The Number 1 question that was raised by a number of people was:
How relevant is the Performance Framework used by Geoff back in the 1990s in today’s digitally disruptive business context?
In our view, ‘The Economic Engine Room & Profit Turbine’ is just as relevant today as it was back then. That’s why ISL has digitalised the Framework to link Strategy, Strategic Implementation, People Drivers, and Profit Multipliers in a fully integrated way. These days, we call them Lead Factors and Lag Factors.
People Factors need to be monitored in the context of strategy and finance.
One of the biggest challenges that business CEOs are experiencing right now is how to achieve the Profit expectations set by Boards and stock market analysts when digitally disruptive ‘upstart brands’ are rapidly chewing into their margins.
We all know that people and their leaders are at the heart of performance. The question is, how do CEOs know which teams are the performers, and which need to be further developed? This requires a digital solution that is integrated at both team and whole-of-organisation levels.
The current process of HR undertaking and presenting ‘analogue-style’ staff engagement and culture surveys in isolation of strategy and performance outcomes (such as finance), is very much old paradigm now, and is of questionable value beyond competing for a ‘Best Place to Work’ Award.
Does the Performance Model have any Relevance to Government Sector Organisations?
The short answer is Yes!
The same performance drivers (Lead Factors) drive Public Good Outcomes; namely: Leadership, Culture, Staff Engagement – within the limits set by strategy and strategy implementation.
In this regard, the ISL Digital LeaderLAB team has adapted the High Performance Dashboard to identify the areas requiring attention in the State Sector. One state in Australia is evaluating the opportunity to take a whole-of-government view.
What are the Three unique Elements that are key to a Performance Monitoring System?
The three unique elements of the system are: simplicity, integration, and insightfulness. It’s got to be easy for the CEO and the SLT to see what’s going on, at the whole-of-organisation level, and be able to drill down to find the specific causality factors that require priority attention.
Is all of this really something new?.
Yes and No!
The concept of measuring performance and linking drivers to outcomes is not new. Peter Drucker, for example, was taking about this two decades ago and had this to say about the performance topic:
“You can’t know whether or not you are successful [as a strategic leader], unless success is defined and tracked”
But what is new is the opportunities that digital, analytics, and BIG DATA, offer to line up the Lead and Lag Factors in a way that has never been possible before.
To obtain a copy of the original framework Geoff sent to Jim Slater in 1990 or a copy of the digitalised 2017 version, email Lucy Hardy at l.hardy@leadership.ac.nz.
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