Why the Performance Management Armada?
I have been asked why I have suddenly started writing posts about performance management of companies almost daily..... Some have even termed it why they are now subject to "Performance Management Armada !!!" #PerformanceARMADA
Let me share my thought process...... the knowledge areas where I begin my research and start to learn things...I have figured out long ago that I can't retain that much knowledge in my memory unless I practice and share with others.... My posts and articles are mostly an attempt to share the newly acquired facts, figures and knowledge with my brother and sisters in arm..... COMRADES in ARMS !!!
So why the Performance Management ARMADA....... As our CEO... lovingly called "Coach" usually says "May you live in interesting times.."
The recent events have been INCREDIBLE....
Tesla introduced AUTOPILOT feature in its cars.....within months.... launched Model X.... a SUV......then launched $35,000 TESLA Model 3......within weeks.... SpaceX (the other company of Elon Musk) landed a Falcon 9 rocket aboard the autonomous spaceport drone ship off the Florida coast..... not just returning a rocket from orbital flight to earth intact..... but returning it to hit a moving target..... SPACEX stocks can go to the MOON..... if they ever go PUBLIC.....
Forsure... The engineering wizardry needed to accomplish this boggles the mind... but for investors, what really grabs out their interest is the financial wizardry that will follow..... How did they do it???? What were they doing right??? Lets go back a little.....
The year 2000 was very interesting too...... Lloyds TSB put 102 million pound sterling into their employee's profit sharing scheme; two directors of Selfridges shared a$ 62,000 performance bonus; Misys announced record profits and their share rose 17 per cent in a day..... McDonald's celebrated its 25th birthday by giving two Big Macs for the price of 1..... just imagine..... My best friend got PKR 10 million for his company's productivity improvement program.... What did he do????
During 2011 and 2012... and then in 2013.... Powersoft19 helped our clients to launch 5 new products simultaneously..... gave 6 salary raises to our employees during the period...... How did we do it???
It is a good news when your company does well....
You congratulate yourself on a JOB WELL DONE !!!! and are rewarded by pay promotion, status, praise and anything else that's going....
But if on the other hand....
your company does badly. competitors circle you like vultures, swooping on any change of taking your business.....
while other competitors circle you like sharks.... ready to snatch your human resource on the slightest opening you give while off-guard.....
There is one word..... and that is PERFORMANCE.....
Improved performance brings the benefits of:
- Long term Survival
- Achievement of Objectives
- Less Waste and Lower Operating Costs
- A Competitive advantage and higher sales
- Better Financial results, such as higher profits, income and wages....
At this point.... you may be wondering..... What is really meant by "Performance"?? There are hundred and one answers to this.... You could for example measure sales, market share, profit, value added, return on investment, output, productivity, quality, unit cost, customer loyalty, staff morale and so on.....
My posts are not about relying on any specific measure of performance.... but to help us concentrate on the underlying operations..... The way to increase market share is by making a better product or service that customers want; the way to reduce operating costs is to use a better process.
You may also be thinking..... if the same methods to boost performance work in every organization..... Well after discussing with my peers, seniors and juniors.... it became very clear that.... ALL managers face common problems whether you work in Tesla, SpaceX, Apple, IBM, Microsoft, CSX, Union Pacific, Nissan or Fred's Diner.....
HIGH PRODUCTIVITY and LOW OPERATING COSTS are like APPLE PIE.... always good.....
FALLING SALES and LOW MORALE are.... like SIN.....
always bad.....
You may now be wondering.... How can you improve performance... The posts i have written recently and the future ones will be focused on just that.... exchanging ideas and thoughts.....
Remember.... there are NO quick fixes that claim dramatic results with virtually no effort, but there are real methods that are used in organizations around the world. Some of them are difficult and need a lot of work - BUT they can give HUGE long-term benefits....
As a manager, business leader and team member.... YOU are responsible for every aspect of your organization's performance. You make decisions... design the systems.... control the results....
If the organization does WELL... it is because of YOUR efforts....
Here are my past articles on Performance Management.... the Performance ARMADA till now....
Taking Responsibility of your Decisions
Giving Decisions attention they deserve
Pay attention to your value chain
Whats your organization's RPM?
Change should only be the only constant
Proper way of introducing change
Keep pushing limits.... keep improving....
The contributor is Director of Hardware Engineering at Powersoft19.
Powersoft19's hardware engineering team (www.powersoft19.com/hardware) turns visions into winning products by embedding future trends in design.
Powersoft19 (www.powersoft19.com) specializes in engineering consultancy of hardware, firmware, software, web-applications and interactive media development along with automated testing and independent quality assurance as a service. Powersoft19 has delivered multiple safety-critical embedded systems in several industries comprising Rail, Material Handling, Mining, Gas Detection and Smart Grid.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any team, division or business unit, subsidiaries and technology partners of the Powersoft19.