1. Performance Management

2. Introduction Job Creation Finding the “right” person
Setting personal goals aligned with business and IT objectives
Monitoring progress
Getting feedback from others
When creating roles, the organization will consider what the business and processes need, as well as the authorities and competencies required. However, their work means nothing if the people filling those roles are committed to those requirements and understand the contribution they make in filling the roles. While the service provider cannot make a person committed, they can create an environment which ensures a person performs effectively.
Performance management is about finding the “right” people to perform the required roles and providing a means for them to succeed in accordance to the goals, policies, and processes of the service provider. Many of the subjects addressed in this presentation can be found in other documentation within the Roles and Responsibilities toolkit.
Copyright: The Art of Service 2008

3. The Job Candidate
Create the “right” job Promote internally Understand candidate’s key drivers
The first step in ensuring that a person’s performance is excellent is in creating the right job for them. In the presentation, Introduction to Roles and Responsibilities, we discussed the misalignment between positions maintained by human resources and the process roles of the service management system: as a result, the responsibilities of a position may not fully capture the required responsibilities and authorities of the expected roles fulfilled. A person may be technically astute in a particular system, language, or platform, but they lack the skills to investigate incidents and problems effectively or communicate recommendations to business managers. Often times, a job may have “hidden” responsibilities which are not documented appropriately.
It is essential when creating jobs that its documented responsibilities are clear and aligned with the expected roles the person will fulfill. If created roles are aligned with business objectives and goals, than capturing these roles within the job description will ensure alignment between job and the business.
Consider filling new or changed job positions internally first. A person’s familiarity with company policies, processes, and tools provides an encouraging advantage over any candidate found external: the greatest exception is when the technical knowledge of the external person far exceeds any internal candidate. Additionally, internal candidates will have historical data regarding their performance which the business can use to determine if they are the right fit.
The “Internal Job Application for Job” and the “Job Candidate Evaluation” form are available to determine if a person is the right fit for a specific job. When determining this fit, consider understanding the key drivers or motivators for a person: what makes them succeed or failure? A highly qualified person will not succeed in an environment which does not support their motivators. For instance, if the person likes to work in quiet and isolation but they are expected to work in an open space with lots of people talking, then there is a likelihood that they can be easily distracted and perform poorly.
Copyright: The Art of Service 2008

4. Motivation
The diagram here represents the five levels of motivation as defined by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Behavior” and has been a forerunner in understanding the motivating factors of persons in like and in the workplace. The premise of the theory as it applies to the workplace is that an individual is more satisfied with their job if more needs are meet, particularly the first three levels: physiological, safety, and love/belonging. If the first three levels are provided for, the individual has the basis for moving themselves through the fourth level and into the fifth.
If an employee meets the needs of an individual, they will see greater motivation in their employees and an increase in productivity.
See the document “Motivation” for more information on this subject.
Copyright: The Art of Service 2008

5. Setting Performance Goals
Performance Development Planning provides:
Direction for the Employee
Understanding of contributions to business and customer
Identified motivating factors
Agreement on career plan between employer and employee
Decrease in probability of making mistakes or errors
Organizations should provide a program where supervisors sit down with employees to establish performance goals related to the expected work of the employee. Every framework used to support the development of roles addresses the need for every individual to understand clearly their role in the organization and how their contributions impact the greater business goals. Performance Development Planning is an opportunity to discuss what roles a person should be taking on, the value of these roles in the organization, and the past, current, and future performance of the individual in fulfilling these roles. Performance Development Planning is an opportunity to improve the individual as a resource in the organization.
The “Performance Management Process Checklist” found in the Toolkit provides a simple overview of the planning and follow-up activities related to conducting a Performance Development meeting with an individual.
The “Performance Improvement Plan” is designed to address specific performance issues with the individual which jeopardize the agreed development plan.
Copyright: The Art of Service 2008

6. Setting Education Goals
Education Goals define what training or knowledge requirements are necessary to achieve or exceed performance development goals. They address competency in fulfilling current and future roles.
Performance goals address how the employee does their job in accordance to the roles they are currently assigned. The effectiveness of fulfilling roles is dependent on the individual’s competency, which may require additional training and education to succeed. Additionally, supervisors may see an opportunity to have an individual take on additional roles, but to do so successfully, will need to raise the level of competency.
There are plenty of methods to receive training and education to fulfill roles, from classroom work to mentoring programs. The intent of establishing education goals is to determine what level of competency is needed for the individual to improve, when this improvement must be achieved, and by what means of training would best achieve it.
Education will typically impact productivity: a person sitting in a classroom learning how to do their job is not “doing the job.” Education goals and plans allow a supervisor to balance the need for improvement against the need for productivity in an individual. A high-performing individual will often be more productive and, as a result, may have more availability for additional training. Education goals should be established as part of performance development planning.
Copyright: The Art of Service 2008

7. Working with Others
Relationships in the work environment must be cultivated, especially formal interactions between processes. Establishing roles requires a clear understanding of relationships and a program for providing feedback on the effectiveness of those relationships.
A 360 Degree Feedback program is an excellent method for determining a person’s performance in regards to the relationships they must maintain. People rating the person’s feedback should be anonymous but should also comprise of people who are dependent or accountable to the evaluated person’s performance.
The “360 Degree Feedback” document provide more information on the program, its benefits, and its criticisms.
Copyright: The Art of Service 2008

8. High-Performance Teams
High-Performance Teams are the elite members of an organization’s productivity or innovative advantage in the marketplace. Creating a high-performance team requires hiring high-performance individuals.
One technique used in obtaining high-performance individuals is topgrading: a method in which low-performing people are replaced with high-performing individuals. In the realm of topgrading, high-performing individuals are the top 10 performers in the company. More information about topgrading can be found in the toolkit document of the same name.
Copyright: The Art of Service 2008

9. Moving Forward
Role definitions provide the requirements of the process for human resources, but it does not motivate effective execution of those roles. By adding performance management methods to managing human resource, an organization enables itself to monitor the effectiveness of the people fulfilling the role: much the same way it monitors the effectiveness of a particular service component in fulfilling its requirements to a service.
If your organization has not done much work in managing roles or performance, any initiative in the area may be resisted by staff. The Managing Change presentation covers some fundamental principles of managing organizational change.
Copyright: The Art of Service 2008