by Brian Clark | DOTS LMS, learning management systems, LMS, Performance, performance management
In DOTS LMS you have the option to use the Performance Management module. This module has a number of features that help support performance with tight integration to learning. This integration includes the Position Management module that acts to link learning and performance for each and every person in your organisation. The position management module must be used in order to use the DOTS performance module. When building a position in DOTS you are creating the inputs necessary to activate and execute the automated online performance appraisal. Position management includes the position description and the elements including environment, decision making, relationships etc.
The primary linkages between learning and performance are established when the Key Result Areas are added including ratings for the various levels of performance. I recommend the Key Result Areas include learning objectives for the position. You can add any type of learning objective including those that are achieved in the LMS environment as well as external formal, informal, social and conference based learning activity. By adding these as Key Result Areas with performance indicators you are driving home the message that learning in all forms is important to the organisation and aligned with its culture and values. I also recommend you align these Key Result Areas to your strategic objectives and definitely include the learning areas in this alignment.
Behavioural performance may also be included in the Position Description and Performance Management module. You achieve this by adding your behavioural performance criteria in the DOTS Competencies module. You should consider how you group these competencies [as well as all the others] to ensure greater accuracy and efficiency using the LMS. You assign behavioural competencies to each position. These may be universally shared or specific to business units, departments, groups or individuals. These behavioural competencies will also be linked to a rating scale to permit the manager to provide feedback and comments to the employee. You align the behavioural competencies to your strategy, your values and other cultural and business initiatives that may be active in the organisation.
There is no hard and fast rule that you must do performance reviews annually. If you can convince your managers to retain a more interpersonal coaching style to performance you can set dates or time cycles in DOTS LMS to remind persons that they are due to have a meeting to review performance and progress. It is important that you not use the technology as a ‘crutch’ to simply tick the box for performance management. The DOTS LMS needs to be a support tool and not a replacement to effective interpersonal relationships between managers and employees.
by Brian Clark | Business Process, development, DOTS LMS, LMS, Performance, performance management, resource planning
The DOTS LMS has been designed to provide a comprehensive suite of tools and reports. Your organisation may be investigating an LMS option for delivering e-learning, compliance management and a host of other outcomes achievable with a solid LMS platform. The DOTS LMS has the capability to extend even further into enterprise management as an excellent support tool for human resource governance. HR governance is strategic and vital for organisations to remain stable, agile and competitive. What is HR Governance? Generally speaking governance includes elements that help to define communications, decision making and business objectives. Linked to these elements are the need to manage and control to manage risks and support business performance with engaged employees.
The DOTS LMS platform has the tools to not only capture vital information in real time, the reporting capability permits visibility to leadership and throughout the organisation. This visibility of key data contributes to risk mitigation in compliance but also provides greater decision making agility to support competitive advantages and control costs. For example, a company can quickly determine its workforce capabilities for current or future requirements and then deliver training to address gaps or allocate resources differently to alleviate any risks from competency/skill gaps.
Knowledge of policies and procedures may be delivered both in online courses as well as available in the online knowledge portal to ensure access and availability at any time. With online delivery you can ensure that the results of this training is tracked and repeated at necessary intervals. Delivery of online training supports more effective communications as well. Senior leadership use the LMS to deliver messages pertaining to company strategy, performance updates and celebrations of success. All of these uses contribute to a more engaged workforce.
Performance monitoring is a key ingredient to HR governance. In DOTS, clients are cascading their strategic plans deeper into the organisation by including key result areas for persons to have line of sight to the overall strategic objectives. The appraisal process is automated to ensure that the appraisals are done and actions are taken to address further development needs and deliver rewards for high performance and commitment.
These are just a few of the ways the DOTS LMS supports human resource governance in an organisation. There are other tools and business processes that contribute to governance success. If you are interested in learning more about using DOTS LMS to support HR governance or would like some ideas on formalising governance in your organisation, please make contact.
by Brian Clark | Business Process, learning management systems, LMS, performance management, strategy
First of all I guess you might wonder why I used the term ‘high performance’ in the headline. What does that mean? I see a few characteristics that distinguish a high performance sales team from others and capability frameworks contribute to the development and sustenance of high performance in any team.
One attribute of high performance is measurement. Each sales person should be measuring themselves against key performance targets and the team is measured collectively. These measurements flow up to management and are linked to the business strategy. High performance sales people strive to nail targets and prefer this to floating in an undefined operating environment.
Collaboration is sometimes a neglected capability in the highly competitive sales profession. However one thing I took away from attending Dreamforce ’12 last year was this is no longer negotiable. Collaboration is imperative both within the business as well as outward to prospects and clients. The range of technology platforms and collaboration tools is staggering. The sales professional must not only understand how to use the technology, she must also be able to leverage its power in a competitive sales cycle.
Collaboration also extends to the capture and sharing of best practices in the sales team. Knowledge capture and sharing somewhat mitigates risks of ‘brain drain’ when high performance sales people move on. This knowledge also facilitates more rapid on-boarding of new hires.
Clear strategy is based on a cascade of goals and objectives from the c-suite to the sales professional. The sale professional must have the capability to translate the business strategy to their operating strategy. The operating strategy is often defined at sales team level but not always in the case of persons managing large territories or working with a small number of clients in high value enterprise sales. The capability framework must include translating strategy to tactics and these tactics incorporated in an operational plan.
Tactical execution is one that capability that is easily identified in our behavioural assessment tools. The best strategy and tactics are worthless without execution and sadly this is one capability that is rare in the world of sales professionals. There are plenty of people out there who work ‘ad-hoc’ and seem to make some sales but these people are not high performance and they tend to be more difficult to manage and measure.
The capabilities around information management usually become obvious when we have a look at a business’s CRM. Information is often old, inaccurate or insufficient. The power that can be leveraged from a well -managed CRM is too great to compromise. The capabilities that support this include personal management and work flow practices.
Each of these attributes and possibly others must be included in the capability framework. The capability framework will greatly enhance recruitment and on-boarding of new sales team members. I use a tool to provides a behavioural analysis against each capability. When a shortlist is determined, each person is assessed against the defined capability framework. This has reciprocal benefits for the candidates and the company. The candidate is clear on the expectations of the position and is provided a scientific assessment of their behavioural match to the framework. The company reduces the risk of bad hires and the huge cost and cultural impacts these have.
When it comes to developing a capability framework it is a huge advantage to have a technology solution to support it. A learning management system is the most compelling platform but others include some performance management systems and some HRIS software. Regardless of what you use to create the capability framework, you need to consider the following;
- Link the framework to job titles.
- Ensure there are learning and development opportunities to support and enhance the capabilities.
- Development plans should have at least some focus on the capability framework if not be totally focused on it.
- The performance management process must be integrated with the capability framework.
Get in touch if you would like to explore developing a capability framework for your sales team or any other part of your organisation.
by Brian Clark | DOTS LMS, e-learning, LMS
There is a lot of discussion about employee face time vs. productive time in both our client community and on some well read blogs and social media. The topic is one that has some importance. We have all lived in a ‘do more with less’ paradigm for many years despite the state of the economy in which we work. The hours that one works is not always a good indicator of the work that is completed. The time and execution ratio often shows a skew that discounts the theory that work hours equate to output or execution. In the knowledge economy that insists much work is self generated the hours worked is a rotten indicator of contribution to an organisation. There are all sorts of variables that contribute to a person’s contribution to an organisation. I would include time spent in planning, innovating, exercising, communicating, learning,creating, and dreaming as time well spent in any organisation that I lead. These measures of time are not dependent upon the time a person spends in the office. In an ideal world people would engage in these activities outside of the work environment. By doing so they magnify the impact they make when they are working. I would recommend you have a look at or re-visit Ricardo Semler. When Ricardo’s work first gained prominence it was pretty scary stuff to a lot of business leaders stuck in command and control. An LMS can provide a powerful platform to support engagement and contribution that is not dependent upon more hours worked. The LMS should be a tool to support people to spend more time exploring, thinking and innovating.
by Brian Clark | coaching, LMS, performance management
Too many companies struggle to get the most from staff because of poor and ineffective performance management systems. And that’s despite several attempts to redesign and tweak their current systems.
So what goes wrong?
Performance management has become very complex. Often the job of just maintaining the compliance requirements is time consuming and onerous. However, if you want real productivity gains much more than this needs to be done.
Research by Bersin & Associates in 2011 found that companies with strong, positive performance management processes outperformed their peers. Without an effective performance management system in place companies will struggle to be competitive.
If performance management is well-planned and well-executed, it can greatly improve enterprise success at all levels as well as advancing the motivation and morale of employees.
Role of Technology
In today’s hi-tech, economical and result-oriented business environment, injecting technology into the different facets of business is essential. This includes your staff performance systems and processes.
This is not to say that traditional performance management processes are antiquated or ineffective. It just means that by incorporating technology, performance management can be more efficient and cost-effective.
Consistency and Communication
Performance management is a continuous process of communication between supervisors/managers and the employees about job responsibilities, job performance, and expectations.
All too often this process breaks down because:
- Compliance requirements are very specific and carry heavy responsibilities
- Supervisors and managers often avoid conversations with employees about performance and expectations.
- There is inconsistency in the quality and content of performance reviews.
- There is a lack of a centralized responsibility to follow up and take actions as a result of performance reviews.
On the upside, if you have performance systems in place that provide effective and consistent feedback to staff the rewards are great.
You’ll also have a framework for feedback and coaching that fosters a high level of communication and teamwork.
What an Effective System Should Do
Any good performance management system should:
- Establish open communication and foster a strong relationship between manager/supervisors and employees.
- Provide transparency of the company’s and the employee’s goals, priorities and expectations.
- Identify and determine solutions to problem areas affecting performance.
- Recognize and support strong performance.
- Align employee’s career goals with the organization’s objectives.
What about Coaching?
Coaching sessions are opportunities for both employees and supervisors to discuss progress in meeting certain goals or expectations. It is a personal and close interaction between supervisor and employee.
This allows supervisors to communicate feedback, recognize and reinforce strengths, and encourage areas where improvement is necessary. Unlike performance appraisal that happen quarterly or yearly, coaching is less formal and it can be done far more frequently.
Effective performance management achieves corporate goals
An effective performance management helps diagnose performance-related deficiencies or problems and helps develop targeted training initiatives. It allows managers and supervisors to assess the training needs of staff. The training should be designed to meet the competency gaps of the workforce.
Targeted training will enable employees to correct deficiencies and improve their performance. It provides staff with the knowledge and skills that lead to increased productivity for the organization. The final result is a highly trained workforce all contributing towards clearly understood corporate goals.
Strategically complementing performance management provides mutual benefit for the workforce and the organization. While it helps staff gain competitive skills and knowledge that makes them succeed and reach their personal career goals, the organization enjoys the benefits for having a motivated and highly productive workforce and lower staff turn-over.
Learning Management System augments performance management
A Learning Management System (LMS) is technology based and it streamlines administrative and managerial functions in the learning and development area.
Most medium-sized to large companies with employees of more than a thousand (and may be in multiple locations) should have an LMS in place.
LMS doesn’t necessarily abandon traditional performance management methods which may includes face-to-face training and one-on-one coaching. In fact, it augments performance management in a more time and cost-efficient way. That means cost savings for the company.
LMS improves performance management processes by:
- simplifying the creation and deployment of training
- providing easy tracking and documentation
- consolidating company-wide training information in one system
- improving certifications and compliance requirements.
Whether it is a classroom type of training, computer-based or web-based training, LMS provides all the necessary tools to make training easier, effective and more straight-forward. With LMS in place, managers and supervisors can focus on the things they are good at—on managing and supervising people—and on the things that need their time and attention.
Call to action
As a takeaway, here are the three things to help improve the effectiveness of company’s performance management system:
- Link the performance management with the company’s learning programs.
- Align training programs with the organization’s needs and objectives.
- Improve the coaching skills of managers.
