In the last posting we saw that the research showed that 90% of the highest paid and best educated employees around the world are not high-performing!

So how can we begin to improve this shocking figure?  Perhaps your urge is get on to those non-performers and reduce the 38% to something less dismal.  Where would you begin?

Well it turns out that the best place to start is with the good guys.

Step 1 Get the most from your top performers.

Even the best have room for improvement.  Help the top 10% to reach new heights.  These people will respond most readily to your input.  10% is also a manageable size for a pilot project.  This will stretch the curve like this:


But how are you going to do this?

Annunzio confirms that the environment has a major effect on the performance of a group.  She suggests the following approaches:

  • Value your people: Allow your smart people to push back, argue or strongly advocate their point of view.
  • Optimise critical thinking: To analyse information, draw conclusions and set effective direction the team needs to be protected from the environment.  The leader should provide air-cover to the team.  The leader should also actively illustrate the explicit values of the team.
  • Seize opportunities: Release your staff to make business decisions.  They will need a framework within which to work.  Don Burr, founder of People Express Airlines took the company to success by delegating huge responsibility to staff.  He and his leadership team defined six precepts within which staff could make decisions.  The precepts were sometimes contradictory for particular situations but through discussion staff were able to make effective decisions.
  • Create the environment: Do your people love coming to work?  Do your best staff routinely turn down offers from head-hunters?  Create an environment in which people are happy to work and the people you want will come to stay.

From another source, in “The Enthusiastic Employee” author David Sirota and his co-researchers identify three things we desire most from a work environment:

  • Equity: To be treated justly in relation to the basic conditions of employment.
  • Achievement: To be given challenging work, to be able to do it well and to receive recognition for accomplishments.  If people know they can make a difference, they will enjoy their work.
  • Camaraderie: to have warm, interesting and cooperative relations with others in the workplace.

And what about that panel of brokers? How are you going to stretch your top producers?

The best place to start will be a discussion with the starting with the question “If you could develop your “enterprise” in any area whatsoever, what area would you pick?”  If you listened attentively, and asked further probing questions, you are likely to understand actions you can take to resolve issues for these clients of yours.  And that is a subject for another posting…