Simplify Program Metrics to Drive Clear Performance Path
Don't look now, but the midway point of 2010 is a month or so away. For many of us that means time to schedule mid-year reviews and it's an excellent opportunity to gauge your team's progress against key objectives. As you're planning reviews, here's something else to ask yourself: Does your team know what they are being evaluated on – and are those criteria easy to grasp? Most organizations have a structured approach to performance reviews but sometimes employees need clear expectations about how projects goals will be measured.
In a recent Bloomberg Business Week article on General Motors' CEO Ed Whitacre, we learn that he cut in half the number criteria used to rate his staff:
Former CEO Rick Wagoner … used a dozen metrics to evaluate his executives. Whitacre, who holds just one meeting per week with his 13-member management team, has boiled it down to six: market share, revenue, operating profit, cash flow, quality, and customer satisfaction. He wants nimble managers who decide fast and correct mistakes faster.
Do you need to boil down your performance metrics to a simple few? One way to find out is during these mid-year conversations with your staff. Ask them if they understand how you'll be measuring success of key initiatives and how they can achieve those metrics. If you sense confusion, it may be time to simplify those criteria and enable your team to succeed.
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