Accelerating Performance
Weyinmi Jemide(Partner)

Introduction
Performance is a word that is commonly used in organisations, educational institutions, in musical settings and in sports. It takes on different meanings depending on your perspective but it is always a theme of discussion in the corporate world. Generally speaking, there are several expressions tied to performance – performance appraisal, performance management, performance review, performance monitoring etc. The focus of this article is performance acceleration or as we’ve captioned it: Accelerating Performance.

Let’s Talk Performance
The automobile fans will talk about “performance cars” such as shown in the pictures below. With price tags of up to $1 million, aerodynamic designs and multiple openings, these four cars are the fastest in the world. For those of us who know one or two things about cars, these ones come with 6 speed manual gear boxes, up to 655 hp engine capacity with 48 valves, acceleration from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds, top speed of up to 245 miles (not kilometers) per hour. (Note: The runway take off speed of a Concorde airliner is 225 mph and that of a Boeing 747 is 180 mph.) In short, these awesome cars are not to be driven by the faint-hearted. They are indeed Performance Cars!

Why are they called “performance cars” and how does the description relate to organisations and their employees? Certainly, it’s not just because of their hefty price tags. It’s because they deliver something extra in terms of speed, power, acceleration, design, etc. (Don’t get into dreamland by looking at the pictures. The cheapest of them, the Saleen S7 will set an individual back by more than N50 million). The point, however is not the price of the cars but the lessons we can derive from them…

What is Performance?

Since “performance’ is an English word, let’s start by looking in the dictionary.

Performance (noun):

Synonyms: carrying into action, carrying out, execution.

Relevant definitions for the purpose of this article are 2, 4 and 5.

Employers expect performance from employees. In order words they expect them to do things successfully, to use knowledge and not just possess it, to seek and desire recognition for accomplishment. Note that none of these definitions relate to time or just knowing what to do but each of them implies ACTION or DOING. Thinking about it from the perspective of the cars, the way that experts know how the cars perform is by driving them not by parking them! As we’ve said, they deliver something extraordinary in speed, power, design, acceleration and other attributes

From an employer’s perspective, who should be performing?

Simple answer: The employee.

This means that the employee’s abilities are in use and not “parked”, skills are applied not latent or dormant. Employers expect returns and productivity to be generated from skills, experience and of course funds invested in staff training. Performance demands application – you cannot really test the power of a car’s engine is until you drive the car.

But we’re not talking about mere performance; we’re talking about “accelerating performance”. As we return to the dictionary, you’ll understand why performance cars are so called…

Accelerate (verb)

Accelerating (adjective)
Increasing in speed, becoming progressively faster

Synonyms: quickening, speeding, speeding up

How do we accelerate performance in the workplace?

There are two sides to this issue - the employer’s side and the employee side.

The employer accelerates employee performance by providing tools for delivering the performance. Within the organisational context, tools include cars, IT systems and infrastructure, good working environment, desks and chairs. These are performance acceleration hardware. Software includes recognition, promotion, performance pay, salary review, and training. Training includes scheduled courses, on-the-job training, and various skill-building activities.

Once an organisation puts performance hardware and software in place, the supervisor drives the other dimensions of the employer’s side. The supervisor or manager’s aspect is very important in the framework of accelerating performance.

These dimensions are categorized below:

	Managing		These are extrinsic solutions that focus on performance. They work from the outside to propel the employee to perform better
	Teaching
	Mentoring

	Coaching		These are more intrinsic solutions that focus more on potential. They require employees to look within themselves.
	Counselling

Managing is a process adopted by supervisors and the goal is usually to ensure that people deliver the expected output or targets. For instance, a regional business manager’s meeting with sales team leaders to find out what was achieved during a period.

Teaching is instruction – basically telling or describing to the subordinate how a task should be performed. An example is a manager verbally and perhaps from a manual describing the steps involved in one of the organisational procedures.

Mentoring is a deeper form of teaching that implies showing or demonstrating how a task should be done or what conduct is expected. This is exemplified when a manager leads a trainee manager out on a customer call.

Mentoring is typically knowledge-based because the mentor is deemed to be an expert in the subject matter.

Coaching, at the intrinsic level, is the manager acting out the heart of “bringing out the best in people”. The objective is to find out from the employee’s perspective how performance can be improved. Coaching is helping others to release untapped capability such that they can be who they are and what they want to be. The focus is more on releasing potential and it is applicable to employees at every level of performance whether they are high-flyers or low-flyers.

Counselling deals closer with the emotional issues that we grapple with from time to time as they affect the workplace. For example, if a traumatic event begins to affect performance, an employee may need to be counseled about the potential impact on career progression or on ways of handling the trauma. Counselling usually seeks to turn around underperformance by resolving a particular problem.

What skills and attributes do managers require for these roles?

Some of the relevant attributes and skills are listening, questioning, ability to challenge assumptions, self-awareness, capacity to inspire others, communication and empathy.

What about the employee’s role?

As employees expect rewards and recognition from their employers, it is only fair that they are productive enough to earn their keep. Employee responsibility for performance is nowadays more self-driven instead of employer-driven. In many ways it’s a matter of taking firmer control of your destiny and destination.

Some tools for the employee are:

• Targets, which are SMART as built into performance management systems
• Knowledge and the application of knowledge
• Learning capacity/willingness to learn
• Supervision
• Coaching (as the recipient)
• Questioning

Why does performance have to be accelerated?

Going back to our motoring analogy, consider a car that is either broken down, static or moving slowly in the course of long journey. Think about how irritating it gets when the car ahead of you is moving slowly and holding up traffic. These situations are applicable to the workplace when people do not accelerate performance. In fact, after a period, a slow moving vehicle is not just slow; it actually falls behind in the journey as other cars overtake.

This scenario is displayed when business unit or individual performance deteriorates or is static. When business performance is on the downward trend, it follows that the competition has overtaken with respect to customers’ share of business. Even a static position while others are moving is in reality relegation. This is because market share is never absolute but relative.

Understand what’s appropriate

Getting into the role that is appropriate to your situation requires an understanding of the differences between each role. Managers have a responsibility to accelerate performance and this has to be done with the “helper’ role in mind.

In reality, the helper role may call for seemingly harsh decisions and the recognition that the one to whom help is being offered may not want to be helped.

Whatever might be the case, you must get into your role.

End Game – cars in a parking lot

To close, let’s go back to the subject of performance cars. If you don’t drive them, you’ll never discover the power and speed that’s locked up in their designs. By the same token, if you don’t do what is needed to accelerate performance, then you (and your subordinates) might be like cars in a parking lot – gleaming in the sun but going nowhere.

Keep accelerating performance whatever your role might be!