The Three-category Approach to Performance Management: Effort, Ability, or Environment

Performance Management is the act of managing personal or organizational performance. What can complicate this process are all the factors that can arise where a textbook process meets the situations and people that exist in your world. As an effective director, manager, or supervisor it is your job to ensure the success of the organization by achieving of all key performance indicators.

These targets or goals are accomplished through the implementation and execution of a solid Performance Management Process (PMP). The objective is not to discuss the building or maintenance of the process, but focus rather on the end result.

What do you do when your employees have not met the standards or expectations and their performance needs to be addressed? It is your job to protect the business while trying to be sensitive and support your employee's, and maintain a positive work environment. Sometimes both can be accomplished, sometimes they cannot.

So with the success of the business as the prize, how do you protect the prize, and decipher all the incoming data. You have to consider some general factors:

The business factor?
? These factors can include but certainly are not limited to: policy violation, policy interpretation, human resource approval, unemployment law, litigation, intent, staffing, tenure, and training.

The employee factor?
? On the employee side you must consider, anticipate, and listen to the barrage of employee "personal" issues that will be used to justify their substandard performance including divorce, child-care, abusive home life, rehabilitation, court dates, illness, poor training, no training and etcetera.

I'm going to provide you a process that allows you to increase your decision-making accuracy and velocity with 3 words. They are the three most spectacular words given to the modern manager:

Effort, Ability, or Environment

100% of all performance issues fit effortlessly into one of these three categories.

Effort

Effort Issues are defined as performance issues that arise when an employee knows how to perform and makes a decision not to.

How to identify?

Effort issues are usually inconsistent performers. The reps or associate is at goal or below goal based on how they feel or some other factor that is within their control. If you can hit goal once, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to do it again.

How to handle?

There are many options when dealing with this segment of the population. You can provide, coaching, counseling, initiate documentation, corrective action, and even separate them from the organization.

Don't waste time on effort issues- Progressively coach and counsel these associates. Your time is too valuable to spend with someone who knows how and chooses not to when you have other reps that want to and don't know how.

Ability

Ability Issues are defined as performance issues that arise when an employee wants to perform, but doesn't have the skills or training needed to accomplish the task at hand.

How to identify?

Ability issues can be found in newer reps or neglected tenured reps that have never hit goal.

How to handle?

These reps need to be trained. Ongoing coaching and development will prevent these employees from falling short of goals and developing effort issues.

Environment

Environment Issues are defined as performance issues that arise or rather result from an environmental factor that is beyond the control of the associate.

How to identify?

There are different ways to diagnose these issues. You could have a performer that begins to fall short on active listening after she was moved to a more rowdy team.

How to handle?

If possible, try to alter the environment to ensure the reps success. If you can correct the environmental issues by relocating the employee do so.

This three-part identification process allows you to collapse all the circumstances, factors, and tenure into a very precise method. It allows you to train those that need to be trained, address environmental factors if needed, and not waste you time on effort issues.

Note: People are judged on what they actually do and not on their potential.

Once you have identified that your issue is effort, ability or environment you may take the appropriate steps to improve your employees performance, increase your business success and maintain your key performance indicators.

Aubie Pouncey is a contributing writer for http://www.righttolead.com. He has been in management for the past several years and has worked cloesly with leading performance management consultants. If you are interested in learning more about the performance management process then visit: http://accountabilityprocess.righttolead.com/