TAKE 1

Commentary by Christopher D. Adams

Christopher D. Adams is a performance consultant and instructional designer with more than 20 years of experience helping clients engage people, apply processes, and implement technology to improve human and organizational performance.

It’s encouraging in this case that Camila and Nolan have the opportunity to work together. Creating a partnership between business and HR is a stated goal of Auruco’s new CEO and a critical enabler of improved performance. But, what is the goal and focus of that partnership? Is it to bring Nolan back in line with HR procedures, or to improve the results of his team?

This case mentions several solutions or tactics that have been or could be put into place with Nolan and his team, including forced distribution performance rankings, individual goal setting, coaching, and reassignment. But these are all means. There is, conversely, very little discussion of the ends or results the organization needs to achieve through the implementation of these solutions.

For example, when Nolan was asked to implement forced distribution in performance reviews, he wasn’t given a clear picture of how that would benefit the business. If the need was, as Nolan assumed, to control costs, then additional solutions other than eliminating employees with the lowest rankings might have been possible for such a small team. In the absence of clear goals and expectations, it was reasonable for Nolan to push back against using such a solution.

Before implementing anything, Camila and Nolan need to work in partnership to accomplish four things:

1. Clarify business goals for Auruco and related performance goals for Nolan’s team.

2. Identify gaps between the desired and actual results as compared with those goals.

3. Uncover root causes for those gaps in business and performance results.

4. Select an appropriate set of solutions that align with root causes.

We can see a real impact of Nolan’s team’s performance on the business late in the case: The product line his team is developing is stalled. Here, the performance of Nolan’s team is related to Auruco’s goals. The case doesn’t give clear metrics, but a stalled product affects budget, expense, time to market, and ultimately profit and revenue goals. Certainly, this should be of concern for Nolan. I would encourage Camila to offer to partner with Nolan to address this gap in business results because it will benefit Auruco as a whole, deepen their working partnership, and perhaps provide Nolan some needed insight on his team’s performance. There is clearly a disconnect between Nolan’s perceptions regarding his people’s performance (he views them all as high producers) and the results they’re currently achieving. Camila can help him greatly by working with him to identify the root causes for this gap.

One factor that is not clear from the case is the extent to which Nolan owns the responsibility for developing this product line. Is Nolan’s team the only one working on the initiative? Does it include other developers across the organization? Does Nolan work across the organization with peers who also contribute resources? If Nolan is not the true owner, Camila may need to work with him to approach the business leader who holds ultimate responsibility for the business line. Again, this will give Camila and Nolan the opportunity to partner together and increase their access and credibility with leadership at Auruco.

Let’s say Nolan is not the ultimate owner of the business need. Collaborating with the leader responsible for the product line could have several benefits. First, if other teams are working on the product line, Camila may be able to gather data that compare their performance with that of Nolan’s team. If similar teams are meeting their productivity goals on the project, Camila may be able to identify specific behaviors that set this team apart. These data would enable Nolan to develop similar behaviors in his team members. And, it may help him better calibrate his perceptions of his team members’ performance.

It may also uncover factors that are negatively affecting the performance of developers across many teams on the project (such as unclear or rapidly changing requirements). Although Nolan may lack the authority to address such issues directly, he and Camila could partner to influence leaders in Auruco to improve performance in this area.

Finally, working in partnership with the leader responsible for the product line may create an opportunity for that leader to observe and coach Nolan in the context of improving his team’s work. As Nolan learns more about his leadership’s business goals, his own management behaviors will gain greater, more meaningful context.

As Camila partners with Nolan to discover the factors contributing to the delayed product line, she should be mindful that such gaps in business results very seldom have just one cause. According to the case study, she’s already thinking of solutions for Nolan and his team, such as coaching or reassignment. Camila is eager to help Nolan and no doubt has great experience providing a whole range of solutions. But, because gaps in business results are multicausal, multiple solutions are often required; Camila may not be able to provide all the necessary solutions. Her greatest value to Nolan and Auruco lies in asking the right questions, rather than simply putting yet another solution in place without a clear understanding of gaps and root causes.

This is a complex case, and I don’t have enough data to recommend quick solutions. As I’ve described, I don’t think Camila or Nolan have sufficient data either. But, they have a great opportunity to build a partnership that benefits Auruco by clearly defining the desired ends before selecting the means by which those ends might be achieved. As a tool, I’d recommend to Camila (and any HR professionals in her position) the book Performance Consulting, 3rd edition (Robinson et al. 2015), which provides a model, process, and techniques that align with my suggestions. In particular, the book’s Gaps Map tool provides a way to visually describe gaps in business and performance results, root causes for those gaps, and solutions appropriate for addressing the causes.