Towards the end of last year I was chatting with Dad about life, the universe, and everything. He asked if I had plans for the forthcoming year, and I told him I would do some work in the USA. Following the direction of my 2012 pledge, I said I didn’t know where, what or how, I just knew I would. Dad replied, ‘Go ahead and make me proud’.
Yesterday I signed the contract which confirms I’ll be speaking, blogging, tweeting, meeting and learning at the 2012 Ohio State HR Conference. I’m humbled and excited to be given this opportunity, and even though for well documented reasons I can’t pass the news to Dad in person, I reckon he would be feeling the same.
So to the good people of Ohio I say this. I salute the flag of the state of Ohio and pledge to the Buckeye State respect and loyalty. And to Steve Browne I say, I’m totally geeked dude!
More news on my USA expansion plans to follow. Meanwhile – what are you doing differently in 2012? I’d love to hear from you.
Oh boy, I’m in a lot of pain today. For the third or fourth day running, my upper right arm is screaming at me. Barely slept a wink last night, off to see the Doctor in a short while…here’s hoping.
I can currently only type with one hand so today’s pain heightened rant will have to be short.
I hate the term ‘Human Capital’. It’s demeaning and it reduces people to fleshy cogs in a corporate gearbox. Crushed by the wheels of industry. Just because it’s popular, doesn’t make it right, right?
Gareth and I have recently started working with an interesting company called Careergro. They are in the field of employee owned career development and as part of our initial working together, we’ve been discussing the similarities and differences between career development and performance appraisals.
So I’m grateful to Felix Wetzel for sharing a great talk from TEDxPortsmouth over on Google Plus. It’s called Serious About Performance, by the sports and business coach Dr Chris Shambrook. I’ve embedded the talk down below so you can take a look if the following observations from it interest you. And even if they don’t, it’s worth a watch for a fantastic sporting analogy (around five minutes into the film).
Defining Performance
Dr Chris says that in most companies, people wrongly think that performance = results. Wrong! Results are output, they are goals (usually set for you) and how you are doing against those goals. Performance is about doing the things you need to do to get out what you want. Performance is input and output. It is about understanding your potential and developing it so that you achieve the best results you can.
Balance
In the workplace, performance improvement is almost universally seen as a bad thing, as a problem. Dr Chris thinks everyone should have a performance improvement plan – that we should seek it out, demand it and use it as a way of helping us fulfil our potential. I think that’s a much healthier attitude and when practiced, quickly integrates performance and career development.
Static versus Flow
Usually, performance is appraised annually. I feel sick just writing that last sentence, performance needs evaluating all the time. The annual appraisal sucks – I know no one who looks forward to giving or receiving one. Feedback needs to be regular – and seek it out. Otherwise, Dr Chris says it’s just a euphemism for criticism.
Weakness versus Strength
Most people leave their performance reviews with a clear understanding of their inadequacies. To achieve high performance you must focus on strengths. How can I deliberately and consistently make strong into stronger. Then, and only then, should I address my weaknesses.
Money as a Motivator
Dr Chris says ‘we start incentivising people to do behaviours and start manipulating them by introducing money’. When money is used as a motivator for results in sport, it’s when corruption is present. He uses cricket and match fixing to illustrate this, and I’m reminded of Robin Schooling’s excellent blog post about the New Orleans Saints on the same subject.
Choose Your Attitude
Choosing your attitude towards high performance is critical. Choose to be the best you can be and show that attitude as a role model to others. Readers who have been with me for the long haul may recall a post I wrote back in September 2009 after meeting with Chris Boardman. He saw this as vital too.
Does your company confuse performance with results? And who is responsible for your performance?