Are We Creating a Performance
System or Hodgepodge of
Interventions?
Training Session Created by
Ryan Watkins and John Wedman
Published in the 2011 Pfieffer Annuals
Objectives
• Identify what it takes to accomplish something.
• View accomplishments from a systems
perspective.
• Connect accomplishments to performance
improvement.
• Analyze a situation using a performance
improvement model.
• Critically view performance improvement from a
systems perspective.
Hell, there are no rules here - we're
trying to accomplish something.
~Thomas Edison
Short of following Edison’s mantra,
how are significant results
accomplished?
Significant Accomplishment
Good Idea
• We choose to go to the moon
Resources
• Money (lots of money), bright scientist, committed
politicians, etc.
Support System
•
•
•
•
Scientific knowledge/skills
Rewards for innovation and risk taking
Communication and coordination
Desire to succeed
Alignment
Significant Accomplishment
Support System
Resources
Good Idea
Systems Dynamics
The support
system consumes
resources while
enabling the idea
to become reality.
If the support system
consumes more
resources than
produced by the
accomplishment, a
‘death spiral’ results.
Accomplishments
generate new
resources and set
the stage for new
ideas.
If the new ideas
are not better than
the status quo,
obsolescence is
unavoidable.
Performance Improvement View
Significant
Accomplishment
Continual Monitoring
Performance
Capability
Knowledge
& Skills
Expectations
& Feedback
Motivation &
Self-Concept
Environment,
Tools, &
Processes
Incentives,
Rewards, &
Recognition
Organizational Culture
Resources
Continual Monitoring
Vision, Mission,
& Objectives
Wedman’s
Performance
Pyramid
Pyramid Questions
Are they mentally,
socially, & physically
able to perform?
Do they have the
knowledge and
skills needed to
perform?
Performance
Capability
Knowledge
& Skills
Expectations
& Feedback
Do they know what to
do and why?
Do they know how well
they are doing?
Motivation &
Self-Concept
Environment,
Tools, &
Processes
Are they want to
perform?
Do they think they are
competent?
Incentives,
Rewards, &
Recognition
Is the environment OK?
Do they have the tools
to do the job?
Do processes work?
Do incentives drive
change?
Is good performance
rewarded?
Performance Interventions
Sample Interventions:
Sample Interventions:
Performance Capability
Skills & Knowledge
• New Employee Recruitment
• Employee Selection &
Retention
• Resource Allocations
• Workforce Forecasting
• Outsourcing
• Succession Planning
• Job Rotations
• Cross-training
• Interview Standards
• Competency Models
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Traditional Training
Job Aids
Knowledge Management
On The Job Training
E-learning
Brown-Bag Lunches
Train-the-trainer
On-boarding & Orientation
Performance Interventions Cont’
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sample Interventions:
Sample Interventions:
Motivation & Self-Concept
Expectations & Feedback
Career Coaching
Motivation Workshops
Team Building
Self-esteem
Job Rotations
Counseling
Confidence Building
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Performance Reviews
Balanced Scorecards
Retreats and Roundtables
Town Hall Meetings
Reference Manuals
On-boarding & Orientation
360 Degree Evaluations
Performance Interventions Cont’
Sample Interventions:
Sample Interventions:
Tools, Environment, &
Processes
Incentives, Rewards, &
Recognition
•New technology
•Workplace Redesign
•Process Redesign
•Ergonomics
•Electronic Performance Support
•Labeling
•Color Coding
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Awards Programs
Employee of the Month
Recognition Messages
Peer Recognition
Job Sharing
Flex Hours
Telecommuting
Financial incentives
Systemic Analysis
• Goal: Examine each subsystem to determine its
relation with the performance gap (i.e., difference
between current and desired results).
• Example: Expectations & Feedback
– Do staff know what results they are expected to achieve?
– Do staff receive timely feedback on their performance in
relation to the achievement of desired results?
– Do managers meet routinely with staff to describe
expectations and provide performance feedback?
• Example: Organizational Culture
– How does the organization’s culture support the
achievement of desired results?
– What elements of the organization’s culture oppose
desired performance?
Performance System Design
• Goal: Create holistic performance systems
that accomplish desired results.
• Example: Incentives, Rewards, and
Recognition
– What incentives can be used to encourage
staff to accomplish desired results?
– How can we reward the achievement of
desired results?
– How can we recognize those employees who
achieve desired results?
Significant
Accomplishment
Continual Monitoring
Performance
Capability
Knowledge
& Skills
Expectations
& Feedback
Motivation &
Self-Concept
Environment,
Tools, &
Processes
Incentives,
Rewards, &
Recognition
Organizational Culture
Resources
Continual Monitoring
Vision, Mission,
& Objectives
.…is it a system?
OK…but…
General Systems Theory
• Ludwig von Bertalanffy
• Béla H. Bánáthy
• Used in many scientific disciplines and
“real world” applications
– Biology, physics, psychology, economics, etc.
– Management, software, family therapy, etc.
Principles of Systems Theory
Principle
Pyramid Examples
Interrelatedness
New tools require new skills. Rewards are based on
meeting expectations. Capability shapes self-concept.
Interdependence
Clarifying performance expectations without providing
adequate resources and supportive environment will not
accomplish sustainable results.
Connectivity
Learning requires inputs from participants, clients,
managers, suppliers, and others.
Synergy
Alone, changes in incentives or rewards will not achieve
desired and sustainable improvements.
Equifinality
There is no single set of interventions or activities that
will accomplish results, there are many options to
considered and compared.
Theory
Application
• Models, Frameworks, Rubrics, Algorithms
• Examples of “Systems Models”
– Kaufman’s Organizational Elements Model
– Mager’s Performance Analysis Flow Chart
– Rummler’s Nine Performance Variables
– Wedman’s Performance Pyramid
• Examples of “Systems Thinking” in the literature
– Peter Senge, Margaret Wheatley, Richard Swanson
*More information on each of these models is available in: Wilmoth, F., Prigmore, C., and Bray, M.
(Reprint). HPT Models: An Overview of the Major Models in the Field. In Watkins, R. and Leigh, D.
(2010). Handbook for Improving Performance in the Workplace – Vol. 2: Selecting and Implementing
Performance Interventions. San Francisco:Wiley/Pfieffer.
Summary
• With a few notable exceptions, accomplishments
result from aligning a good idea with resources,
and performance support.
• Performance improvement requires a
combination of several interrelated interventions.
• Wedman’s Performance Pyramid is one
example of a performance improvement system.
• Lacking a systemic framework, performance
improvement is a hodgepodge of interventions.