6.3. The Performance Variables at the Job/Performer Level
Job Goals. Since the role of people is to make processes work, we need to make sure that their goals reflect process contributions. Figure 6.2 shows the links between Job Goals and goals at the other levels.
The major distinction between this goal "flow-down" and traditional approaches is the process (rather than functional) orientation. While Job Goals should be directly linked to functional goals, both should be derived from the processes they support. To continue our software company example, Computec identified order filling as a strategically significant cross-functional process. A critical step in that process involves checking the credit of a new customer. A Process Goal (shared by the finance department) is to accurately perform a credit check within twenty-four hours of receipt of the order. That goal translates into a set of goals for finance clerks:
Figure 6.2. Hierarchy of Performance Goal Setting.
100 percent of credit checks should be conducted within twenty-four hours of order receipt.
100 percent of bad credit reports should be returned to a sales representative for resolution.
No more than 1 percent of approved customers turn out to have insufficient credit.
These goals communicate to performers what they are expected to do and how well they are expected to do it. These two ingredients specify the output component of the Human Performance System. For many performers, the "how well" (performance standard) dimension is missing. Without standards, performers cannot fully understand the level of performance they are expected to attain. We have found that the best way to build understanding of and commitment to Job Goals is to involve people in the process of establishing the goals for their jobs.
The purpose of Job Goal setting is to arrive at an affirmative answer to this question:
Are job outputs and standards linked to process requirements, which are in turn linked to customer and organization requirements?
Job Design. Having established the Job Goals, we need to ensure that each job is structured to enable its incumbents to achieve these goals. Job Design is a function of:
Allocation of responsibilities among jobs
Sequence of job activities
Job policies and procedures
Ergonomics
When we establish Job Goals based on process requirements, we frequently find that jobs are cluttered with responsibilities that hamper incumbents' ability to support processes. For example, we studied the buyer position in an oil company. We found that the buyers' contribution to the purchasing process was diminished by administrative tasks, which took up a significant amount of their time. These responsibilities were transferred to a newly created position, assistant buyer. This reallocation of responsibilities freed the buyers to do what they do best—buy. In addition to establishing a new career path, the creation of this job enabled the process to function more efficiently, without compromising quality.
To help describe Job Goals and to ensure that responsibilities are allocated to appropriate jobs, we recommend constructing a Role/Responsibility Matrix. An example (using Computec) appears in Table 6.1.
The second dimension of Job Design is the sequence of job activities—the process—that performers go through to produce their outputs. For example, if buyers are expected to justify the expenditure of a certain amount of money before they can talk to potential vendors and obtain competitive bids, they may not be able to make their maximum contribution to the purchasing process.
Because they are closely linked to the sequence of job activities, job policies and procedures can significantly help or hinder process effectiveness. For example, if the sole-source policy and the capital expenditure request form are convoluted, buyers' performance will not reach its potential.
Lastly, the job's ergonomics must support optimum performance. The design of the work station and the physical environment should present few if any barriers to meeting Job Goals. The buyers, for example, spend quite a bit of time working with their computers. Chair and table height, screen angle, and lighting should be designed for ease of computer use.
To continue our Computec example, we want to make sure that it makes sense for finance clerks to do credit checks, that they have a logical process for credit checking, that they have a set of policies and guidelines for credit checking, and that their work stations are conducive to optimum credit-checking performance.
These are the questions for the variable of Job Design:
Are process requirements reflected in the appropriate jobs?
Are job steps in a logical sequence?
Have supportive policies and procedures been developed?
Is the job environment ergonomically sound?
Job Management. Managing the Job/Performer Level is managing the five components of the Human Performance System depicted in Figure 6.1. We have found that six factors affect the effectiveness and efficiency of the Human Performance System. These factors are depicted in Figure 6.3.
The purpose of Job Management is to put capable people in an environment that supports their accomplishment of Job Goals. Factors 5 and 6 in Figure 6.3 address the capability of the performers. Factors 1 through 4 list the factors in a supportive environment.
Performance Specifications are the outputs and standards that comprise the Job Goals. A manager who participatively establishes process-driven Job Goals is taking steps to ensure that the questions behind this factor are answered affirmatively. By contrast, the answers are no for salespeople who are not clear on the mix of products they are expected to sell. They have a Performance Specification deficiency.
Table 6.1. Role/Responsibility Matrix for Finance Function and Customer Order Process. MAJOR PROCESS STEP FINANCE FUNCTION ACCOMPLISHMENTS FINANCE JOBS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND GOALS CLERK A CLERK B CREDIT SUPERVISOR Accomplishments Goals Accomplishments Goals Accomplishments Goals 2. Order entered Order received Order checked for completeness Ø undetected errors 90% of omissions returned to sales within 8 hours of receipt Customer status determined Customer status checked in file Ø errors in customer status info Credit checked (new customer) Customer credit checked 0.1% "OKs" have bad credit 100% checked within 24 hours of receipt If OK, order updated 100% of orders updated within 24 hours of receipt If not OK, sales representative informed 100% of "not OKs" returned to sales for resolution 6. Order shipped and invoiced Order invoiced Figure 6.3. Factors Affecting the Human Performance System.
Task Support is partially addressed byJ ob Design. A well-structured job (in a well-structured process) contains easily recognized high-quality inputs, minimal interference, and logical procedures. Managers who want to minimize Task Interference take one additional step. They provide their people with ade quate resources to do the job. For exa mple, the volume of paperwork may take a significant amount of salespeople's time away from their primary responsibility—selling. If so, their selling performance is impeded by Task Interference.
Consequences must support efficient achievement ofJob Goals. Because of a strategic (Organization Level) thrust, one of a salesperson's Job Goals may be to sell a certain volume of new products. If the commission system supports selling the old products, the salesperson's consequences are not aligned to support desired performance. The consequences must also be meaningful to the performer. A given salesperson may not perceive a promotion to sales manager as a positive consequence. Lastly, consequences must occur quickly enough to provide an ongoing incentive. A salesperson who does want to be a sales manager is unlikely to find that consequence sufficiently motivating if he or she cannot reasonably expect it to be delivered in the next five years. The promotion is aligned to support desired performance, but does not come quickly enough to serve as the sole incentive.
Feedback tells a performer to change performance or to keep on performing the same way. Without feedback, good performance can fall off track, and poor performance can remain unimproved. Effective feedback meets the criteria listed in Figure 6.3. If feedback is delivered only to the sales force as a whole, individual salespeople may not perceive it as relevant or be able to use it to guide their performance. If feedback is provided only during an annual performance review, it is probably not timely enough to be effective. If feedback is not specific ("Good job" or "Please strengthen that forecast next time"), it will fail to make its contribution to the effectiveness of the Human Performance System.
Skills and Knowledge are required in any job. If they are missing, job performance is impaired and training may be required. Included in this category is not only the official way of doing the job but also hints and shortcuts ("tribal knowledge") that enable some performers to be exemplary. Sales-people need to know their product/service lines and be skilled in the techniques of selling.
Individual Capacity involves performers' internal capabilities. No matter how supportive their environment (Factors 1–4) or effective their training (Factor 5), they will not be able to do their jobs if they lack the physical, mental, or emotional capacity to achieve the goals. A salesperson who cannot take rejection may have an Individual Capacity deficiency.
People occasionally tell us that we've missed a factor. They indicate that the key performance variable is motivation (or desire, or drive, or attitude, or morale). We agree that motivation is key; however, it's a symptom. When we look behind weak (or strong) motivation, we find our six factors. Ifcapable (Factor 6), well-trained (Factor 5) people are placed in a setting with clear expectations (Factor 1), task support (Factor 2), reinforcing consequences (Factor 3), and appropriate feedback (Factor 4), then they will be motivated.
As the examples illustrate, one powerful use of the questions in Figure 6.3 is as a troubleshooting checklist. Each no answer represents some "dirt in the performance engine" and an opportunity for performance improvement. In our experience, the highest percentage of performance opportunities can be found in the environment (Factors 1–4) in which performers work. While the figure varies somewhat in different jobs, industries, and countries, we have found that about 80 percent of performance improvement opportunities reside in the environment. Usually, 15 to 20 percent of the opportunities are in the Skills and Knowledge area. We have found that fewer than 1 percent of performance problems result from Individual Capacity deficiencies.
Our experience is consistent with that of Deming (1982), who maintains that only 15 percent of performance problems are worker problems and 85 percent are management problems. Since the odds are against the performer being the broken component of the Human Performance System, the typical management responses to performance problems (listed at the beginning of this chapter) are not likely to address the need.
We have presented the Human Performance System and its related questions as a diagnostic tool. The bad news is that diagnosing a situation does not in itself bring about performance improvement. The good news is that each diagnosed deficiency within the six factors (each no answer) suggests an action.
To address the need for clear Performance Specifications, we recommend creating a Job Model, which specifies the outputs and standards that are linked to process requirements. (The Job Model format is presented in Chapter Twelve.)
To ensure Task Support, restructure the job so that it has clear inputs, a logical sequence of activities, minimal interference among tasks, and sufficient resources. While Job Design can be difficult, most large organizations have specialists in this area. If these skills are not available, a work team of incumbents, supervisors, and analysts can usually, without any sophisticated technology, make the changes necessary to remove the most significant Task Support barriers.
Consequence deficiencies can be eliminated by adding positive consequences and removing negative consequences for desired responses. While this may sound like it requires one or two degrees in psychology, it doesn't. Performers are very willing to tell anyone who will listen what they find punishing and what incentives work for them. Again, an organization that does not have resident expertise in this area can draw on the collective wisdom of a team of incumbents and supervisors and, perhaps, an analyst.
Designing an effective Feedback system tends to require a bit more specialized background. However, an informal system may be all that is needed. The objective is to develop an efficient means of regularly and frequently providing specific performance information to people. The sole feedback mechanism in many organizations is the annual performance appraisal process. However, most appraisal systems are weak in two key feedback areas: frequency and specificity. A manager or analyst who is not able to change the formal performance appraisal form or process must develop other ways to get people the feedback they need when they need it.
To overcome deficiencies in Skills and Knowledge, provide classroom training, on-the-job training, and/or a job aid. While training and job-aid design require a body of expertise, those skills usually reside within an organization's human resource development department.
The action to address an Individual Capacity deficiency depends on the nature of the deficiency. One of three responses is appropriate: change the job to fit the person (for example, redesign the work station to accommodate a wheelchair), develop the person to fit the job (for example, arrange for counseling in coping with stress), or remove the person from the job (for example, transfer him or her to a job that doesn't require mathematics).
There are lots of great medications out there. Training, for example, is an effective cure. However, it treats only the disease known as a Skills and Knowledge deficiency. It probably won't ease the pain of the other five afflictions. Another popular treatment is reorganization. An effective reorganization can remove some barriers to Task Support, but will do little to address other needs. The net message is that one should diagnose the need before implementing a solution.
Diagnosing and overcoming deficiencies represents only one of three uses of the Human Performance System. The six factors can also be used to improve performance that is already meeting expectations. Any improvement in Feedback or Consequences, for example, will make good performance even better. Managers and analysts can also use the questions as a checklist, which can help them create a supportive environment around a new or changed job. For example, they can design clear Performance Specifications and structure reinforcing Consequences before the job is created and filled.
There's yet another benefit. While each enhancement of the Human Performance System improves the quality and efficiency of performance, it also enriches the quality of work life. As a result, performers are willing partners in all three applications of the tool.
At Computec, finance clerks need:
To understand their three credit-checking goals
To have manuals, phones, credit-history information, calculators, and other resources required to check credit
To be rewarded for reaching or exceeding their Job Goals
To receive frequent, specific feedback on their credit-checking performance
To know the what, why, and how of effective and efficient credit checking
To be mentally and emotionally able to conduct credit checks in the environment of the finance department
At a high level, these are the questions for Job Management:
Do the performers understand the Job Goals (the outputs they are expected to produce and the standards they are expected to meet)?
Do the performers have sufficient resources, clear signals and priorities, and a logical Job Design?
Are the performers rewarded for achieving the Job Goals?
Do the performers know if they are meeting the Job Goals?
Do the performers have the necessary skills and knowledge to achieve the Job Goals?
If the performers were in an environment in which the five questions listed above were answered yes, would they have the physical, mental, and emotional capacity to achieve the Job Goals?