Over the years, I've worked with hundreds of organizations and there are a few disturbing practices they seem to have in common...
If someone isn't meeting their goals or if they exhibit unacceptable behavior, managers either ignore them (hoping they'll go away - and we all know that doesn't happen), transfer the problem employee to another department or location within the organization (so it's someone else's problem), or lower the goals/expectations for that employee (so now the top performers have more to do - and probably no reward other than more work). One organization I worked with, when I suggested addressing a problem person, said it was no use since employees wouldn't change behavior. When I asked why, they said their company never, ever helped employees find success somewhere else (aka no one ever got disciplined or fired - for any reason). YIKES.
Recently, I was reading about someone who had turned their life around. Something they said struck me. When they were unsuccessful, they changed their goals to fit with their behavior. Now, they change their behavior to fit their goals.
If you want to become a high performing organization, you can't ignore poor performance or behaviors, transfer problem people around, or change goals - you must address the issue. Know what that means? You have to change behaviors. Low performing employees, managers, and organizations will come up with tons of reasons and excuses as to why they are different. Successful people and organizations won't lower the goal, they will increase performance by changing behavior.
What type of organization do you work for? What do you do - change the goal/behavior or change your behavior?
SHINE ON!
