The Foundations To High-Performing Teams ??

Almost every founder I speak to, no matter the size of their startup, asks me the same question: “How do I build high-performing teams?”

I don’t keep count anymore how many of them have asked me to set up an OKR process when their team has no more than 15 employees or how many had already built some form of performance review process even earlier than that.

Together with hiring, performance is the number one worry of founders. Even if they have not yet encountered any issues with performance yet!

But let’s be straight. Caring about performance is not enough. And setting up a performance management system will NOT drive performance!?

FIRST, define what and why!

Before getting into designing and implementing a performance management system, you need to be clear about WHAT you want from it and WHY !

?? Do you want a performance management system because you feel you are losing control?

In that case, you need to make peace with it because that sense of losing control will only increase. You have to let go of the control. Creating complex reporting systems with the sole objective of reassuring yourself is not going to help your business.?

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?? Do you want one because you do not trust the team to deliver?

As your organisation grows you need to trust yourself to hire the right people and you need to trust the people you hire to do a good job. Otherwise, why did you hire them in the first place? Being suspicious and expecting the worst from your employees will only put them in defence mode and prevent them from taking the right initiatives and risks when required.?

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?? Do you want one because you are encountering performance issues?

In that case, the first thing to do is identify the source and take a targeted approach. A performance management system will not prevent poor performance. You do not solve a performance issue with one employee by imposing more reporting from all others.?

SECOND, set the right foundations for performance!

If you do not have the right people in your teams, if employees are unclear about why they are here or if you cannot perform basic HR operations properly, then even the best engineered performance management framework cannot bring the expected results.?

You need the following properly in place in order to achieve high performance:

? A well defined company culture: This is what informs employees on who you are, what you do, where you go and how to get things done in your organisation – not the performance management system! (See: Why All This Fuss About COMPANY CULTURE?)

? An efficient hiring process: No performance system can transform bad hires into high performers! (See: Hiring Tips For Startups)

? Proper HR Operations: Make sure you deliver your part of the contract (paying your employees on time, allowing them to take leave, etc.) before you ask employees to give more and enforce a system to push for more performance. (See: The HR Dilemma For Startups)

? A clear definition of the Roles and Responsibilities: This seems obvious and simple, but I have seen far too many situations where employees have no clue about the reporting structure or their scope of responsibilities, let alone what their level of authority was. Lack of clarity around what an employee is supposed to do will impact their performance… and not in the expected way! (See: The Art Of Delegating)

? A safe working environment: Studies show that the highest-performing teams all have one thing in common: psychological safety. Allowing for risk-taking and voicing your opinion boosts creativity and innovation. Just the types of behaviours that startups need to achieve market breakthroughs! (See: Building a psychologically safe workplace - Amy Edmondson)

FINALLY, once all this is in place, you can look at your need for a performance management framework ?? !

But bear in mind what the objective of a performance management system is. It is NOT to drive performance. It is to SCALE performance!

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About the author:

Anne Caron is an international speaker, author and People Strategy expert. Drawing on her 10 years' experience as a senior HR executive at Google, she set up her consulting practice in 2015 to support leaders in building high performing and positive organisations that scale. Through her experience working with entrepreneurs, she developed a practical methodology for startups to grow the right organisation and teams, which she describes in her book?From Zero to 1,000: The Organisational Playbook For Startups.

Find out more about Anne Caron:?www.annecaronconsulting.com