A cornerstone to implementing a performance-based culture lies with creating an environment of personal responsibility and holding people accountable for their performance. Measurement systems must provide clear, universal metrics that are aligned to the company’s objectives, tied to profitability, and are flexible and easy to use.
If there is no accountability there will be no change and performance will be sub-optimal. Without measured accountability systems in place, expectations will go unrealized.
People in your organization will respond and comply with what they are held accountable to, not with what has been told – a culture of accountability and a performance-based culture are co-dependent.
Traditional metrics such as sales performance, turnover rate, market share, and the like should always be guideposts for success. However, metrics that capture elements of culture change center on accountability and performance and can be more difficult to define and capture.
If the organization has already made the decision to push forward with culture change, that means the current state is unacceptable. Focus on the future state. The difference between the two states is the tension that should drive leadership toward change. Therefore, metrics that ensure repetitive clarity on the future state and performance against that future state will drive leadership behavior to make the vision of the future a reality.
Although critical, understanding the future vs. current state is insufficient as a stand-alone when seeking change and the desired performance-based culture.
Later, we’ll discuss what Cogency Group sees as the organizational capabilities that must be bridged with the cultural building blocks required to arrive at the desired state.
