| Summary | | | | most importantly, our employees must be as clear |
| About 25-30 years ago computers were starting to | | | | about these matters as we are. That's the information |
| have a major influence in our business lives. The word | | | | that really matters. |
| "computer" meant a physically large machine about the | | | | This is the foundation of successful employee |
| size of a large wardrobe. It was called a mainframe. | | | | performance management. Without it you can |
| What we call a computer today, the PC or MAC, was | | | | accumulate all the data you can dream up about |
| a spluttering infant called a microcomputer. It helped | | | | employees. You can massage it, manipulate it and |
| "feed" the minicomputers that in turn "fed" the | | | | extrapolate it. You can even have the "best" |
| mainframe. | | | | employees. You won't create effective on job |
| Systems Analysts And Programmers | | | | performance. "Garbage in: garbage out" will still hold |
| People who "worked in computers" were specialist | | | | true. |
| technicians called programmers, systems analysts are | | | | Business Focus And Employee Management |
| other technical names. They had an epithet for what | | | | But there's more to it than that. |
| we could expect from the machine. "Garbage in: | | | | You, as manager, must have a clear business focus |
| garbage out" was their mantra. It meant this: If you | | | | and clear business goals. If you don't know precisely |
| want useful information from the mainframe you had | | | | what you expect from your business, you can hardly |
| to "feed" it worthwhile data to work with. | | | | know the performance you expect of your |
| 21st Century Computing | | | | employees. |
| Today, the average desktop or laptop performs the | | | | Want to define what you want from employees? |
| work of the most sophisticated mainframes of the | | | | Start by establishing a totally unambiguous business |
| 1980s. The pundits talk about "The Information Age". | | | | focus. Establish a clearly defined target market. |
| They're wrong. We live in "The Data Age". As Tom | | | | Prepare business goals that cannot be misinterpreted. |
| Gilbert used to say, "information is data you can use". | | | | Then develop a marketing strategy. |
| "Garbage in: garbage out" has been almost forgotten. | | | | Your Business Plan |
| But it still haunts other areas of today's workplace. | | | | If you already have a business plan, ensure that these |
| Until we grasp the significance of the difference | | | | four elements are at it's heart. If they're not, your |
| between data and information, all the data in the world | | | | business plan is largely an accounting exercise. Until |
| is meaningless if we can't make practical use of it or if | | | | you include them you'll have difficulty specifying exactly |
| it's simply the wrong data. We're doomed to wallow in | | | | what performance you expect from your people. You'll |
| dubious data. "Garbage in: garbage out" | | | | have data not information. |
| Data Wallowing And Employees | | | | Conclusion |
| Managing employee performance is an area of | | | | "Garbage in: garbage out" is never far away from |
| business at grave risk of data wallowing. We run the | | | | your business. You may unwittingly encourage it by |
| risk of mistaking what information is essential for better | | | | fuzzy goals and slack standards. Confusing |
| employee management. | | | | "information" with "data" only heightens the problem. |
| We must know precisely what we expect from our | | | | You, your people and your profits will suffer the |
| employees in clear measurable terms. We must | | | | consequences. And you'll probably always have |
| specify how we'll know that our expectations have | | | | "people problems". |
| been met as well as how they'll be measured. And | | | | |