an independent performance consultant specializing in establishing self-sustainable performance systems for organizations worldwide, including a number of established Fortune 100 companies. His innovative approach consistently yields improved workforce performance and positive bottom-line business results for his clients. Esque has contributed articles to numerous books and journals, including Training Magazine, Performance Improvement Journal, The Journal of Instructional Development, and Performance and Instruction. Making an Impact is Esque’s third book.

Excerpted from Making an Impact: Building a Top-Performing Organization from the Bottom Up, CEP Press and the International Society for Performance Improvement, ISBN: 1-879618-25-7, $14.95 US, scheduled for release July 2001.

To preview a FREE excerpt of this book, click here.