Job Link Training | Incentive Cache | Employee Motivational Tool

Transferring classroom attendance to work competencies often requires additional training and support from supervisors. Unlike generic soft skill training such as customer service, leadership or communication, Job Link™ training is directly linked to specific job needs; identifying and creating a direct link between skill training and strategic work needs.

Traditional management and customer service training are ineffective in building tangible links to on-the-job skills. Performance Path ® has developed Job Link™ to break the mold of the traditional generic employee classroom training concepts.

After traditional training most employees anticipate returning to work to “catch up” with work that has piled up while they were away. They receiving little reinforcement from their supervisor for using their new skills as supervisors did not attend the training and don’t what skills were taught there.

Job Link™ creates a closed loop between work needs, skill improvement training and supervisory follow up. The employee’s work skills are reviewed and strategic work needs are identified.

Job Link™ training modules are identified from skill clusters that relate to specific work needs. Participants are given self-assessment to further define and identify their capability level, and these areas are specifically targeted during training. 

Immediately upon return to work, each participant’s supervisor receives a copy of the employee’s performance improvement targets and together they review and select one or two high priority targets to implement, and a review date is set. 

The supervisor uses an Incentive Cache™ to reinforce performance improvement and the supervisor may use an Incentive Cache™ to strengthen the transfer of new or improved skills demonstrated on-the-job. Job Link™ training creates a tangible link between specific on-the-job skills, job-linked training, and on-the-job performance.

Executive Team Building | Appraisal Management Software

Process consulting involves a professional facilitator leading group discussions and using analytical methods or formal frameworks to identify problems or suggest more effective or efficient ways of performing business tasks. Process consultants usually work with senior management or project teams to development future strategies, identify best practices or implement plans that result in the achievement of designated objectives 

One of the analytical tools used to initiate strategic planning with Boards involving dynamic relationships is Perceptual Mapping. Perceptual mapping is an analytical process developed to identify the critical factors affecting long-term business success. The process quickly and easily galvanizes diverse participant opinions into a unified agreement. Participants identify and force rank factors having the greatest impact on their business. The items are charted according to their current performance level. Through this fusion of current performance in high impact areas, a detailed map of critical success factors emerge.

The result - valuable resources are focused where they are needed most; and decision - makers are empowered to develop departmental goals and business objectives that fully support mission and strategy. Aligning all work efforts and resources optimizes organizational effectiveness.

Strategic Mapping Objectives | Performance Management System Software

Strategic Mapping Objectives:

• Manage the critical success factors affecting success and failure.
• Identify and eliminate unforeseen obstacles to a successful transition for the old facility to the new facility.
• Increase shared responsibility and commitment among team members.
• Provide a rational approach to team decision making.
• Create a culture inspired by clear direction and fueled by a collective passion.
• Facilitation

The Strategic Mapping process is designed as a one day work shop. One day includes actual time engaged in classroom activities, resenting/demonstrating training concepts, methods and technologies.

Participant Materials

Custom design participant materials which includes; workbooks, personality inventories and exercises used by participants in the workshop.

Concluding Comments

Our goal is to exceed your expectations. We have a strong desire to make a positive contribution toward your professional and personal growth.

Strategic Mapping Planning | Employee Appraisal System

Strategic mapping is an analytical process developed to align diverse opinions while pin pointing the key result areas essential to long term success. Participants identify and force rank the factors which they believe have the greatest impact on their future success. The items are rated according to their current performance level and plotted on a matrix. Through the welding together of diverse opinions the matrix provides a clear road map indicating current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

With this new perspective, rational and realistic business plans can be easily constructed. Individual team members will be able to confidently create measurable performance objectives aligned with a sense of purpose shared by the entire team. Valuable resources can be focused where they are most needed. Team members will be able to support organization mission, strategy, and goals while making independent decisions.

Strategic Mapping Vision to Action Workshop

Strategic Mapping Overview

Strategic mapping is a strategic planning and execution process. It has been successful used by Fortune 100.corporations such as Chevron, ATT, and Colgate. It provides executive teams with the technology to quickly execution and anticipates bottlenecks and blunders. The process quickly identifies underperforming high impact areas key result areas. Avoid wasting valuable time and money.

Strategic mapping ensures senior management can ...

• Build consensus quickly even with the most diverse membership.
• Envision areas holding the greatest opportunities and failure.
• Generate business alignment.
• Measurably links strategic drivers with the day-to-day actions of employees.
• Track strategic performance by department, position or person.
• Execute strategy changes faster.
• Increase return on investment of money, machines, and manpower.

Fundamentals of Strategic Planning Workshop Overview

No matter how well the strategy is designed, it is people that make it work. It is one thing for business leaders and senior management teams to develop new strategies. It is quiet a challenge to have them successfully implemented. Many strategies fail to deliver their full potential. This can be traced back to four critical success areas.

They fail because;

1. The mission or strategy is vague or unclear. People are not sure what they need to do to support them day-to-day.
2. The values described in the vision, mission and goals are at odds with the existing values and beliefs guiding behavior within the organization.
3. There are no measures to help staff mark progress toward goal achievement.
4. There is no reinforcement for behaviors supporting change.

Organizational Development Leadership & Training | Management Consulting Training

Organizational Development (OD) interventions result in innovative solutions, greater management commitment, and increased organizational effectiveness. Senior management teams identify, plan and implement the strategies, structure and systems that build profitability and reduce costs.

Each OD intervention is as unique as our individual client. Organizations, like individuals have their strengths, challenges and culture. The facilitator provides focus, structure and business process tools ensuring team members maintain solidarity and efficiency throughout the planning and execution process. The end result is sustained growth and profitability.

Typical intervention includes:

• Creating Actionable Mission Statement and Guiding Principles
• Executive Team Building
• Strategic Mapping
• Performance Management Planning
• Building Pay-For-Performance Systems
• Performance Based Job descriptions
• Incentive Planning
• Identifying ROI From Training - Job Link

Business Management Consulting | Performance Appraisal Process

Managers find it easy to plan and follow up on employee assignments. Coaching plans, work assignments or complex projects can be outlined allowing both manager and employee to monitor progress. Alerts are used to remind manager and employee when it is time to review preset progress dates. Performance dashboards allow managers to view past performance as well as ongoing completion of assigned tasks and goals.

Are your managers leaving you vulnerable to expensive law suits?

Most managers recognize the importance of employee documentation. However, it usually remains a low priority until something goes horribly wrong. Attorneys have learned to subpoena all documentation for all employees in a department. Frequently this turns up an abundance of documentation on their client and very little if any on other staff members. This information may become evidence of discrimination against their client. “Continuous Documentation”, may be critical to winning a law suit. Our documentation alert system reminds managers when to document on a regular schedule. Managers can set the alerts themselves or HR can set alerts at designated intervals to search for and send reminders to managers who have not recorded any documentation.

Employee Appraisal System | Business Coaching And Consulting

Differentiating between those employees that add value and those that don’t is a key success factor for your organization!

Our “Human Factor” appraisal system makes it easy for managers to create a collaborative discussion regarding performance, innovation, motivation and conduct.

Appraisals are job specific, defining work requirements and accountabilities with laser sharp metrics. This cuts down on the time usually spent discussing generalizations found in traditional appraisals formats. Human Factor appraisals not only include measurement of specific job skills, but allow manages and staff to target areas for innovation, as well as, easily review concerns regarding motivation levels and conduct. They are much more advanced than the old one-size-fits all appraisals format many organizations still use. Every item is measurable and job specific, making it fair and legally bullet proof. In addition, our proprietary rating scale enables managers to accurately assess both skill and motivation at the same time. Individual ratings are linked with specific coaching strategies making is easier for managers to develop underperformers or provide advanced learning opportunities for high performers. The collaborative interaction is designed to build employee commitment and loyalty.

Motivation – You Get What You Reward | Employee Motivational Tool

Performance measures alone will not sustain a high performance workforce. Managers must recognize their staff do not work for them, they work for themselves.

Utilizing behavioral indicators and financial and non-financial incentives that can be removed ensures employees not only focus on what is best for themselves in the short term but what is best for the business in the long term., Performance Path ® is a no-nonsense pay-for-performance system that rewards the best, develops the mid-level skills, and improves under-performers within timeframes.

Job Specific Appraisals | Performance Appraisal Process

Job specific appraisals enable managers to pinpoint key skill needing improvement and establish work priorities driving strategy and sustainability. In addition, managers can target specific innovation areas creating value for the organization as well as supporting career advancement and compensation for the staff member.

Performance worksheets enable manager and staff member to discuss and create goals supporting strategic goals advancing staff development. Managers can monitor progress through performance dashboards, Including:

• Leadership & Management Skill Level.
• Employee Skill Level.
• Employee Motivational Level. l.
• Innovations Suggested and Implemented.
• Skill & Motivational Improvements.
• Performance Goals Initiated and Completed.
• Displays KPI associated with staff performance by person, position or department.

Employee Performance Management System, Employee Appraisals and Training

Performance Path™ provides a set of interlocking technologies enabling managers to align and motivate staff at all levels supporting mission, vision and goals. Managers can now drive strategy as easily as a captain steers a ship.

1. Tells employees what they need to do to excel.

One first line employee responded to the question, “What do you think of our new mission statement?” replied, “I don’t know, my job hasn’t changed.” Employees must understand how strategy affects their job and their daily decisions.

Performance Path’s performance based job descriptions specify the critical competencies driving business success. All job requirements are measurable and prioritized according to their strategic significance. This provides all employees with a blueprint for success from day one. Mission and strategy is defined in job specific terms they understand;

2. Tells employees what activities are valued.

The values described in the vision, mission and goals are at odds with the existing values and 

beliefs guiding behavior within the organization, They guide decision making and create a personal sense of satisfaction. Values form the foundation of relationships and culture. Behavior that reflects accepted values are rewarded socially and sometimes monetarily. Effective leaders recognize and shape culture by reinforcing behaviors that reflect specific values.

3. Tells employees how they are performing.

There are no measures to help staff mark progress toward goal achievement.

Adults need a road map in order to plot progress. Otherwise they lose interest and focus on more immediate short term priorities and duties. Performance provides manages with multiple tools to solve this problem including job specific appraisals, goal setting work sheets, performance dash boards and the Incentive Cache®.

Increase Employee Performance | Employee Performance Rewards

Align, measure and view daily performance impacting mission, vision and goals!

Kaplan and Norton, developers of the Balanced Score Card reported that 70 to 90 percent of organizations failed to realize the full potential their strategy promises. A recent article by Erik Berggren and Lars Dalgaard estimate that companies experience successful strategy results only 15% from planning but 85% from execution.

It is one thing for business leaders and senior management teams to develop new strategies. It is quiet a different challenge to have them successfully implemented. Many strategies fail to deliver their full potential. This can be traced back to four critical success areas.

Strategies fail because;

• The mission or strategy is vague or unclear. People are not sure what they need to do to support them day to day,
• The values described in the vision, mission and goals are at odds with the existing values and beliefs guiding behavior within the organization,
• There are no measures to help staff mark progress toward goal achievement ,
• There is no reinforcement for behaviors supporting change.

Harness Employee Innovation | Business Coaching & Consulting

Expand competitive advantage by creating innovation targets specific to each employee.

In our global market place innovation is a cornerstone of sustainable business success. Yet, in many organizations innovation remains sequestered to R&D or rely on hit or miss suggestions from employees. The benefits of harnessing the collective power of talented individuals is enormous for small and large businesses alike Performance Path ® enables organizations to hardwire innovation and value creation into each employees thinking.

Performance Path ® performance based job descriptions and appraisals systems hardwire innovation and value creation into each employees job and pay package. Measurable innovation target areas are embedded in each employee’s job description and appraisal. These targets are outside normal job duties. Employees receive additional points in their appraisal or select from highly desirable incentives based on their Incentive Cache™ profile. Employees have nothing to lose and everything to gain by engaging in creating value beyond job requirements Targets may include new ideas that reduce cost, increase productivity, solving customer problems, contributing to designated community organizations, etc.

Setting innovation targets alone will not be successful if employees are not passionate and engaged. Passionate individuals are usually talented and motivated, but they're often unhappy - they feel blocked in their efforts. Leadership must put mechanisms in place to reward value creation and innovation.

Establishing innovation targets linked with highly valued financial and non-financial rewards creates passion. However care must be taken not only those incentives drives individual performance but contribute to sustainable business results in the future. Too narrow a focus on “line of sight” incentives may reap short term gains for the individual at the expense of long term consequences for the organization. Designing an effective incentive system results in a highly responsive work force. Incentives can drive both value creation and organization responsiveness or agility. Together they provide organizations with a competitive advantage that is hard for competitors to copy.

Employee Appraisal System | Management Consulting Training

If we can measure it we can grow it. Research has found there is as much as a 40% difference between top performers and poor performers with the same level of skill. Commonly referred to as discretionary effort. Identifying and defining measurable leadership skills for managers and including them in their appraisal expands soft skill accountability skill few have been able to measure. Improving leadership skills has a direct impact on employee skill and initiative. And that has a direct impact on increases organizational efficiency. Effective leadership inspires people to exceed expectations. It is human energy that drives progress.

Paying managers for the full scope of their job responsibilities including leadership rewards leadership effectiveness. Leadership effectiveness increases as managers realize the important of developing greater skill in managing and motivating staff. You get what you measure and reward.

Performance Path Leadership Skills | Leadership Training & Development

Best practice leadership skills can be objectively defined and measured. Including measurable best practices in appraisals increases accountability and share holder value. Examples include;

• Ensuring the performance range between top performers and poor performers does not exceed 15% year over year.
• Reward and recognize staff for performance /skill improvement according to Eligibility Criteria.
• Independently discipline and or redirect staff according to HR guidelines and policy.
• Independently resolves conflict with staff and customers by focusing on facts not personality, uses active listening, and maintains goals, strategy, and guidelines.
• Asks for and includes other peoples ideas into plans, problem solutions, and assignments resulting in measurable improvements to critical success factors.
• Independently and accurately recognizes rewards and documents performance of others supporting Company vision, values and strategy as it occurs. e.g. giving credit to others ideas, assigning special duties when interest is expressed, acknowledging employees that have completed an important assignment, etc.

Hardwire Accountability - Strategic Planning

Hardwire measurable management skills (Hard and soft) into appraisals.

In 2002 Watson Wyatt Worldwide published that company with effectively rewards and clear accountabilities received up to a 16.5% increase in share holder value. The 2001/2002 follow-up HCI study compared a group of companies at two different times. Doing a better job of rewarding employees for good work - and refusing to accept sub par performance - can earn a company a 16.5 percent higher market value. The study found that superior human capital practices are a leading indicator of superior financial results.

What is the evidence that:

• Management is adding value - not destroying it?
• They are aligned around a common vision?
• They know what they need to do to ensure Human Capital earns a good return on investment (ROI)?
• Do they bring the best out in their staff?

Reward Not A Reward - Employee Motivation Tool

Wasting money on rewards and incentives is a fact for many organizations. If you have ever received a gift that you did not want you already know the answer to the question. Some corporation I are very good at presenting high performers with plaques. Some people line their office walls with them. They are proud to receive the accolades and symbols of appreciation.

While others feel disappoint and slighted. They would have felt excited if instead of a plaque they were given an opportunity to work a special project of interest, advanced training or expanded vacation time. Blindly presenting rewards and recognition to staff can damage individual initiative , create disappointment or even resentment on the receiver’s part. Linking valued incentives and rewards with and waste money spent on rewards due to a lack of understanding of motivational psychology and limited reward choices.

Pay for Performance Increases Management Skills.

How do you know if your managers are creating value or destroying it?

Some managers are technically competent but their management abilities leave much to be desired. Since management affects the motivation and development of many staff and customers the actual impact of poor management is staggering. Our performance based appraisal system hard wires measurable management accountabilities into each manager’s appraisal. The result, management excellence becomes a priority. Pay and benefits reflect the full impact managers have on long term competitiveness. (See Performance Dashboards for more details).

Compensation strategies - Salary Based Compensation : Performance Based Compensation

Performance Path ® gives you more bang for your compensation dollars.

Pay for performance pay off by lowering direct compensation costs and increasing the return your human capital investments.

Many organizations differentiate their performers pay by performance. Unfortunately many top performers see the actual in -the-pocked difference between high performers pay increase and average performers’ insignificant. That is where providing non-financial incenses for performance increases can build commitment and loyalty without increasing relative cost (Incentive Cache for more details).

Financial and non-financial incentives that can be removed ensuring employees not only focus on what is best for themselves in the short term but what is best for the business in the long term. Performance Path ® is a no-nonsense pay-for-performance system that rewards the best, develops the mid-level skills, and provides fair and legally defensible means to reduce underperformance.

Reduce Costs with Performance Path - Performance Management Systems

Cut costs with our next generation performance management system.

Executives everywhere are looking for better ways to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction. Cash management will only become more important as the recession continues. Don’t waste money on generic appraisals and training. Less than 10% of the people who go through generic appraisals and training improve their performance.

Ways to reduce cost with Performance Path ®

Performance Path ® is the next generation employee performance management system. Combining information technology and organizational psychology employees are rewarded for more than short term, “line-of-site” rewards. It ensures alignment between business objectives, individual performance and incentives. Designed to create sustainable value, Performance Path ® provides a disciplined focus on performance results that creates a culture of achievement-not entitlements.

Pay increases are not automatic…they are earned.

Differentiating between those that add value and those that don’t across the board raises not only rewards mediocrity but compounds cost increases. The graphics below provide a simple example.

We compared two employee groups of 50 employees each. The first group received a 3% across the board raises. The second group was paid based on their performance.

The performance based group was divided into three segment 10% high performers, 80% high average performers and 10% low performers. Top performers received a 3% pay increase average performers received 1.5 pay increase and low performers did not receive a pay increase.

Motivation – You Get What You Reward | Employee Motivation

Performance measures alone will not sustain a high performance workforce.

Managers must recognize their staff do not work for them, they work for themselves.

Utilizing behavioral indicators and financial and non-financial incentives that can be removed ensures employees not only focus on what is best for themselves in the short term but what is best for the business in the long term., Performance Path ® is a no-nonsense pay-for-performance system that rewards the best, develops the mid-level skills, and improves under-performers within timeframes.

Utilizing an innovative incentive system individualized to each employee, manager’s evaluations improves risk management while creating fair and balanced appraisals.

Pay increases are not automatic…they are earned.

Executives have dashboards to instantly monitor functions, departments and employee performance as closely as they monitor cash flow. This is what the Fed is asking for…..a compensation system that doesn’t pull any punches.

It is a manager’s daily responsibility to energize, motivate and direct each individual in their team.. In the end, your company’s performance and ability to execute is dependent on individuals taking the right actions that drive strategic success.

Performance Path Human Factors - Employee Motivation Tool

All managers and supervisor need to have the tools to measure or motivate their teams. As they say if you are not the lead do the view never changers.

Unless…

Performance Path Human Factors Dashboard, …

• Leadership & Management Skill Level.
• Employee Skill Level.
• Employee Motivational Level.
• Innovations Suggested and Implemented.
• Skill & Motivational Improvements.
• Performance Goals Initiated and Completed.
• Displays KPI Performance by Person, Position or Department.

Strategic "Change" Execution - Performance Appraisal

Drive strategy like you drive your car..

Today more than ever, getting and sustaining success is dependent on your ability to innovate and execute. Both depend on the talent and motivation of staff. Imagine an executive attending a supervisor’s meeting to find out how the new strategy is working. One seasoned staffer smiles and says “I don’t know, my job hasn’t changed”. Everyone cracks up with nervous laughter.

Frontline supervisors are the lynchpin of strategic execution. If they fail to support change,  execution can drag on and eventually die on the vine.

What is the evidence that:

Management is adding value - not destroying it?

They are aligned around a common vision?

They know what they need to do to ensure Human Capital earns a good return-on-investment?

Do they bring the best out in their staff?

All managers and supervisor need to have the tools to measure or motivate their teams. As they say if you are not the lead do the view never changers.

Increase Performance & Productivity : Improve Performance - Performance Appraisal

Increase Performance & Productivity:

An economic crisis requires leadership to quickly shift effort and output as market forces demand change.

Performance Path ® effects change by increasing performance and productivity through a system that creates a culture of achievement not entitlement.

Performance Path ® Improves Performance in any organization large or small by:

• driving leadership and accountability,
• creating a culture of achievement, ensures talent development,
• providing measurable management and rewards with motivational incentives.

Performance Path - Next Generation in Workforce Management Systems

Performance Path®, the next generation in Workforce Management Systems, is designed specifically to help you tap into that most powerful of all motivators: Linking the individual values and desires of your people to the objectives and strategy of your organization. Performance Path® delivers:

• Faster execution and sustainable strategic focus
• Lower costs
• Best practice management skills
• Accurate measures of employee skill and motivation levels
• Employee and customer satisfaction
• Improved process efficiency
• Improved output quality
• Increased innovation
• Increased profitability

Find out more about Performance Path® and our consulting services. Please contact us if you have any questions or if you’d like to schedule a free demonstration of our robust software suite at your convenience.

Performance Path Team - Speed Ream

Speed Ream has over thirty years experience in business management, including software, digital hardware development, and residential construction. In the last ten years he has been focused on bringing leading edge planning, project management and team building practices into the software development workplace.

Since 1976 he has owned and operated his own construction and software engineering companies, along with serving as a software engineering consultant to firms such as Stac Electronics, Fiserve, Novell and Microsoft.

On the construction side of his businesses, he has served as an adviser to the California Contractors' State License Board, advising as to acceptable Standards and Practices in the building trades of roofing and framing.

Currently living in Melbourne, Florida, Mr. Ream specializes in business development and 'Speed Planning', an advanced planning technology that helps several kinds complicated projects become 'Ahead of Schedule and Under Budget.'

Executive Team Of Performance Path - Rodney E. Waddell, CEO

About Mr. Waddell

Mr. Waddell has nearly 18 years of experience in training, team building and organizational development.

Rod has worked as a business consultant since 1986 focusing on improving employee performance and loyalty. He has developed models and the methods for businesses to integrate leadership assessments, pay-for-performance, and incentive systems resulting in a culture achievement not entitlements.

Sought after in the banking and insurance industries, Rod provides intensive management workshops for improving employee performance and leadership development.

He was a principle partner with Dynamic Resource Development, Inc. whose international client base included fortune 100 corporations such as ATT, Chevron USA and Chevron CCR, Colgate, General Motors Canada and many others.

Since establishing his base of operation in the Cayman Island Mr. Waddell has worked with organizations such as Admiral Administration, British Caymanian Insurance, Cable and Wireless, Coutts Cayman and Coutts Jersey, Julius Baer Bank, and many CI Government departments.

Beyond training and team building, Mr Waddell has developed strategic interventions, company policy manuals, performance based job descriptions, appraisal systems including Performance Path ® a performance management software system. In addition Mr. Waddell has incorporated avatar and text-to-speech technologies to animate psychological assessments, customer service surveys and 360 degree feedback systems.

Mr. Waddell holds a BA in psychology and a Masters degree in Counseling. Post graduate work includes receiving designation as Advisor Specialist with IIP, Deming Quality Management, Human Element Leader/Trainer, Situational Leadership and DISC assessment and many other certifications.

Mr. Waddell donates may hours of his time each year to social organizations, such as, Junior Achievement and the Chamber’s Mentoring Program.

Performance Path Mission - Performance Appraisal Process | Appraisal Management Software

Performance Path ® was developed as a follow-through tool and process to insure a measurable way to not only report on, but to ensure the business objectives are communicated and achieved at every level of the organization.

The supervisor uses an Incentive Cache ™ to reinforce performance improvement and the supervisor may use an Incentive Cache ™ to strengthen the transfer of new or improved skills demonstrated on-the-job. Job Link™ training creates a tangible link between specific on-the-job skills, job-linked training, and on-the-job performance.

Our Mission:

We provide dynamic technologies that instantly transform business strategy into business reality. Our clients become agile change masters leaping ahead of slow to change competition. We tangibly link organization mission with employee passion and guarantee results.

Company Profile:

Mr. Rod Waddell has worked with such prestigious organizations as, AT&T USA, Barclays Private Bank, British Caymanian Insurance, CIBC, CUC, Cayman Islands Government, Cable and Wireless, Dresden Bank Latin America, Colgate, Chevron USA/CCR, Exxon, GM of Canada, and Tropical Shipping. to name a few.. Mr. Waddell has recently qualified as Advisor Specialist with Investors In and People UK.

After 20 years of leadership experience Mr. Waddell continues to enjoy building business success through innovative and teamwork.

Why Do appraisals If You Are Not Giving A Raise - Employee Appraisals

“Why do appraisals if the company isn’t giving a raise?” This was the question from a participant in a middle management training class. Before I could answer several other managers agreed with him. A better question is, Why call yourself “Manager” if you don’t manage? I’m not being sarcastic here. This gentalman has lots of company. In my twenty years of consulting/training experience I find most managers are really coordinators or event planners. Many do not see ir staff development as a high priority, not even a responsibility at allat all. 

Why should they see it differently? Their job is to get the iron out the door, deal with customer expectations, squeeze out efficiencies, ensure compliance with regulations and safety codes, etc. These are measured and have a huge impact on the business not to mention their pay check. Even if they wanted to where are they going to get the time. Isn’t development HR’s job anyway? 

• Ensure all employees understand the organization’s mission and strategy
• Provide strategic human resource planning Identify the A positions
• Ensure top talent is assigned to roles where e value is created (A Positions)
• Ensure development of a highly skilled and motivated workforce
• Ensure expectations are being met
• Provide consequences for exceeding, meeting or failing to meet expectations
• Constantly communicate organization’s strategy and strategic needs
• Leader managers don’t just manage, they change things

Performance Appraisal Criteria - Employee Performance Appraisal

Most appraisals use traits such as: leadership, team work and communication to describe job standards for all jobs. One size fits all appraisal format. Every employee shares the same appraisal form. So, the actual appraisal form doesn’t measures actual job performance. It measures the manager’s opinion of the employee’s performance. Traits are open to interpretation. Different managers may have different opinions over the same employee’s performance. Usually there is little if any relationship between the appraisal items and strategy. This commonly referred to as “finger in the wind appraisals”. Examples include,

Poor Example of Phrases for Performance Appraisals
Examples Taken From Working Appraisals

Customer Service - The ability to anticipate the customer’s needs and seeks to find solutions and solve problems related to customer satisfaction.

Decision skills - Refers to the ability to make appropriate well-informed decisions in a timely manner, balancing competing needs, dealing with complexity and confusion, and being decisive but not impulsive

Team Building - Finds out and suggests meaningful ways of improving the operation of the department and constantly looks for ways to improve efficiency when carrying out key responsibilities. Builds and exhibits effective team spirit to foster organizational goals and objectives, by utilizing the skills of all team members to achieve both business and individual results

Set Direction - Fosters the development of common direction, provides clear direction and priorities, and clarifies roles and responsibilities, sets goals..:

These factors taken together create stress and frustration for everyone.

Building Effective Appraisal Rating Systems

So how can you reduce the bias inherent in rating scales? First behavior anchored rating scales (BARS) can define ratings by identifying job specific behaviors to define the rating scale. What actions indicate when an employee meets, exceeds or does not meet expectations. Human Factors Rating Scales

The Human Factors rating scale (HFRS)is a new technology developed by Performance Path® LLC. HFRS measures the developmental factors associated with employee performance. These factors may include observable measures of both skill and motivational levels. This allows managers and HR professional to quickly identify effective coaching strategies by pinpointing the underlying factors affecting performance. When combined with job specific performance standards HFRS provide objective measures of management and staff skill sets, motivation level in key result areas, innovation or conduct. Developmental trend analysis provide feedback on management coaching and training effectiveness, 

A common dilemma for many managers is how to fairly evaluate the level of work difficulty for different people assigned to the same job category. I once had a hedge fund manager tell me he had 80 accounts with the same job description. But he said, they were not all doing the same job. Some of them were doing basic accounting. Others were working with very complex accounts containing CDOs, mortgage backs and derivatives. How can we fairly use the same measuring stick with them? We solved this by creating a second rating scale that evaluated the staff on the factors ranging from the size of the account, technical complexity, Client profile, etc , This rating scale was used boost the overall rating of the final score. This provides extra compensation for individuals working in more difficult jobs. Suddenly difficult jobs become more appealing to staff. who would otherwise play it safe.

Fixing the Fatal Flaws of Appraisals - Employee Appraisal Tips

How many managers would consider running a business without a way to accurately measure up to 70% of their budget. Yet, this is exactly what is happening with most business and organizations around the world. Nearly all government organizations and most businesses do not have an objective way to accurately measure staff performance. 

Comp and benefits accounts for up to 70% of the budget..Appraisals are frequently used to evaluate employee performance, determine pay increases, bonuses and support promotion decision. Unfortunately appraisal criteria are usually vague This leads many employees to view them as biased and unfair. It is critical for managers to recognize the importance of performance management and find more accurate and fair ways to measure staff performance. 

The key contributors to appraisal failures include: ill defined rating scales and subjective performance criteria.

’ Poorly Defined Rating Scales. 

‘Prejudice is the child of ignorance. Wooly rating scales are those that rely on the rater’s perceptual to determine staff performance. The underlying problem here is that most managers do not know the difference between an observable behavior and an opinion. Which statements below are observable statements. Behavioral Vs Opinion Execcise

• Sandy liaises with other departments ensuring all customer files are up-to-date.
• Kim followed-up with customer complaints
• Tracy maintains the fork lift.
• Francis keeps the file cabinets organized.

The correct answer can be found at the end of this blog. 

Some managers are hard raters while others are soft. I once had a general manager for a local utility tells me, “No one deserves a five This essentially turned the appraisal’s five point rating scale into a four point rating scale. Not only is this a very biased statement but increases “regression to the mean”. That is to say, the smaller the rating scale the more likely you are to get rating in the middle of the scale.. On a three point rating scale (1 2 3) most people will be rated 2. When the majority of staff are rated “meets objectives” or “average” the more pay increases resemble across-the-board raises. This drives up the cost of pay overall. See my previous blog, Across-The-Board Raises Increase Cost and Reduce Performance for more details. In other words, the larger your rating scale the more differentiated your work force becomes and the flatter your compensation bell curve becomes.

Many appraisals rely on the manager’s perception.. Here s an example. 1. Unacceptable, 2. Developmental,3. Meets Objectives, 4. Exceeds Objectives, 5. Walks – On - Water and 6. Talks With God. Bias results when rating criteria are not applied consistenly, And biased ratings will lead to erroneous decisions. Think about the many ways raters bias can distort well meaning managers. 

Book Review Differentiated Workforce - Performance Management Workforce

I have been reading an exciting new book. Exciting, because of the explicit roadmap linking key positions and talent with strategy. The book The Differentiated Workforce by Bran Becker, Mark Huselid and Richard Beatty provides a compelling explanation for identifying key positions and people whose performance make or break strategic success..

Most organizations are focused on across the board talent development. This is a very expensive proposition. The authors make a powerful case that people in high impact positions contribute disproportionately toward strategic success or failure. Focusing line managers and HR resources on the people in these positions drives down cost, builds value and strengthens long term sustainability.

The authors begin by establishing the benefits of having a differentiated workforce strategy including

    * Measurable improvements in strategic execution.
    * Senior managers are as engaged in following workforce issues as they are in following financial issues.
    * Enabling HR professionals to distinguish between investments that provide measurable ROI from best practice hype.
    * Enable HR managers to make targeted investments in staff and technology that create high strategic returns or eliminate wasteful practices that do not.
    * Resulting in obvious and measurable strategic contributions by the workforce.


The authors point out something I have said for years. That line managers are the most important link in strategic execution. They have the great influence over the mindset and motivation of their direct reports. If they do not understand or buy into changing policies and objectives; then strategy will never become a reality. The authors describe the importance of management and HR accountability in delivering talent development.

While the workforce takes up to 70% of all expenditures most organizations do an extremely poor job of accounting for it. The authors do and excellent job of describing the significance of measurement, accountability and consequences. The authors emphatically state that effective workforce development ensures that top talent, the authors refer to them as A level employees, in key roles drive strategic capability, create customer and investor value".

The authors lead the reader through easy to follow steps in creating a fully differentiated workforce. This is a must read for all managers and HR professionals.

Across-The-Board Raises - Increase Cost and Reduce Performance

Organizations that continue to use across-the-board raises as an easy and effective way to control compensation costs and reward employees soon find out the truth. Yes, it may be easy- but it is not an effective means of controlling costs and rewarding employees, especially over the long term.

Employee pay is a key tool in fulfilling many corporate objectives. Among these are: attracting top performers; maintaining employee satisfaction; ensuring strategic alignment; increasing performance; and encouraging innovation. However, Robert Heneman, a noted compensation consultant says, “The ultimate goal of a pay system is to align the goals and interest of employees with the goals and interest of the organization.” How do across-the-board raises help achieve this?

First, it’s important to recognize that most top performers are driven by achievement. Since achievement is an internal motivator, organizations can harness its power- as well as the power of other internal motivators- by setting clear goals for individual and team performance. Management By Objective (MBO) is one way organizations have found to tap into the power of motivating employees to achieve. Across-the-board raises are not based on achievement, and so they miss out on harnessing the influence of a powerful internal motivator. Top performers would rather work in an organization that recognizes and rewards both their achievements and the effort that goes into them.

Over the last few years, several federal organizations have raised the salary range for many of their employees. This was done primarily as an effort to both attract and keep high achieving employees. Is this a workable strategy producing positive results? We think not. As stated previously, most high performers are motivated to achieve. Without a system that rewards their efforts, one of two things almost always happens: Either the high achiever leaves; or there is a noticeable drop-off in achievement. Instead of a race to the top with appropriate rewards for those who make it, across-the-board raises turn beneficial competition into a race for mediocrity.

Book Review - Influencer - Business Consulting & Training

Book Review - Influencer by Kelly Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxwell, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler.

Managers have very complex jobs. Not only must they be well grounded in the technical side of the business, but understand the intricacies of human nature as well. In fact, dealing with human behavior is the most frustrating aspect of the job for many managers.

At last, I have found a book that provides five practical strategies for making change happen. The authors of Influencer have done a marvelous job of distilling powerful insights from behavioral scientists and business leaders into a guaranteed formula for change. Anyone who reads this book will benefit from it.

The authors demonstrate how five simple strategies achieved startling successes. This book is vividly illustrated with successful stories describing how these strategies have worked, such as dramatically reducing HIV infection in an entire country, how a large manufacturing facility turned the dismal implementation of Six Sigma into a massive success for the company, as well as how you can change self defeating behavior for yourself and others.

If you have been a regular reader of my blog, you know I focus on practical information leading to measurable results. This book delivers both.

Business Accountability - Performance Management Software

Top companies already use detailed performance metrics (Analytics), benchmarks and individual quantitative performance measures. Yet, accountability continues to invoke fear and trembling in the minds of many managers and staff members. One reason that performance ratings are so threatening is that internal performance reviews are often done so badly. Managers frequently see them as bureaucratic exercises to check off the boxes for salary purposes. Accountability is often thought of as a way to justify blame, pass the buck or cover your butt (CYA). Phases such as, “Not my job,” and “Good enough for government work” serve to reinforce inaction and continued failure. Ask people how work is going and you are likely to hear something like “Same shi*, different day” (SSDD). A lack of accountability has destroyed job fulfillment and pride in work.

A lack of accountability allows individuals to justify entitlement thinking, such as, “I have been here longer than anyone else; I should be next in line for promotion.” Fear is a major impediment to individual and organizational success. Howard Lewis, author of Technological Risk, contends that we have become a risk-adverse culture. This is completely understandable when one considers how much we are pelted by frightening media reports, homeland security alerts, economic crises and “lite” wars (similar to lite beer with reduced calories, lite wars have reduced casualties). Lewis contends that we have become afraid of risk and that fear, more than anything else, impedes a nation’s progress. Nothing weakens an individual’s or an organization’s resolve more, than the rejection of accountability. Accepting accountability empowers us.

Twenty years ago Intel was the leading manufacturer of memory chips. Yet, the writing was on the wall. Intel would lose the chip market to cheaper, more nimble Asian competitors. That business model no longer worked in the new globalized market place. CEO Andy Grove was accountable to shareholders and employees for sustaining Intel’s success. Grove took action and replaced Intel’s old business. Intel focused all its resources from making memory chips to making microprocessors. The rest, as they say, is history. Andy Grove’s decisiveness put Intel on a new trajectory of success that continues today.

A great definition of accountability can be found in the Wall Street Best seller The OZ Principle. The authors Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman define accountability this way, “A personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving desired results.” Accountability is the first step to ownership. It is understandable why all high-performing organizations build a culture of achievement by increasing employee accountability and empowerment.

Leadership in Action - Performance Management Software

From 1991–1993, IBM lost more than 15 billon dollars. Lou Geistner was hired as CEO to turn things around. By carefully making sure the right people were in the right positions and installing a team-oriented compensation system, Geistner eliminated silo thinking and expanded cross functional cooperation. He returned IBM’s focus to its cultural roots: ardent customer service and discipline. Promotions and performance management shifted the culture focus from entitlement to achievement. Geistner once remarked, “I have come to see in my time at IBM that culture is not just one aspect of the game, it “IS” the game.” By the early 2000’s IBM had shed 14 billion dollars in inefficiencies and become the world’s largest and most influential information technology company. 

How do you know if your managers are creating value or destroying it? James Collins said it best in How the Mighty Fall, “People do not have jobs, they have responsibilities.” Performance based job descriptions define measurable leadership responsibilities. Establishing specific leadership measures encourage managers to do more than act as coordinators. They must get the best out of their people. Accurately defining and measuring leadership provides an incentive to excel at every level throughout the organization. 

There are several ways to measure leadership effectiveness. One way to establish leadership effectiveness is to measure employee responsiveness:

• How long does it take for employees to take action (Agility)?
• How well do employees perform in activities that drive strategic objectives (KPI’s)?
• What percentage of employees go beyond just meeting job requirements, e.g., exceeding customer expectations or suggesting better ways of doing things (Discretionary Effort)?
• How many ideas from employees are initiated and implemented? (Innovation)?
• How many employees can directly link their daily activities with mission or strategy (Strategic Alignment)?
• Ensuring the performance range between top performers and poor performers does not exceed 10% year after year.

Leadership Delivers The Future

Effective leadership pays off. Measuring leadership effectiveness in organizations tells us a lot about the future performance of an organization. Towers Watson’s Human Capital Index provides striking data showing leaders that are trusted by their employees generate higher employee commitment and return 42% more to shareholders. It is well recognized that good leaders are effective decision makers. But that does not entirely explain the high return to shareholders.

Effective leaders engage their employees by:

• Increasing their awareness of task importance and value.
• Getting employees to focus first on team or organizational goals, rather than their own interests.
• Activating their higher-order needs such as: Achievement, Self Respect, Belonging, Competency and Recognition, etc.

Increase Employee Performance

Align, measure and view daily performance impacting mission, vision and goals!

Kaplan and Norton, developers of the Balanced Score Card reported that 70 to 90 percent of organizations failed to realize the full potential their strategy promises. A recent article by Erik Berggren and Lars Dalgaard estimate that companies experience successful strategy results only 15% from planning but 85% from execution.

It is one thing for business leaders and senior management teams to develop new strategies. It is quiet a different challenge to have them successfully implemented. Many strategies fail to deliver their full potential. This can be traced back to four critical success areas.

Strategies fail because;

• The mission or strategy is vague or unclear. People are not sure what they need to do to support them day to day,
• The values described in the vision, mission and goals are at odds with the existing values and beliefs guiding behavior within the organization,
• There are no measures to help staff mark progress toward goal achievement ,
• There is no reinforcement for behaviors supporting change.

Strategic Mapping Vision to Action Workshop

Strategic Mapping Overview

Strategic mapping is a strategic planning and execution process. It has been successful used by Fortune 100.corporations such as Chevron, ATT, and Colgate. It provides executive teams with the technology to quickly execution and anticipates bottlenecks and blunders. The process quickly identifies underperforming high impact areas key result areas. Avoid wasting valuable time and money.

Strategic mapping ensures senior management can ...

• Build consensus quickly even with the most diverse membership.
• Envision areas holding the greatest opportunities and failure.
• Generate business alignment.
• Measurably links strategic drivers with the day-to-day actions of employees.
• Track strategic performance by department, position or person.
• Execute strategy changes faster.
• Increase return on investment of money, machines, and manpower.

Strategic mapping is an analytical process developed to align diverse opinions while pin pointing the key result areas essential to long term success. Participants identify and force rank the factors which they believe have the greatest impact on their future success. The items are rated according to their current performance level and plotted on a matrix. Through the welding together of diverse opinions the matrix provides a clear road map indicating current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

With this new perspective, rational and realistic business plans can be easily constructed. Individual team members will be able to confidently create measurable performance objectives aligned with a sense of purpose shared by the entire team. Valuable resources can be focused where they are most needed. Team members will be able to support organization mission, strategy, and goals while making independent decisions.

Employee Rewards - Create a Culture of Achievement, Not Entitlement

Steer and Accelerate Workforce Performance

For many people, except for a paycheck, their work is purposeless. Ask people what they would do if they suddenly won the lottery. The first thing many would say is “Quit my job.” Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to be away from work. In many organizations, change is thwarted and talent is wasted. People go to work and feel little satisfaction. They cannot wait for the weekend where they can avoid the tension and boredom at work. They want to enjoy their life.

Today’s workforce is more diverse than ever. Multinational ethnic groups, young and old all mingle together in a diverse work place, and their interests and needs are just as diverse. Some want more free time while others want more overtime or career advancement. The traditional Total Rewards program is falling short in fulfilling the needs of this diverse workforce.

Total Rewards refers to the monetary and non-monetary rewards provided to employees in exchange for their time, talents, efforts and results. It is intended to attract, motivate and retain employees. Unfortunately much of what is considered the bedrock of total rewards is now seen as entitlements.
Part of this is because many total reward programs are entitlements, not rewards. Competitive pay, vacation, 401K, flex time, training, tuition reimbursement, healthcare and the list goes on. In many organizations, rewards are dished out not for stellar performance, but just for showing up. Well-intentioned managers delay reducing pay for poor performers. Ultimately this rewards mediocrity and punishes top performers. This socialization of rewards has driven up costs, and lowered our competitiveness.

Getting a reward before achievement has occurred is a gift. A reward is something you receive for achievement. You can attract a lot of people by giving things away. However, those with top talent want to be rewarded for their top performance. If mediocrity is rewarded with entitlements, then why work? Workers can just show up and collect their paycheck. If performance is rewarded, people will perform. As Bruce Pfau and Ira Koy say in “The Human Capital Edge,” pay for performance works because it is based in human nature. People do things that are in their best interest. They do not do things that are not in their best interest. As a result some companies have outsourced work to countries where labor costs are lower and the work ethic is higher. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Create behavioral anchors for your rating scale

A simple exercise can increase the accuracy and fairness of the one-size-fits-all employee appraisal process. A pre-appraisal meeting is set up to review performance characteristics (behavior indicators) defining rating scale criteria. Through an open discussion, managers agree on consistent ways to interpret performance ratings.

Once relative consistency is achieved, each manager is asked to describe the behaviors they would associate with each rating on the rating scale. The facilitator should make sure everyone clearly understands the difference between an opinion and a behavior before proceeding with the exercise. After everyone is finished, the group compares their examples. Using consistent examples from the discussion, the rating scale can be defined using behavioral anchors to help managers calibrate their scoring on an employee appraisal template.

Managers and employees receiving above-average performance should be rewarded accordingly. Rewarding performance is the only way to sustain full employee engagement. However, managers rating staff members above average may be asked to provide measurable evidence justifying an above-average score. This simple exercise reduced above-average ratings in one financial organization from 62.2% to 22% in one performance cycle.

Performance Path® takes the employee appraisal format one step further, by linking a behavioral-anchored rating scale with stages of employee development that result in a “Human Factors” rating scale. The “Human Factors” rating scale enables managers to select the best practice coaching strategy that matches employee development, maximizing employee skill and initiative.

“Human Factors” appraisals improve communication between manager and employee, both during and after the appraisal period. Developmental planning and behavioral coaching are more likely to be successful when the manager and employee are rewarded for their efforts. The performance review shifts from focusing on the pay plan to achieving performance goals. Managers and employees begin thinking like owners. Over time a culture of achievement replaces the culture of entitlement.

Business Resources > Tips for Successful Employee Appraisals

Conducting employee appraisals is usually one of the least favorite tasks of most managers. It is easy to understand why. Traditional one-size-fits-all appraisals bear little resemblance to the actual job requirements. One-size-fits-all employee appraisal systems use broadly defined statements to define work responsibilities. And, the rating scale is more a measure of the manager’s opinion, versus measure of actual performance.

Examples:

Typical sample employee appraisal phrases:

Communication

To what degree an employee demonstrates the ability to interact in a clear and logical manner, using verbal and written communication skills.

Leadership

Demonstrates the ability to inspire others to achieve higher goals and business objectives.

A typical rating scale - 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

1. Unacceptable
2. Needs Development
3. Meets Expectations
4. Exceeds Expectations
5. Walks On Water

The traditional appraisal rating scale actually increases appraisal bias. The result of traditional employee appraisal forms is more opinion poll than performance measure. Unfortunately, some organizations avoid reviewing performance all together. They resort to across-the-board raises that actually increase costs and tacitly reinforce mediocrity throughout the organization. Most managers do the best they can to make the traditional “finger in the wind” appraisal process relevant and fair.

Here are some tips to making traditional employee appraisal methods more relevant and accurate.

Effective “Human Factors" appraisal forms eliminate rating bias with job specific performance criteria coupled with a behaviorally anchored rating scale. This ensures pay and promotions are based on meritocracy.

Business Resources > Booming in the Millennium

To say the world is undergoing a huge economic restructuring might be an understatement. Shifting demographics are one of the key factors driving this change. The U.S. economy has grown at an annual rate of around 3.4% adjusted for inflation over the past 50 years (BLS). An important factor in achieving that pace of economic growth has been an increase of about 1.7% annually in the supply of workers.

The Baby Boomers who drove consumption for nearly four decades are now reaching retirement age. Boomers are leaving, taking decades of experience and intellectual property with them. As they do so, many are concerned with having enough money to support a comfortable lifestyle. The millennia workforce will need a 21st century management system, because it is not only younger but different by sex, race, and ethnicity. This workforce is motivated by a different world view. This more diverse workforce force will demand a variety of benefits, a flexible work schedule, clearly defined opportunities for growth and advancement and of course a competitive pay plan.

Now this brings us to an interesting question, What is the purpose of the pay plan? I personally agree with Robert Heneman, who says, “The ultimate goal of the pay plan is to align the goals and interests of the employees with the goals and interests of the organization. Sadly, as I have frequently observed, performance management systems and line of sight bonus schemes are a blunt stick at best. They are rigid structures based on short time results at best and “finger in the wind” opinion polls at worst. See my earlier blog, “Perfecting Performance Appraisal Tools" for more details.

Those in management will have to approach the system in a different way. It will have to be one that creates a culture of achievement, not entitlement. Such a system replaces blunt stick technology with managers tools ensuring employees know exactly what they need to do to excel by fully supporting the organizations goals and objectives.

This may sound like a dream; it is not. Read on.

21st century workforce management includes:

• Ensuring performance standards are clearly defined in each employee’s job description.
• Performance standards are measurable and prioritized according to their impact on Westar’s strategy, goals and objectives.
• From the first day on the job each employee knows exactly what they must do each day to drive success.
• Innovation targets are identified encouraging staff to stretch beyond current job requirements.
• Targets encourage employees to increase their skill certifications, initiate and complete money saving ideas or take on added responsibilities.
• Areas of personal conduct are provided to ensure professional standards are understood.

Appraisals provide management with accurate measurement of job-specific performance for each employee. They work best when equipped with a “Human Factors” rating scale enabling management to develop effective coaching strategies targeting specific skill and motivation affecting overall performance.

Coaching and development are a part of each manager’s role and responsibility. Many managers are unfamiliar with coaching techniques, as they have not received professional training. A structured coaching worksheet linked with the “Human Factors” rating scale will provide managers with a road map to developing successful coaching strategies for staff at all levels of performance.

Tracking and documentation are made easy with online employee logs and performance dashboards. Each manager has their own console representing their direct reports. The employee log allows managers to create personalized category folders to record individual achievement, discipline, training, vacation and sick leave among others.

Pay increases and rewards are earned. Managers maximize results and rein in costs by providing staff with high value (financial and nonfinancial) incentives. In essence, employees are rewarded for demonstrating exemplary performance, goal achievement, skill advancement or successfully implementing approved innovative ideas. Rewards interlock with daily work efforts and Westar’s key success factors enable managers to drive change at every level within the organization.

Performance dashboards provide managers with graphical information related to performance goals, key performance indicators or employee log entry by person, position, and department, or between international counterparts. Dashboards enable managers to review data graphics from each folder or combination of folders. Managers routinely measure, monitor, and analyze the effectiveness of the workforce as never before. With these tools, management drives strategy and contains costs -delivering sustainable value to customers and shareholders alike.

With a well-trained workforce and Performance Path® technology there is no need for forced compliance as each person recognizes the importance of his or her contribution. Individuals and colleagues work together with a sense of commitment and shared fate. Shareholder value is a measure of personal fulfillment as much as a financial result. In a corporate culture motivated by achievement, there is spontaneous innovation, constant cooperation, and you hear the laughter of people dreaming, achieving, and having fun.

Performance Management Systems & Software - Belt Tightening Inside YOUR Organization

The first or second largest expense in almost every organization is labor. Studies show that 60-75% of an organization’s overhead expenses are consumed by their people.
Organizations must:

• Assess the top line versus cost structure.
• Cut discretionary spending.

Now, imagine if your employees could be just 5% more productive every day. Obviously, this would have enormous positive impact on your bottom-line. So, the question of the day is: How can you improve your human capital?

• Ensure employee commitment during cost cutting by asking them how to minimize cost.
• Identify the day-to-today actions staff must perform to drive value.
• Attract and keep top talent by rewarding performance not putting in time.
• Create a value mindset by linking staff actions and incentives with business value drivers
• Ensure full engagement of employees by providing highly valued low cost incentives.
• Objectively differentiate those that add value and those that don’t.
• Reduce head count based on objective assessment of skill and motivation.
• Reward staff for measurably improving individual or organizational performance.
• Make managers and frontline supervisors reward employee merit.

Performance Path ® provides an easy, cost effective way to achieve belt tightening.

• Objectively separate those that add value and those that don’t
• Close the skill gap between highest and lowest performer.
• Pay-For-Performance, quantify management skill Level.
• Increase innovation and alignment, quantify leadership skill level.
• Pay For Performance, accurately measure employee skill level.
• Motivate or replace, accurately measure employee motivation level.
• Reduce costs with non-financial incentives that engage employees, and drive performance.