Transformation Framework Part V: Organization & Individual Level - Performance Management

Placing employees in successive positions matched to their talent is a similar challenge. ?The central challenge of managers is “in disciplining themselves to implement these ideas with each of their people, despite the day-to-day pressures of getting the actual work done.”[1] In particular, the following questions emerged as those commonly used by great managers to maintain employee’s high performance after a hiring decision. These questions are posed approximately every three months.

Basic Questions[2]

·?????What did you enjoy most about your previous work experience?

·?????What do you think your strengths are? (skills, knowledge, talent)

·?????What about your weaknesses?

·?????What are your goals for you current role? (ask for scores and timelines)

·?????How often do you like to meet with me to discuss your progress?

·?????Are you the kind of person who will tell me how you are feeling?

·?????Will I have to ask?

·?????Do you have any personal goals or commitment you would like to tell me about?

·?????What is the best praise you have every received?

·?????What made it so good?

·?????Have you had any really productive partnerships or mentors?

·?????Why do you think these relationships worked so well for you?

·?????What are your future growth goals, your career goals?

·?????Are there any particular skills you want to learn?

·?????Are there some specific challenges you want to experience? ???????

·?????How can I help?

·?????Is there anything else you want to talk about that might help us work well together?

Performance Planning[3]

·?????What actions have you taken?

·?????What are the details of performance over the last three months including scores, ratings, timelines?

·?????What discoveries have you made? ?(Training classes, job-shadowing, insights)

·?????What partnerships have you built? ?(New expanded relationships)

·?????What is your main focus? ?(Primary goals for the next three months)

·?????What discoveries are you planning? ?(Be specific, next three months)

·?????What new partnerships are you hoping to build? ????????

·?????How is your constituency growing.

Career Discovery Questions[4]

·?????How would you describe success in your current role??????????

·?????Can you measure it? Here is what I think.

·?????What do you actually do that makes you as good as you are?

·?????What does this tell you about your skills, knowledge and talents?

·?????Here is what I think.

·?????Which part of your role do you enjoy the most? Why?

·?????Which part of your current role are you struggling with?

·?????What does this tell you about your skills, knowledge, and talent?

·?????What can we do to manage around this? Training? Positioning? Support system?

·?????What would be the perfect role for you? ????????

·?????Imagine you are in that role. It’s 3pm on a Thursday. What are you doing??

·?????Why would you like it so much? Here is what I think.

These techniques are helpful in several ways. First, they are simple. Many of the best managers disliked the complexity of many corporate appraisal schemes.[5] Second, the ‘interviews’ help spur frequent interaction.[6] Great managers routinely seek out how particular interactions made their own individual employees feel, and how those situations leverage their strengths and weaknesses. These frequent performance meetings were of dual purpose: to identify warning signs and particularly strong talents.[7] Third, the questions focused on the future.[8] Fourth, they save as a means of progressively ask the employee to keep track of their own performance.[9]

[1] First, 224.

[2] First, 225.

[3] First, 226.

[4] First, 228.

[5] First, 222.

[6] First, 223.

[7] First, 223.

[8] First, 223.

[9] First, 223.