Measurement, the fifth and most essential Spoke in the "Wheel of Management".
Many studies over the years have shown that
people people are as much if not more motivated by self esteem as
they are by reward. It is also a proven fact that performance
improves simply as a result of being measured. Are these two facts
related? I believe they are, and this becomes the subject of this the fifth
article in the series entitled "The Wheel of Management".
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Measurement, the fifth and most Essential Spoke in the "Wheel of Management".
Many studies over the years have shown that
people are as much if not more motivated by self esteem as
they are by reward. It is also a proven fact that performance
improves simply as a result of being measured. Are these two facts
related? I believe they are, and this becomes the subject of this the fifth
article in the series entitled "The Wheel of Management".
One of my standard interview questions when I talk with employees of
a client is, "At the end of a week or a day at work, how do you know
you have done a good job?" Most often the question results in a long
silence, then maybe a response like, "If I feel good about it." That
response demonstrates that one of the most essential features of a
good management process is absent - measurement.
As we have discussed several times in this series, one of the primary
requirements of good management is to ensure that your people know
and understand what you expect of them. That means targets,
milestones and timelines. Having done the work to set up these
performance parameters it makes perfect sense that we also establish
a means of determining whether they are being achieved, that means
measurement.
"I know if my staff are doing what I expect of them," say so many of
my clients, to which I respond, "But do they know also?" Yes, a
measurement system must be transparent so both the supervisor and
the supervised can relate, and can be satisfied of it's
applicability and it's veracity. It must also be timely. Presenting
data after the accountant has done his month end close, (which too
often is six weeks after the month actually ended) is useless for
most classes of employee. We need to know at the end of today or at
least the end of this week how we are doing.
It is essential also the the system match the level of employee. It
is no use presenting to the bricklayer or machinist a job cost
report complete with margin analysis and work in progress detail. He
cannot relate his own performance to such complex data. No, you need
numbers which mean something, to the bricklayer, how many blocks did
he do compared to the standard and compared to his peers, to the
machinist, piece count and error rate. These kind of numbers both
sides can understand.
I had a masonry contractor client, we implemented a site measurement
process. The result was an awakening. Performance of the site crews
improved by an estimated 20%, and we discovered that the standards
used in estimating had been too low, causing the bids to be
uncompetitive. Tell your people what you expect them to do, show
them you know how well they are performing, and reward them or
discipline them accordingly. Do this and those employees that can
will rise to the occasion, those that cannot will show themselves
for whatever action they deserve. As I have said before, these
actions will be welcomed by your good
employees, but the biggest benefit will be to your bottom line.
The Author
After 25 years consulting to small and medium sized companies,
Mike Anderson, principal of Train Me To Be a CEO
realized that the most important part of his work was training the CEO,
and the reason he was such a good consultant was that he did that very
well.
Trained as an engineer, he became a CEO of
a midsize corporation at the age of 35. After a spell at Harvard
Business School he entered the world of consulting.
3. Ongoing mentorship. Begins with a minimum two
day one on one, but continues with monthly or quarterly follow up
sessions. (Smart and probably Best!) .
References
A New England Contractor
"Mike Anderson has been working diligently
with the upper management team at (our firm). Mike is extremely
knowledgeable and has an exceptional way of dealing with many different
personalities. He has worked very closely with the Sales Team to
impress upon them the importance of using a consistent method of
estimating. He was instrumental in restructuring our accounting
procedures."
