| When you have a top performer working in your | | | | end result of their efforts is to achieve a clean office. |
| team, their employee performance characteristics are | | | | You don't have to come along after them and point |
| very clear. They just get on with the job, and the | | | | out that they missed the windows, or that the corners |
| results come rolling in. | | | | are still dirty. They know what the objective is before |
| So let's have a look at some of the key factors that | | | | they get into action - they can envision the end result. |
| make these people so valuable. | | | | What a joy it is to work with such people. By contrast, |
| Firstly, they envision the end Result. An effective | | | | how frustrating it is to work with people who cannot |
| individual, when presented with a new project or job, | | | | see what they are supposed to be achieving. |
| will quickly identify what the performance results | | | | Non-performers have to be continually directed. You |
| should be. And if the result is not immediately obvious | | | | cannot take your attention off their area because you |
| to them, they will concentrate on getting it clearly | | | | know it will go off the rails if you do. What does this do |
| defined before they start. | | | | for executive sanity? |
| Consequently, in looking at a new area or project, the | | | | Here's a true story, and a good example of an office |
| performance characteristics of a top performer will | | | | cleaner who did not understand that the end result of |
| typically prompt questions like:- | | | | their job was a clean office. He thought he was being |
| "What are we trying to achieve here?" | | | | paid to do certain actions, rather than achieve specific |
| "What's the main objective of this project?" | | | | performance results in his work. |
| "Where are we going with this?" | | | | So, there he was, mopping the hallway. That was the |
| In simple terms, a top performer is results-oriented, so | | | | action he was supposed to perform. But, because he |
| they will just naturally have their eye on the overall | | | | had no concept of the end result, he saw no problem |
| target. | | | | with the fact that he was using a dirty mop! |
| They will also want to put the results they achieve into | | | | Consequently, he was spreading dirt from the mop |
| context with the rest of the operation. They will quickly | | | | along the lower edges of a clean wall, which now had |
| align their results with the overall objectives of the | | | | ugly dirty marks on it. |
| bigger picture; that is part of their performance | | | | As far as the office cleaner was concerned, he had |
| characteristics. | | | | done his job - he had mopped the office hallway |
| They either know what the results should be already, | | | | (that's the ACTION). But with no idea of the purpose |
| or they will get them nailed. | | | | of the exercise (the RESULT), he had actually |
| And they do this before they begin to operate in the | | | | produced the opposite of that which was required; he |
| new environment, or start to run the new project or | | | | had produced a dirty office instead of a clean office. |
| job. | | | | And the pity of it was, he could not see what all the |
| Take an office cleaner, for example. If they are good | | | | fuss was about. "What are you complaining about? I |
| at their job, and they are a top performer, one of their | | | | mopped the floor, like you said..." This says a whole lot |
| performance characteristics is that they know what a | | | | about his performance characteristics! |
| clean office should look like. They will know that the | | | | |