At this point in the year considerable attention is placed on performance plans for the coming year and organising all elements to ensure the goals set are achieved.
The performance of the organisation and teams within it is influenced primarily by the leaders. HR has been on a lengthy quest for leadership development to support the business goals, and such interventions are usually arranged at the behest of the C suite, or form part of a Talent Management Programme to develop all leaders and ensure robust succession planning.
The core ingredients of performance that HR can influence are Engagement and Skills (both technical and “soft”) and in large organisations the spend on those elements is significant.
Budgets are now pretty much set, plans have been submitted following in depth research as to what tools and interventions will best fit the culture and deliver the results targeted. But there is a large degree of “hope” involved and uncomfortable consequences if they do not.
One of the key growth areas in the health sector is diagnostic tools, and with the advent of dashboards which are becoming an increasingly standard part of management thanks to the proliferation of digital data now available, diagnostic tools are improving and delivering more precise information on which leaders can act, to create change and higher levels of performance. But are we measuring the elements which will deliver the greatest step change in performance? Or are we moving around expensive furniture without really seeing a big change?
There has been considerable focus on ENGAGEMENT in recent years, and quite rightly so, as it does put people into a higher gear when they are found to be engaged. But are we getting actionable data from those surveys and do we know exactly what to affect to increase the engagement and therefore performance?
Six months ago, I got really excited when I saw a diagnostic tool which measured very specific behaviours, all of which are essential components of High Performance Teams. If you are weak in any one of these components you will have unrealised potential in your workforce. And by measuring them, through three lenses HR and management are provided with the most essential performance driving data with which to ramp up results, that I have ever seen.
The 3 lenses or perspectives are 1) The Leader 2) The Team and 3) The Organisation and the 5 factors measured on these three perspectives are
Affinity Generates motivation, connection and confidence
Ownership Accountability, consistency and excellence
Interdependence Contribution, collaboration, inclusive working and thinking
Purpose Inspiration and motivation to go the extra mile
Risk Freedom of communication, essential for innovation
Seeing the output from the online survey, in the form of numbers (not opinions) for each factor, related to the leader in question, the team and then the organisation, affords HR and top executives a transparency on what to effect and where that has hitherto been a blind spot! When it comes to developing a strong team of leaders, this data lights the way putting you in good shape for creating a high-performance environment and robust sustainability in a constantly changing environment. When your leaders become adept at managing these five factors you have a truly agile leadership team.
These Factors don’t become a new, good habit overnight, so the best way to engage with the Gap Performance Diagnostic is over a two-year timeframe, running the online survey every 6 months and tracking the improvements over the two years. The focus provided by this diagnostic, along with the online resources included (which support each team leader to develop and implement their own action plan to gear up their team), is the most practical and exceptional tool I have seen to date. What better way to kick off your new year?
Finders is the sole agent for The Gap Performance Diagnostic in Switzerland.
Brigitte Jaquillard, Leadership Coach, Finders SA