Home Page / Site Menu

THIS SECTION MENU: Performance-building  /  Awareness-creating  /  Ability-building  /  Resource-equipping  /  Motivation-building

Performance-building
How to Create the Four Conditions for Desired Performance
Author: John Correll       Publisher: Correll Consulting, LLC       www.correllconcepts.com

Everyone talks a good game about the need for improved employee performance. But few companies do more than talk. People complain, “You can't get good help any more.” However, this is an excuse, not a reason.

The main reason for inadequate employee performance is not “bad employees.” Rather, it's that most companies lack knowledge of how to turn bad performance into good performance. In other words, they lack the technology of performance-building.

Imagine what it would be like if your company attempted to perform accounting without accounting principles and procedures … or attempted to perform store operations without store operations principles and procedures … or attempted to perform information processing without IT principles and procedures … or attempted to conduct marketing without marketing principles and procedures … or attempted to build facilities without construction principles and procedures. Underlying all these functions is an established technology — a set of cause-effect principles and procedures which, when applied, produce a predictable ongoing desired result. The particular technology is not always apparent to us because it has been there since “Day 1.” However, when it comes to performance-building, very few companies follow an established technology or set of guiding principles and procedures. The outcome: Confusion and ineffectiveness.

So for the performance-building function to produce ongoing worthwhile results, a technology of performance-building must be formulated. From that, a step-based process of performance-building must be created and applied. We now describe the technology. Following that, we lay out the process.

Technology of Performance-building

As the term is used herein, PERFORMANCE is human action and any outcomes that directly derive from it. Action can be a single activity or a set of related activities. Mental and verbal processes, such as decision-making and conversation, are forms of activity. “Doing nothing” is also an activity. An outcome is an object, condition, or situation resulting from human action.

Here are examples that illustrate action and outcomes.

Action + Outcomes = PERFORMANCE

In light of a company's goals, there are two kinds of performance:

1. Desired Performance

2. Undesired Performance.

Desired Performance is any performance that you want to occur. Typically it's performance that contributes to achievement of at least one of your company's goals or priorities. It's sometimes called productive performance or good performance.

Undesired Performance is any performance that's not desired performance. Typically it's performance that does not contribute to achievement of any of your company's goals or priorities. It's sometimes referred to as poor performance, inadequate performance, or bad performance.

Every incident of performance is either desired performance or undesired performance. “Neutral performance” does not exist. Or, put another way, any given employee at any given time is engaging in either desired performance or undesired performance. No one is ever engaging in “neutral performance” or “no performance.”

Every problem in a company is either caused by or sustained by undesired (or inadequate) employee performance. Therefore, to eliminate any particular problem — including performance-progress problems — we must replace a particular type of undesired performance (that's causing or sustaining the particular problem) with a particular type of desired performance. Which is to say, we must create a greater amount of desired performance. We realize that all this might sound naively simplistic. But this, in essence, is all there is to the problem of resolving ongoing performance-based problems. This takes us, now, to the vital question: How do we create a greater amount of desired performance?

The Four Causes of Undesired Performance
The doorway to creating a greater amount of desired performance is identification and elimination of the causes of undesired performance.

Whenever an employee is failing to deliver desired performance — or, in other words, is engaging in undesired performance — it's always because one or more of the following four conditions exists:

1. LACK OF AWARENESS of what action and outcomes constitute desired performance;

2. LACK OF ABILITY to do it;

3. LACK OF RESOURCES to do it; or

4. LACK OF MOTIVATION to do it.

These four conditions are the Four Causes of Undesired Performance. They are the only causes of undesired performance. Whenever a person is failing to deliver desired performance, it's always because one or more of these four factors is at work. To eliminate a situation of repetitive undesired performance, identify the cause of the undesired performance and replace it with its opposite — otherwise known as one of the Conditions for Desired Performance.

This, by the way, is the essence of performance-building. Simply put, performance-building is the process of creating the four conditions, or requisites, for desired performance.

The Four Conditions for Desired Performance
For an employee to engage in desired performance, four conditions must be present:

2. ABILITY to do it.

3. RESOURCES to do it.

4. MOTIVATION to do it.

These four conditions for desired performance are the “opposites” of the four causes of undesired performance. When Awareness, Ability, Resources, and Motivation are present, desired performance happens! Whenever desired performance is not happening, it means that one or more of the four conditions is missing!

These are the four pieces of the performance jigsaw puzzle. To remember them, think of AARM. And keep in mind that providing these four conditions is how we “AARM” a person or team to accomplish desired performance. So how do we create the four conditions for desired performance? We do it by applying the four functions for creating the four conditions.

The Four Functions for Creating the Four conditions for Desired Performance
To create the four conditions for desired performance we must do the following four things:

1. DESCRIBE desired performance ( a.k.a. Awareness-creating)

2. TRAIN for desired performance (a.k.a. Ability-building)

3. EQUIP for desired performance (a.k.a. Resource-equipping)

4. MOTIVATE for desired performance (a.k.a. Motivation-building)

When these four functions properly occur, the four conditions are created. And, in turn, desired performance happens. Conversely, when any one of these four functions has not occurred, at least one of the four conditions will be missing and, accordingly, desired performance will not happen. This explains, in a nutshell, the “mystery of performance-building.”

In essence, the process of creating ongoing desired performance among employees is the process of applying the four functions of Describing, Training, Equipping, and Motivating on an ongoing basis. And, similarly, the process of creating company-wide desired performance is the process of applying Describing, Training, Equipping, and Motivating on a company-wide basis. (Other terms for these four functions are Awareness-creating, Ability-building, Resource-equipping, and Motivation-building.)

By establishing an Ongoing Formal Mechanism for making this happen, we solve the root problem that underlies all other problems. Or, in other words, we destroy the weed of undesired performance at its root. The “Ongoing Formal Mechanism” that we speak of is an adequately staffed Progress-creation Department that utilizes a functional technology of performance-building to effectively install the four functions of performance-building. For more on progress-creation, check out the Progress-creation chapter. We now briefly describe the primary process involved in implementing each of the four functions.

FUNCTION 1: Describing Desired Performance
This is the first function of performance-building. We define describing (sometimes called “awareness-creating”) as the act of communicating the particulars pertaining to a given subject. This can be done orally or in writing or both. The purpose of this function is to create AWARENESS of what action and outcomes constitute desired performance. We define awareness as the possession of full understanding.

Of the four conditions for desired performance, awareness is probably the one most taken for granted by leaders. That's because we tend to assume that others “naturally know” what we want done and how to do it. However that's usually a fallacious assumption. Interestingly, once a person has a full understanding of what constitutes desired performance, everything that follows gets easier — sometimes to the point where an employee needs little else from us in order to perform excellently. So how do we create awareness of what actions and outcomes constitute desired performance? We apply the following primary process.

The Whole Picture consists of two parts:

1. THE MACRO VIEW — which includes the Overall Objective of the performance plus any strategy considerations.

2. THE MICRO VIEW — which includes the Specific Action and Outcomes for achieving the objective.

The Macro View communicates the broad perspective. It answers the question Where are we going with this? The Micro View communicates the details. It answers the question What exactly should I be doing? For an employee to grasp the whole performance picture, both views must be imparted. For more on this topic, review the chapter on Awareness-creating.

FUNCTION 2: Training for Desired Performance
This is the second function of performance-building. We define training (sometimes called “ability-building”) as the act of giving specialized instruction pertaining to the performance of a given task. The purpose of this function is to impart the ABILITY to deliver desired performance. We define ability as possession of the attitudes, skills, and knowledge needed for performing a particular task the way it's supposed to be done. We humans tend to act as if ability were an inherited trait. In fact, it's mostly learned.

Over the years, training has shifted from personal interaction to “everything other than personal interaction” — that is, to manuals, classes, seminars, videos, CDs, internet instruction, and the like. The reason for this development is: Training by personal interaction requires that someone — namely, the leader-trainer — expend personal time and energy in training; the other things don't require that. However one-on-one personal interaction has been, is now, and likely always will be the most potent force in human beings' development. So for the most-effective training, leaders should adopt personal interaction (a.k.a. on-the-job training or OJT) as the team's primary training vehicle, and use “everything else” as a supplement to OJT rather than as a replacement for it. So how do we impart employees with the ability to deliver desired performance? We apply the following primary process.

The four steps to on-the-job training are:

1. DESCRIBE the performance to be learned.

2. DEMONSTRATE how to do it.

3. REVIEW the employee doing it.

4. REINFORCE the employee for what s/he did well.

If needed, Step 5 is: REPEAT steps 2-4.

To recall the four steps, think of DDRR — Describe, Demonstrate, Review, Reinforce. For more on this topic, plus a description of a Perpetual Training Cycle and a High-impact OJT Process, review the chapter on Ability-building.

FUNCTION 3: Equipping for Desired Performance
This is the third function of performance-building. We define equipping (sometimes called “resource-equipping”) as the act of providing someone with the things s/he needs for performing a given task. The purpose of this function is to provide the RESOURCES necessary for doing desired performance. We define resources as the material, financial, informational, technological, and organizational wherewithal to do a particular task the way it's supposed to be done.

Inadequate resources plays a bigger role in performance problems than most leaders know. That's because we tend to conclude that employees already have everything they need. This is an erroneous and dangerous assumption. To avoid this faux pas, we should always assume that there's “one more thing” that employees need in order to take performance up one more notch. So how do we insure that employees are equipped with the necessary resources? We apply the following primary process.

(It doesn't get more basic than that.)

The three best ways of finding out what employees need are:

1. EXPERIENCE the performance our self.

2. OBSERVE it being done.

3. ASK employees “What could you use that would enable you to do your job more easily and effectively?”

In summary form that would be: “Do it, View it, Ask about it.” For more on this topic, review the chapter on Resource-equipping.

FUNCTION 4: Motivating for Desired Performance
This is the fourth function of performance-building. We define motivating (sometimes called “motivation-building”) as the act of creating the conditions that generate motivation relative to a given task or endeavor. We define motivation as a state of mind that causes a person to choose to engage in (or pursue) a particular task or endeavor. The purpose of this function is to generate within employees MOTIVATION for executing desired performance.

Since we can't read minds, the only way we can know when a person has motivation for desired performance is by observing his or her actions. If s/he has the wherewithal to do desired performance but isn't doing it, we conclude that s/he's lacking the motivation necessary for it. On the other hand, if s/he's doing the performance or attempting to do it, we conclude that s/he has the motivation for it.

For decades, creating employee motivation for greater performance has been the biggest challenge facing leaders. However, we now solve that mystery in a sentence by disclosing the following primary process for motivating employees.

Simplistic as it might appear, this is the fundamental condition that must be created to generate motivation within employees to deliver (a greater amount of) desired performance. Why is this? It's because, whenever a person faces a choice between two mutually-exclusive endeavors (such as desired vs. undesired performance), the person will choose to pursue the endeavor that appears to hold the greater Net Reward for him or her. We call this dynamic the Law of Performance Choice. Expressed in simplest form, the law of performance choice says: “Each human pursues that thing which s/he believes will be the most rewarding.”

THE UPSIDE-DOWNSIDE OF PERFORMANCE
What makes one endeavor appear to carry a greater Net Reward — or appear to be more rewarding — than another endeavor? It's in the Upside versus Downside of each endeavor.

Every performance holds an Upside and a Downside for the performer. The Upside is whatever a performer LIKES about doing the particular performance. The Downside is whatever the performer DISLIKES about doing it.

The UPSIDE can take the form of a compensation, event, communication, condition, situation, and/or opportunity that the performer finds enjoyable, beneficial, or fulfilling. It can be an aspect of the performance itself or it can be something received afterward as a result of doing the performance.

The DOWNSIDE is anything that the performer must either painfully endure or reluctantly give up to accomplish the performance. Things that a performer might have to endure include difficulties, physical discomfort, psychological discomfort, fatigue, boredom, risk, and inconvenience (or hassle) involved in doing the performance. Things that a performer might have to give up to engage in the performance include energy, resources, and the opportunity to do something else instead.

Virtually ever performance has both an Upside and a Downside and, thereby, a particular amount of Net Reward.

THE NET REWARD FORMULA
Because of the Upside and Downside, each performance carries a particular amount of Net Reward for each performer. Net Reward is that which remains for the performer after the Downside of a performance is “deducted” from the Upside. So to ascertain the amount of Net Reward of a particular performance, the performer mentally weighs the Downside against the Upside and derives the difference between them. Which means, the “formula” by which a person mentally (often subconsciously) ascertains the amount of Net Reward of a particular performance is:

This net reward formula comes into play when a person faces a choice between two mutually-exclusive endeavors — namely, desired vs. undesired performance. To determine which endeavor to pursue, the person ascertains the amount of net reward that s/he expects each endeavor will yield, and then compares those amounts. The endeavor that appears to hold the greater amount of net reward is the endeavor that gets performed. This decision is often made instantaneously and subconsciously. So every time an employee faces a choice between doing desired vs. undesired performance, that person will choose to pursue whichever performance appears to hold the greater net reward for him or her. If it happens that undesired performance appears to hold the greater net reward, that's the performance that gets performed!

To sum up: The only means by which we can motivate employees to deliver desired performance is by making the doing of desired performance MORE REWARDING than the doing of undesired performance, in the eyes of the employees. So, to create a greater amount of desired performance within a company, we must expand the amount of net reward that employees derive from doing desired performance (while, perhaps, concurrently decreasing the net reward attached to doing undesired performance). The way we do that is by applying the Top 10 Motivators of desired performance.

Process of Performance-building

Having laid out a technology of performance-building, we now provide a simple 4-step process derived from that technology. We call it The Performance-building Process.

The Performance-building Process comprises the following four steps:

We'll briefly describe each step.

STEP 1: Define a particular desired performance in unambiguous terms. This is the starting point of performance-building. It derives from behavioral psychology, where it's known as pinpointing. An unambiguous description is one that describes desired performance in a way that's open to one possible interpretation only. The easiest way to judge whether a performance description is unambiguous is by applying this question: If two or more persons were to read (or hear) the description and then individually do what each thinks it says to do, is it likely that all the persons would perform similar actions or produce similar outcomes?

If the answer is “no,” the description is ambiguous and needs to be made more specific. The first step to accomplishing this is to describe action in terms of countable events and describe outcomes in terms of measurable quantities. If, after this is done, the description is still ambiguous, the next step is to add detail to increase the specificity of the performance description. For more info on how to create unambiguous performance descriptions, review the Awareness-creating chapter … plus, perhaps, the literature of behavioral psychology.

STEP 2: Create a Performance-conditions Plan. Four conditions are required for any particular desired performance to occur — Awareness, Ability, Resources, and Motivation to accomplish the particular performance. We call these the Four Conditions for Desired Performance. If any of the four is missing, desired performance will not occur.

So, in order to assure that the particular desired performance will happen, we need to conduct a performance conditions audit to determine if any conditions are missing. If it turns out that at least one is missing or incomplete, a Performance-conditions Plan must be created.

The Performance-conditions Plan provides a list of action-steps necessary for creating or producing the missing condition(s). It spells out WHAT actions will be taken, WHEN each action will be done, and WHO will perform it.

As such, the Plan describes the specific actions to be taken to execute a particular performance-building function (i.e., Describing, Training, Equipping, or Motivating).

Or, put another way, the Plan describes how the necessary degree of Awareness, Ability, Resources, and/or Motivation for achieving the particular desired performance will be created. For more info on any of these four functions, review the particular chapter on Awareness-creating, Ability-building, Resource-equipping, or Motivation-building.

STEP 3: Execute the Performance-conditions Plan. In this step, the action-steps listed in the Plan are performed as scheduled. If it turns out that during the execution of the Plan it becomes apparent that alternate actions are needed to create a particular condition, adjust the Plan accordingly “on the go.”

STEP 4: Review results and reinforce the performance-builders. After steps 1 through 3 are completed and, presumably, the particular desired performance is accomplished, those persons charged with developing and implementing the performance-building process — whom we refer to as performance-builders — should review the results of their efforts to discover possible improvement areas for more-effective implementation of the process in the future. Finally, the performance-builders should receive positive reinforcement from their direct supervisor for any instances of good performance and overall good results. This increases the motivation of these employees to give superior performance in the next performance-building go-round.

To conclude, this 4-step process provides a basis from which we can create various programs for solving various types of performance problems and achieving various performance-building goals.

In addition to the information provided here, further development of the technology of performance-building can be achieved by incorporating additional principles and knowledge derived from books and studies extending over the last half century — with a large part being derived from the science of behavioral psychology.

A particularly good book on the principles of behavioral psychology as applied to management is Performance Management by Aubrey Daniels. Daniels also runs a long-established consulting firm specializing in the application of these principles to business management — PH: 770-493-5080, www.aubreydaniels.com.