Universal Studios and Getty Conservation Institute

ASSESSMENT REVEALS GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

The first step in a successful performance management program is assessment of an organization’s people and systems. Assessments consider an organization’s values (purpose, mission, goals), resources (staff and tools), processes (how resources are utilized), feedback systems (communication among staff and management), and outcomes (results of the work). In a sense, assessment is the most important step, because it identifies the key issues to be addressed in a program to improve performance.

Make the Assessment
Many companies perform their own assessments. The process can be as simple as asking key questions of a number of stakeholders in the organization. That can be a valid approach if the company has qualified staff equipped with the proper resources. An experienced, capable consultant, however, will often penetrate more rapidly to the essential issues. For example, manager at one company believed that orders were not being filled on time because of low employee motivation. A professional assessment revealed that the actual problem was a poorly designed order processing system. Again, the right diagnosis is critical to finding a cure.

Professional performance managers bring a variety of specialized assessment tools to the process. In addition to their interview and observation skills, performance managers use objective tools to quickly and systematically identify the important issues. These tools, some of which utilize computerized tests, assess individuals and organizations for such key elements as values, styles, and skills.

Two examples:

Universal Pictures Distribution Group
Milestones, Inc. developed charts for Universal’s president that identified the characteristics of the company’s top-performing staff. This information helped the president understand how to interact more effectively with the staff.

Getty Conservation Institute (GCI)
At GCI a 12-member administrative department supports a staff of 100 art conservation professionals, who come from around the world and represent a variety of cultural styles. Effective communication is therefore a key part of the administrative staff’s service, and they enlisted Milestones, Inc. to strengthen their communications performance. Milestones, Inc. used evaluation tools to develop behavioral profiles of each staff member, which the staff then reviewed to learn how they could work together more effectively. “Assessment helped us understand how we communicate,” said GCI director of administration Kathleen Gaines, “and how we’re perceived by others through communication. We came away with tools that we apply to our day-to-day operations.”

Find and Keep Good People
In today’s tight labor market, companies spend huge sums to attract the right people. But do they get the right people? By using assessment to highlight the characteristics of its top performers, an organization can fine-tune its interviewing and selection process to seek similar individuals and increase the value of its hires.

Studies show that key people rarely leave just for more money. Assessment aids staff retention by revealing the actual causes of turnover. And it can lead to increasing the value of staff by better integrating them into the organization. At one company, the very able senior general consul was a living history of the organization’s transactions. Nevertheless, team members found it increasingly difficult to work with him. Assessment revealed that the attorney’s elitist attitude, combined with lack of awareness of how he communicated to others, was responsible. Milestones, Inc. coached him on ways to examine his underlying assumptions about the academic credentials of his associates and to warm up his verbal and nonverbal communication with them.

Once an assessment has been completed and reviewed, an organization can use its deeper understanding of its systems and people to improve performance, on its own or with the help of a performance management consultant. The organization’s managers will be confident that they are addressing the issues most critical to success.