Gene Johnson - HRLeaders 2017 workshop

BUILDING A
PERFORMANCE
CULTURE
WORKSHOP
1
Dr Gene Johnson

info@workingmatters.co.uk
MY BACKGROUND
2
PhD - Industrial/
Organisational Psychology
Management
Development
Programme
Senior
Personnel
Research
Psychologist
Lecturer in
Business
School – HR &
I/O Psych
Manager,
IQuentis
(outsourced
recruitment &
training)
EMEA Director,
Talent
Management &
L&D
Interim
International
Director, Talent
& Development
Interim Global
Director,
Leadership
Development

AGENDA
1. What is a Performance Culture?
2. Communicating Vision & Values
3. Setting Clear Expectations
4. Creating a Feedback Environment
5. Ensuring a Development- & Improvement-focus
6. Making Performance Distinctions
7. Manager as Catalyst
8. Driving Cultural Change
3

TYPICAL PM (MORE OR LESS)
4
Objective
Setting
Standard
template
Manager &
EmployeeDevelopment
Planning
Short-
term
Long-
term
A year
passes
…
Below Expectations
Exceeds Expectations
Meets Expectations
WHAT HOW
Performance Review
Forced
distribution

PSYCHOLOGY OF PM
5
RATINGS
GOALS
• Motivational = provide direction
• Specific & challenging
FEEDBACK
• Directional (if constructive)
• Praise is good (warm fuzzies)
TRACKING
• Are goals reached?
• Individually
• Organisationally
REWARD
EQUITY
• MOTIVATIONAL
• Input-to-Output Ratio
• Distributive Justice
• Procedural Justice

THREE ESSENTIALS
1. GOAL
S
Tell me
what do
I need
to do,
how
well, by
when,
etc.
6
2. FEEDBA
CK
Give me
feedback
that I can
trust.
3. REINFORCE
MENT
Acknowledge my
performance…
reward it or
develop me,
distinguish me
from others
(especially if I
excel)

WHAT IS A PERFORMANCE
CULTURE?
7

PERFORM
ANCE
CULTURE
8
Simple & Agile Process
Executives Lead on PM
Manager
as
Catalyst
Feedback
Environmen
t
Vision-&
Values-Driven
Clear
Performance
Expectations
Development-
&
Improvement-
Focused
Performance
Distinctions
THREE ESSENTIALS
GOAL SETTING
FEEDBACK
REINFORCEMENT

COMMUNICATING VISION &
VALUES
9

START WITH VISION &
BUSINESS STRATEGY
1. Staff are inspired by vision & mission
2. Staff live and breathe core values, which are
reflected in expectations and feedback
3. Strategic business objectives are linked to
individual objectives, through cascading
4. The purpose of performance management is
clear
10

INSPIRE – STRATEGIC INTENT
Why are we
here?
11
• Captures the essence of
‘winning’ and achieving
What is the ultimate
objective? What is our
mandate?
• Is stable over time – the
‘end’ stays the same, but
the ‘means’ can change
and flex
Allows shift in short-term
action, but alignment must
remain
• Sets a target that
generates personal
effort and commitment
e.g., To be the best in the
world!

THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
12
Start with WHY
WHAT
Every person on the
planet knows What they
do.
This is your job title,
function, the products
you sell or services you
offer.
HOW
Some people know
How
they do it.
These are the things
you do that make
you special or set
you apart from your
peers.
WHY
Very few people know WHY they do
what they do.
The Why is not about making money -
that’s a result. The Why is a purpose,
cause, or belief.
Your Why is the very reason you exist.

CORE VALUES
Important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by
the members of a culture about what is good or
bad and desirable or undesirable
13
Influence a person's
behaviour and
attitudes; serve as
broad guidelines in
all situations
Ends rather than the
means – what we
strive for individually
and organisationally
‘Why we do what we
do’

PURPOSE OF PM
Decision-Making Development
• Significant, contingent rewards are
available (i.e., a budget)
• Pay decisions are more based on
tenure than performance, e.g., civil
services
• There’s a goal to drive high impact and
significant results through PM
• There’s little reward to be had – e.g.,
differential pay, pay at risk, other
meaningful rewards
• There’s a desire for strong and explicit
ties between performance and rewards
• The culture truly believes that staff
development is primary, because growth
leads to positive outcomes, e.g.,
performance
• Type of work lends itself to quantitative,
easy-to-measure work outcomes
• Type of work is not easily measured
with a rating
• Work outcomes are normally distributed
and there are clear high and low
performers
14
What makes most sense?

SYSTEM DESIGN DECISIONS
SYSTEM
DESIGN
DECISIONS
DECISION-MAKING DEVELOPMENT
Type of
Rating?
Numerical ratings are
better – perhaps
essential?*
Categorical, non-
numerical ‘ratings’ are
better – behavioural
feedback is best
Manager
Narrative?
In addition to above,
narrative can justify rating
– must be aligned with
rating
Narrative is essential to
understand strengths and
development needs
Who Rates? Manager is gatekeeper,
integrater, and arbiter of
all input into a final rating
Manager not needed to
integrate; feedback can
go directly to employee
Calibration? Essential for equity Not so important
15
Adapted from Pulakos, E. D. (2009). Performance management: A new approach for
driving business results. Wiley-Blackwell.

info@workingmatters.co.uk16
What’s different?
 PM is ‘wrapped’ in daily work, not an
annual event (no ratings)
 Manager-employee engage in on-going,
effective discussions
 Simplified admin requirements
That was then
 Major disparity between PM
process and how employees
accomplished their day-to-day
work
 Managers reluctant to give
candid feedback to employees
 Managers viewed PM as little
more than an administrative drill
A new mindset, built on a few foundational principles:
 Effective PM is an on-going process, not an
annual meeting and a form to complete
 Day-to-day activities and practices predict the PM
quality rather than forms and scales
 Employee – manager relationships are at the
heart of effective PM
 PM systems need to be flexible to address
different business needs
Everyday PM
The results
 69% of employees report receiving useful
development feedback
 70% feel valued due to on-going
performance discussions with their
manager

ON-GOING DISCUSSIONS = MORE
ALIGNMENT, FOCUS, & AGILITY
Yes No
Understand how they contribute to
business strategy
80% 30%
Focus on work activities that most
impact business results
78% 31%
Adjust performance goals in
response to changing business
priorities
77% 28%
On-Going
Discussion

GOAL SETTING
19
GOALS
• Participative/collaborative (?)

SETTING PERFORMANCE
EXPECTATIONS
20
You get back what you expect, so set your expectations
high
Performance expectations go beyond
the
job description
• What goods and services should the
job produce?
• What impact should the work have
on the organisation?
• How do you expect the employee to
act with clients, colleagues, and
supervisors?
• What are the organisational values
the employee must demonstrate?
• What are the processes, methods, or
means the employee is expected to
use?
Results/Objectives
Goods and services
produced by an employee
often measured by
performance objectives
(WHAT)
Behaviours/Competencies
Methods and means used to
make a product, and the
behaviours and values
demonstrated during the
process
(HOW)

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
Timeliness
Timeframe to complete work
• Respond to requests within
24 hours
• Provide financial reports on
quarterly basis
21
Quality
How well work is performed
• 25% improvement in client
satisfaction
• Produces reports requiring no
revisions
Quantity
How much work is performed
• Responds to 95% of requests
• Wins 2 new accounts a month
Financial Metrics
Efficient use of funds, revenues,
profits, & savings
• Achieved a 15% savings on last
year’s budget
• Increase revenue by 4%

SMART OBJECTIVES
22
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
Principle Why?
Motivational By providing enough
challenge
e.g., target increase of 10%
Informationa
l &
Directional
By being specific and setting
a benchmark
‘I know I need to sell 10% more this
month’
Built-in
Feedback
You know when it’s been
achieved – and so do others!
‘That sale just took me over 10% -
hurrah!’
Time-Bound It sets a deadline
‘I must meet the target by end of
month!’

COMPETENCIES
nowledge
kills
bilities
ther
Characteristics
23
Most critical for
achieving important
job outcomes and
contributing to
organisational success
Between 5-12 typically
used in PM

CREATING A FEEDBACK
ENVIRONMENT
24

GENERATING PERFORMANCE
TALKING
1. Real-time feedback is the core ingredient; be
wary of just adding check-ins.
2. The feedback environment is more than just
managers offering feedback; it’s about
everyone comfortable with feedback.
3. Feedback should derive from various,
credible sources.
4. Some workplaces may encourage employee-
driven feedback.
25

FEEDBACK IS VITAL
26
GOALS
• Participative/collaborative (?)
FEEDBACK
• Directional (if constructive)
• Praise is good (warm fuzzies)
PERFORMANCE
• Are goals reached?

REAL-TIME FEEDBACK
27
• Feedback in the moment, when needed…
• Must be immediate time connection between behaviour and feedback
(basic psychology)
• Constructive feedback about what’s not working
• Positive feedback about what is working… and recognition for a job
well done
Vast majority of constructive feedback
opportunities are when a
misunderstanding occurs, something did
not go as planned, or there’s a problem to
solve – informal feedback in the moment,
not end-of-year performance review!

CONTINGENCY THEORY
28
Classic Behavioral
Psychology
Reinforcement Theory
states that a positive
reinforcement of an
action will cause it to
repeat, whereas
negative consequences
tend will make that less
likely
Adults in the workplace learn lots
of things through reinforcement
and feedback
Rats can be trained to push a bar
for pellets or jump a cage if
shocked
Pigeons can be trained to count
through feedback
A child learns not to walk in the
road by a slap on the bum
The Role of
Feedback
1. Informative:
it let’s you know
how you are doing
2. Motivational:
it energises you by
reflecting what’s
been achieved
Effective feedback has to occur at the same time (or very near to)
the original action or behaviour… otherwise the connection may be
lost

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK
29
• Constructive feedback is:
 information-specific (so not general)
 issue-focused
 based on observations of behaviour and not interpretation -
judgments like 'not very good ' and 'below average' are criticism
 relevant to one’s job
• Includes examples of good and poor behaviour
 this makes it crystal clear what is expected
 description of behaviour that an individual should be exhibiting
provides a goal to aim for
 even if already exhibited, describing good behaviour enables the
individual to use such behaviour again
 specific description of 'poor' behaviour identifies which behaviours
need changing

BEHAVIOUR-FOCUS, NOT
PERSON
30
Identity
Feedback may sometimes focus on
a person’s personality, suggesting
that they should change as a
person. This can be very
threatening to their identity. Make
sure to address the behaviour that
has to change.
‘The language you used with your
colleague was not acceptable’
(versus: ‘You are crude’)
‘The Logical Levels’

USESACTION-IMPACT MODEL
31
1. Consistently poor
performance
a. ‘When you do X…’
b. ‘It makes me/others feel…, it
affects…, it (add relevant
verb)…’
c. ‘What I need you to do is…’
2. Behavioural issues
a. ‘Your performance has been…’
b. ‘The impact is that you are not
meeting target…’
c. ‘If it doesn’t improve by X, then
the consequences are…’

CATCH THE GOOD
32
• Praise & recognition are
underutilised
• The power of a sincere ‘pat on the
back’ or simple ‘thank you’ can be
massive – it acknowledges input
and is a form of positive feedback
• Even more meaningful is
informative positive feedback –
e.g., ‘What I really liked about your
sales pitch was… If you wanted to
improve it, you could…’3:
1
(recommended ratio of
positive to constructive
feedback)

FEEDBACK ENVIRONMENT
33
Frequenc
y of
Favourabl
e
Feedback
Frequency
of
Unfavourab
le
Feedback
Promoti
on of
Feedbac
k
Seeking
Source
Availability
Feedbac
k
Quality
Feedback
Delivery
Source
Credibili
ty
Chawla, N., Gabriel, A.S., Dahling, J.J. and Patel, K. (2016). Feedback dynamics are critical to
improving performance management systems. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 9(2), pp.
260–266.

CREDIBLE FEEDBACK
GIVERS?
34
Role best
suited…
To assess…
Supervisor WHAT gets done
Peers HOW it gets done (and
competencies like decision making,
technical skills, motivation)
Direct
Reports
Leadership, interpersonal skills,
communication skills, feedback and
development-focus
Customers Customer service, usefulness of
output
Self How others see you for comparison

SOCIAL PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
35
What it is What it is NOT
• Social media platform like
Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. - many
companies stream the recognitions
live on large screens throughout
their facilities
• An open forum for criticism.
Public feedback is all about
recognition
• Managers and employees establish
and share goals with each other
and track progress in real time
• Constructive feedback is personal
and thus is shared only with the
recipient
• Staff at all levels provide timely
feedback and recognition, making
it spontaneous and interactive –
they can even ‘like’ individual
recognitions and other content
• An employee’s performance
toward goals is visible only to
relevant individuals that the
manager and employee agree
upon in advance (generally team
members)
• Process resembles having a
conversation rather than capturing
records after the fact

EMPLOYEE-DRIVEN
• Managers provide feedback and
support for development
• But employees have to be proactive
in both regards
• HiPo staff proactively seek
feedback and want to learn…
36

ENSURING A DEVELOPMENT- &
IMPROVEMENT FOCUS
37

DEVELOPMENT EVERYWHERE,
AT ALL TIMES
1. PM is focused on improvement, not punitive.
2. Development is valued.
3. Development opportunities exist on-the-job.
4. Development experiences (even on the job)
have optimal structure.
38

MINING JOBS FOR
DEVELOPMENT
39
Current job
New job
Current Task
Current Project
New Task
New Project
New Role

STRUCTURING OTJ
DEVELOPMENT
40
• Identify the
experience/development
activity
• Define the learning
objective
• Identify feedback data
• Agree feedback givers (if
not the manager) and
timelines
• Check & measure
progress, provide
support
Assessment
of
development
needs
Identify
development
activity
Targeted
outcome
Challenge/
stretch
Preparation
& support
Reflection

3X3 REVIEW
41
• What can be learned
from past projects?
• What is your area of
development for this
project?
• Who can you talk to
about previous project
efforts?
Before
• Have circumstances
changed?
• What have you learned
so far?
• Who can help with
coaching at this point?
During • What’s changed from
the original objectives?
• What specifically did
you learn?
• What would you have
done differently or will
you do differently in the
future?
After

PRIMING A GROWTH MINDSET
42
 Priming a growth mindset with a structured or guided
conversation (e.g., focusing on goals for the future) enhances
receptivity
 Contrast “You did well; you must be talented” with “You did
well; you must have worked hard on this”
 Ratings foster a fixed mindset that they represent who
you are for ever and ever, leading to mental paralysis
 In contrast, a growth mindset assumes continual
learning, growth, and improvement
Carole Dweck

Daniel Pink — Drive
• Traditional performance management squelches creativity & innovation
Samuel Culbert — Get Rid of Performance Review
• Reviews, ratings, & forced distribution curves demotivate
• Frequent informal performance conversations are key to driving
performance
David Rock — Coaching with the Brain in Mind
• Neuroscience points to need to rethink how we give feedback to
minimize threat and unlock creativity
Carol Dweck — Growth Mindset
• Growth Mindset drives performance – people can learn, develop, grow
• Embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, see effort as the
path to mastery, learn from feedback, find inspiration in others’ success
• Eliminated
performance ratings
and reviews
• Manager and
employee meet
monthly
• Focus on goal
progress and
adjustment

VITAL TO DISTINGUISH &
ACKNOWLEDGE
1. Strong performers are attracted to
organisations that recognise individual
contributions differentially via pay-for-
performance. This also means they will
abandon employers who do not differentially
reward exceptional performance.
2. Weaker performers will leave employers who
reward high performance, but are more likely
to stay when pay-for-performance
differentiation is weak.
45

CENTRALITY OF MANAGER
ROLE
1. Managers don’t embed a culture, but they do
reinforce it (or not).
2. Managers implement every aspect of a
performance culture.
3. Managerial capacity is a concern. Training is
vital.
4. Reinforcement systems for managerial
behaviours are necessary, including
structure… but not too much.
47

MANAGER AS COACH 
CATALYST
48
Inspire
Link each
individual’s
work to the
organisation’s
mission and its
success
Grow
Develop as part
of one’s daily
work by
leveraging work
experiences
and others’
expertise
Align
Provide and
receive regular,
informal
feedback to
praise and
course correct
in real time
Adapt
Set shorter-
term goals and
expectations
that flex with
changing
situations
Trust and open communication are key for these
behaviours to work, but they also generate trust and
open communication
Pulakos, E. D., Mueller Hanson, R., Arad, S., & Moye. N. (2015). Performance management can be
fixed: An on-the-job experiential learning approach for complex behavior change. Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, 8(1), 51-76.

A GOOD BOSS IS A…
49

BOSSES CAN TRUMP OTHER
EXPERIENCES
50
The original 70-20-10
research was about
Excellent & Terrible
Bosses
• One engagement
disincentive is a
mediocre boss
• Managers should be
held accountable for
staff development
Exceptional Bosses:
 provide opportunities
for growth
 provide exposure to
senior executives,
make connections,
open doors
 develop skills and “fix”
flaws
 inspire, raise the bar,
demand excellence
 “watch me, listen to
me”
 offer career advice &
guidance

EMBEDDING DAILY MANAGER
BEHAVIOURS LEADS TO
SUCCESS
51
Corporate Leadership Council. (2004). Driving employee performance and retention through engagement: A quantitative
analysis of the effectiveness of employee engagement strategies (Catalog No. CLC12PV0PD). Washington, DC: Corporate
Executive Board.
Setting clear expectations
Providing regular informal feedback
Helping staff develop and succeed
Up to
40%
higher performance
3x
greater profitability

PROJECT
OXYGEN
52
Be a
good
coach
Empower –
don’t
micro-
manage
Be
interested
in direct
reports’
success
and well-
being
Be
productive
and
results-
oriented
Be a good
communi-
cator and
listen to
your team
Help your
employees
with career
developme
nt
Have a
clear vision
and
strategy for
the team
Have key
technical
skills, so
you can
advise the
team
8 Habits of Highly
Effective Managers
Managers demonstrating
these behaviours had teams
with better performance,
retention, and work attitudes

CEB RESEARCH: REMOVING
PERFORMANCE RATINGS IS UNLIKELY TO
IMPROVE PERFORMANCE (MAY, 2016)
53
Survey of 9500 employees & 300 HR Managers
Improvements in measures of employee performance that companies expect
actually fall because managers struggle to make and communicate
performance and pay decisions without ratings
Manager conversation quality declines by
14% because managers struggle to explain to
employees how they performed in the past and
what steps to take to improve future
performance
Managers have more time, but time spent
on informal conversations decreases by
10 hrs - managers don’t shift that extra time
toward ongoing, informal performance
conversations
Top performers’ satisfaction with pay
differentiation decreases by 8% - managers
have trouble explaining how pay decisions are
made and linked to individual contributions
Employee engagement drops by 6% -
managers unable to do the very things proven
to engage employees, e.g., set expectations,
hold clear performance and development
conversations, and provide appropriate
rewards and recognition

PROCESS MECHANICS:
‘DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL
STUFF’
54

PROCESS MECHANICS
Ratings Types # Ratings
Eliminating
Ratings*
Review Frequency Structure & Inputs
Multi-Source
Feedback
Flexibility &
Documentation
Tailorisation to
Your Organisation
& Culture
55

# RATING POINTS
• Don’t worry about the number of points
• 5- and 7-point scales are the most common,
but in practice there’s not much of a
difference in how they are used – although
some managers maintain the 7-point scale
allows greater differentiation. It tends to be
about personal preference.
• If there is a lot at stake, then a 5-point scale
at minimum is necessary to differentiate
performance
• If there are fewer high and low performers and
this is clearly obvious, then use a 3-point
scale – where most people are ‘satisfactory’
56

ELIMINATING RATINGS
• Should be more than a simple process change (so,
not just a process mechanic!)
• Will you be able to make decisions without ratings?
• Do you want to focus on development?
• Decisions require data – so there are still data
points being made somewhere, even if they are not
communicated – for example:
• Calibration sessions
• Shadow ratings
• Manager discretion
• Staff rankings
57

REVIEW FREQUENCY
• Distinguish between reviews (annual or
otherwise), check-ins, and real-time feedback
• The trend is for quarterly or monthly check-ins
– these are meant to be reviews of progress
and support for performance corrections
• They may represent a ‘compromise’ in
structure – a placeholder to ensure the check-
ins occur
• What do you want to achieve in any of these
sessions?
• Don’t forget about the need for real-time
feedback – some processes with scheduled
check-ins may neglect this!58

STRUCTURE & INPUTS
• To what extent do you want to simplify the
process?
• Some organisations have reduced numbers of
competencies and assessment metrics
• Do consider: what doesn’t get measured, may
not matter
• Keep in mind: what decisions do you need to
make, and what data do you think you still
need to make them?
• Also keep in mind: what inputs will drive the
desired performance and behaviour?59

MULTI-SOURCE FEEDBACK
• Essentially, this is 360 feedback
• It is not a panacea – it can be quite cumbersome
• And most 360 systems are only used for
development feedback
• How structured do you want this to be? Some
systems take a broadbrush approach and ask all
raters to input on the same aspects – meaning
they’re not always relevant
• An alternative is Social Performance Management –
which can be more dynamic, but may result in less
balanced feedback
60

FLEXIBILITY &
DOCUMENTATION
• What can you do to ensure your process is
agile and flexible?
• Will you allow goals to be revisited throughout
the year, as work progresses or changes occur?
• Can you do away with some documentation
requirements? (remember, this doesn’t mean
that you don’t document performance
discipline issues)
• Are there any industry or other regulatory
requirements that will restrict what you can
do?
61

TAILORISATION TO YOUR
ORGANISATION & CULTURE
• Considering your situation, is there anything
not already mentioned that needs to be
reflected in your process design? What might
that be?
• For example, technology organisations may be
more comfortable with using social media
technology
• Engineering firms may be very comfortable
with quantitative data
62

APPROACHING CHANGE
1. Plan for change - it can’t just ‘happen.’
2. ’Sell’ your organisation on the need for
change.
3. Ensure executives are aware of their
essential role in embedding a performance
culture.
4. Consider other reinforcing mechanisms
(including the central role of people
managers).
64

STRATEGIC STAR
65
•How is behaviour
shaped by the goals?
•How do we assess
progress?
•How are decisions made?
•How does work flow
between roles?
•What are the mechanisms
for collaboration?
Strategy
Structure
What is the goal?
•How are we organised?
•What are the key roles?
•How is the work
managed?
•Who has power and
authority?
ProcessesRewards
•What talent is needed?
•How do we make the best
use of talent & resources?
People
©Jay Galbraith

PLAN FOR CHANGE
66
Communicate!
Walk the Talk
Make an Urgent
Case
Inspire with a
Vision
Kotter

IDENTIFY THE CHANGE
67
WHY? HOW? WHAT?
S t ruct ure P roce ss
C ult ure P e ople
K. Judge
S t ruct ure P roce ss
C ult ure P e ople
K. Judge

MAKE THE CASE FOR
CHANGE
68
1. Current
State
2. Desired
State
3. Stakeholders
4. Success Measures
Strategy
Structure
Rewards
People
Processes
5.
Blueprint for Change

BUILD THE CASE
69
BACKGROUND (How did we
get here?)
CURRENT STATE (Where are
we now? What’s not working?)
COSTS (How will we suffer if it
continues?)
FUTURE STATE (What would
it look like if it improved?)
BENEFITS (What are the
benefits of making the
change?)
FIRST STEPS (what initial
steps are needed?)
Create Urgency:
• Use data
• Create data
• Tell stories

INSPIRE WITH A CHANGE
VISION
70
Why is this future state
more beneficial to
employees, the
company, or our
customers?
What would they feel
they have gained once
this future state has
arrived?
Show the benefits – the
practical, positive
effects of the change
Vision the Future:
• It looks like…
• It feels like…
• Our clients will
increase…
• Investors will flock…
• Morale will improve…
Think about a headline
that you’d like to
appear in the Financial
Times in a year from
now.

ROLES
71
Change Agent TargetSponsor

THE SPONSOR
• Has authority, resources, and accountability
• Understands the change & must be committed
to it
• Puts into place change systems
• Focuses on the Desired State
• Empowers Change Agents
73

LEADERS CREATE CULTURES
• ‘Unfreeze’ current state by highlighting
organisational threats if no change occurs, while
making others believe that change is possible and
desirable
• Articulate a new direction and a new set of
assumptions – act as deliberate role models
• Reward new behaviours, punish old ones – create
critical incidents
• ‘Seduce’ or coerce employees into adopting new
behaviours
• Create visible scandals to discredit sacred cows,
explode myths, symbolically destroy artifacts of
the past 74
Edgar ScheinLeaders as the Primary Embedding Mechanism

WALK THE TALK (SHAPE THE
CULTURE)
• Engage people in dialogue about the performance
culture
• Live the culture you want
• Use symbols effectively
• Measure and reward exactly what you want
• Only make decisions that reinforce the desired
culture
• Invest resources (money, people, time) in the
desired culture
• Involve people – the more involvement, the
greater acceptance
• Change the role of information
75

SECONDARY MECHANISMS
76
Secondary Articulation & Reinforcement Mechanisms
• Organisation design &
structure
• Organisational systems
& procedures
• Organisational rites &
rituals
• Design of physical
space, facades, and
buildings
• Stories, legends, and
myths about people
and events
• Formal statements of
organisational
philosophy, values, and

SUPPORTING MECHANISMS
77
Calibration Sessions
• To get alignment between business,
team, and individual performance
• Using some ’benchmarks’ for a
common ’metric’ ….
Feedback & Other Training
• To skill-up managers and employees in
how to give constructive feedback and
proactively use process, coach, etc.
Employee Surveys & Audits
• To assess frequency of real-time
feedback, and increase in
meaningfulness of conversations
• To incentivise managers
• To hear from employees
Role Models & Champions
• To have executive leaders ‘walk the
talk’
• To identify managers who are good at
giving feedback and developing others

78
CALLS TO ACTION
Join the Effective
Performance
Management
Community of Practice
on LinkedIn to share
your experiences and
learn about best
practices
Complete the
Performance
Management Trends in
Slovakia survey
https://www.surveymon
key.com/r/HRLeadersSl
ovakia
http://www.suerichardson.co.uk/product/th
e-authority-guide-to-performance-
management/

CHECK-INS
80
LEADER AS
COACH
Not an add-on to
leader tasks, but
the actual work
of a leader
• Every team leader ‘checks-in’ with each
team member at least 1x a week
• Focus is on near-term, future
performance (‘What are you working on
this week, what are your priorities, how
can I help you achieve them?’)
• Future-focused coaching session on what
the person should be focusing on this
week, what they might like to do
differently, support
• Not an add-on to leader tasks, but
comprises the work of a leader
Effective leaders have frequent conversations with
their teams, typically once a week
TEAM
MEMBER-
DRIVEN
Best way to
ensure frequency
is for team
members to
initiate
FREQUENT
If you want
people to talk
about how to do
their best work in
near future, need
to talk often

Manager as Coach
Future-focused
No ratings
Individual
performance
objectives based
on specific
business
objectives
eMpower
Recognition
programme based on:
• Fostering
Participation
• Recognising
Performance
• Maximising
Employee
Potential
Performance Acceleration

NO LABELS
82
Managers accountable for substantively guiding performance (i.e., no
ratings or distribution guidance)
Managers empowered to spend within budget
Real-time performance & development conversations
Process simplification
Leadership team discussion focused on alignment of standards

January to January
Performance Focus
July to July
Development Focus
MY CAREER
ANNUAL
PROCESS
• Review and close old business goals
• Establish new business goals
• Review development goal progress
• Review and close old development plan
• Establish new development plan
• Review business goal progress
On-going
performance &
development
discussions
On-going
performance &
development
discussions
• Employee-led
• No forms, unstructured
• Discussions not tracked

TALENT MATTERS
84
• Self-developed objectives aligned with 5
common performance dimensions
• Future-focused evaluation (managers &
employees), using past performance as
context for future plans in 4 Cs
• Sharing calibration results to
communicate relative ranking across peer
groups
• Frequent conversations (2x-a-year
“Conversation Day”) to discuss future
aspirations (career goals and capabilities)
that set the stage to discuss performance
(contributions and connections) and
develop improvement goals
On Conversation Day, 88%
rated their conversations as
“helpful” or “very helpful

AUCKLAND COUNCIL - FLIPPING
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ON IT’S HEAD
What are we trying to achieve?
Why did we need a change?
The traditional annual review approach
wasn’t adding value:
- The review produced ratings, which
related to pay increases
- The focus was on the process, not the
quality of conversations.
- Employees and leaders said it was time
consuming, rigid and stressful, doing
little to support great performance
So was all that time and effort a good use
of resources? The evidence said no.
What we created
A conversation framework
called My Time, with conversation
tools for the employee and
coaching prompts for leaders,
based on four elements:
Align – the priorities for the team with the
contribution of the individual employee
Build – the strength of the employee–leader
relationship, and build individual
performance and development goals
Check-in – on work underway, what’s
working well, what’s getting in the way
Deliver – what we commit to. Review
achievement of goals and celebrate success.
This conversation framework is supported
by:
- A team plan – created with the leader and
their team. This creates visibility of what
the team is trying to achieve , how it fits
into the bigger picture and how the
individual can contribute to it
- A recognition framework to recognise
great work, demonstrate what great looks
like and encourage high performance
behaviours
- Development guidance and conversation
tools to support the employee in taking
ownership of their own development and
career.
A culture of high performance where
employees have greater ownership of their
own performance. This starts with a mind-
set shift:
- Employees set their goals and identify
what support they need to achieve these
- Leaders act as coach, providing guidance
and encouraging employees to lead
discussions, offer their ideas and come
up with solutions
- It is a partnership where the employee
and leader work together to achieve
goals
- Frequent quality conversations are the
vehicle for this.
The results so far…
An organisation-wide survey was
conducted six months after launch. The
results reported that:
- Both managers and employees were
experiencing benefits of My Time – the
process is simpler, more flexible and it
reduced process and administration
- Employees were more likely to have
frequent performance conversations
- Employees using My Time were more
likely to positively rate the statement ‘I
feel my contribution is valued in this
organisation’- one of Auckland Council’s
top 10 engagement drivers.
We see consistent use of the online portal
that houses all the tools and resources.
28

Gene Johnson - HRLeaders 2017 workshop

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