Change Behaviors, Change Performance

Home
>
Business Management
>
Change Behaviors, Change Performance

Change Behaviors, Change Performance

Every organization is looking for the holy grail of performance enhancement, that one thing that, if it were changed even slightly, would push the productivity of a company way beyond the current level.

Over the years there have been many solutions offered to the performance conundrum, from process improvement and process re-engineering to rightsizing and quality initiatives. All of which have had varying levels of success.

One area that is perhaps overlooked when organizations undertake productivity and process improvement programs and that is the behaviors of their employees. Often the only time behavior becomes a focus in an organization is when there is a problem employee that must be dealt with.

Studies have shown that there is a 5-fold difference in productivity between a top performer and a mid-tier performer. The top performer is 5 times as effective as his colleague who performs as the organization would expect.

This study has been undertaken by a number of organizations in varying ways and all with similar results. The skills and experience of the individuals are comparable and the processes and procedures are the same so what makes the difference? The main difference between the top performer and the capable performer are their behaviors both on and off the job.

A number of key behaviors have been identified as desirable and can be seen within those who are peak performers in any organization and are the attributes that organizations on the whole try to recruit. However organizations often forget that many behaviors are learnt and that existing employees, with the right encouragement, can adopt these behaviors as their own and in the process see their effectiveness rise.

The 5 key behaviors for peak performance are:

Pro-active - Looking for things to change and making change happen. Much is talked of pro-activity however often it is difficult for individuals to be truly proactive within an organization as change can be actively discouraged by management who believe 'they know best'.

Goal oriented - Set themselves targets to aim for. The key here is that they set themselves goals, often for just about every part of their lives. The peak performer in business may well be a marathon runner outside, or be a keen learner setting themselves targets to accomplish within certain timescales.

Willing to fail - Are ready to take calculated risks. The top performers in life are willing to try something even if there is a chance of it failing; often they see failure as a learning experience. Organizations who wish to improve their performance need to adopt a calculated risk policy and follow the quote of Tom Watson 'If you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate'.

Passion - Willing to stand up for what they believe in. The top performers will be passionate about the things in their lives, they may be passionate about sport, or their family or even about work. The important behavior is that they are willing to put everything else aside for their passion and have a total focus on what is important to their passion.

Emotionally Mature - Not swayed by the emotion of the moment and able to think beyond a reactive approach. Often organizations make the assumption that the most vocal individual is the one with the greatest ability; mainly this is due to the self promotion of the emotionally immature. This is recounted by the axiom 'promoted beyond their level of competence' where an individual is recognized not for capability but for self-promotion.

Many people have one or two of these behaviors and often they are context specific. The major difference between the average performer and the peak performer with regards to these attitudes is that the peak performer uses more of the behaviors in a work context.

The important thing to notice with all of these behaviors is that they can all be learned and therefore anyone can have them. And if anyone can have them then anyone can be a top performer. Which means that any organization could improve their productivity dramatically without touching a single working practice.

Now that really could be the holy grail of performance development.

More information regarding Organisational Change, Coaching and Performance Development can be found at http://www.achievinggreatness.co.uk

----

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link.

L Stuart Avery is the Managing Director of Achieving Greatness Ltd, an organisation dedicated to raising awareness around personal and management behaviours. Achieving Greatness specialises in offering advice and support to organisations going through change intitiatives and looking to enhance the performance of their staff. It provides training courses, facilitiation services and coaching to business leaders on Leadership, Management and Strategy.

Stuart has over 20 years of experience across a wide range of industries including Government, Charities, Retail, Travel, Insurance, IT Services and Logistics.

For more information visit http://www.achievinggreatness.co.uk

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Gaza violence rages on despite UN cease-fire call (AP)

AP - The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early Friday and a barrage of Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.

Illinois House on verge of impeaching Blagojevich (AP)

AP - Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.

Democrats begin new session with labor bills (AP)

AP - Democrats are ushering in what they believe will be a new labor-friendly era in Washington with House votes on two bills aimed at helping women fight pay discrimination in the workplace.

Job losses stack up as recession deepens (AP)

AP - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.

Toxic coal ash piling up in ponds in 32 states (AP)

AP - Millions of tons of toxic coal ash is piling up in power plant ponds in 32 states, a practice the federal government has long recognized as a risk to human health and the environment but has left unregulated.

Obama to finalize national security team Friday (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is completing his national security team by announcing his unusual choices for CIA director and a national intelligence director who may face tough Senate confirmation questioning over how he confronted the Indonesian military when civilian massacres were occurring in East Timor.

Emphasis on smooth transition to new Cabinet (AP)

AP - Just minutes after George W. Bush took the oath of office eight years ago, he signed papers formally nominating 13 Cabinet-level officials. Several hours later, the Senate, meeting in a special Saturday session, confirmed seven Cabinet secretaries, including the heads of the key posts at State, Treasury and Defense.

Rifts show as Obama urges quick action on stimulus (AP)

AP - Lawmakers are under orders to finish action on President-elect Barack Obama's nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan by mid-February. But already it is plain that a set of serious fissures need to be bridged if the bill is to be completed within five weeks.

Critics' final answer: `Slumdog' wins 5 awards (AP)

AP - The critics have spoken, and "Slumdog Millionaire" is their final answer.

Mini Dynasty: Tebow leads Gators past Oklahoma (AP)

AP - The game defied expectations. Tim Tebow fulfilled them. He rescued No. 1 Florida, running through and throwing over No. 2 Oklahoma for a 24-14 victory Thursday night that gave the Gators their second BCS championship in three years.

World waits on jobs data as recession weighs (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. employers probably cut the most jobs in at least 34 years last month as the global economic crisis gathered pace and moves by policy makers took time to filter through to struggling companies.

U.N. calls for immediate Gaza truce (Reuters)

Reuters - Israel pushed ahead with its two-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip, ignoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Panel steps up criticism of Treasury: report (Reuters)

Reuters - A report being released on Friday alleges that the U.S. Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system, not answered questions asked by a government watchdog, and has done nothing to help struggling homeowners, the Wall Street Journal said.

EU seeks gas supply return after deal (Reuters)

Reuters - Europe sought a swift restoration of gas supplies on Friday after striking a deal with Moscow on monitoring gas shipments via Ukraine that have been halted by a pricing dispute with Kiev.

Citi backs measure to help avoid foreclosures (Reuters)

Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.

Illinois panel recommends governor's impeachment (Reuters)

Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama team amending financial rescue package: report (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is urgently overhauling the $700 billion financial rescue package to broaden its scope beyond Wall Street, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Qaeda Pakistan leader believed dead: U.S. official (Reuters)

Reuters - Al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and a top aide are believed to be dead, a U.S. counterterrorism official said on Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest results of a campaign targeting the militant group's leadership.

Gaza toll mounts as UN Security Council urges immediate truce (AFP)

AFP - Israel carried out new deadly air raids on the Gaza Strip on Friday as the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire to end the two-week-old conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

Hopes for Russia gas deal after EU claims breakthrough (AFP)

AFP - European states deprived of Russian gas amid freezing weather were Friday hoping for a resumption of deliveries after the European Union claimed a breakthrough in the crisis between Moscow and Kiev.

Change Behaviors, Change Performance

Business Management Business Management