A New Definition of Performance

This post is the first installment in a six-part series by guest blogger, Jay Forte, Humanetrics LLC. It seems fitting that Jay kick off the NAHCR blog, which has been inactive for some while, since he is also scheduled to kick off the 2011 Image Conference with "The Greatness Zone" general session on Wednesday, July 13. Later in the day, Jay will present two additional sessions: “Will You Fit Here? The Talent Based Approach to Find and Hire the Right Employee” and “Intellectual Age Recruiter - Becoming a Strategic Business Partner”. Register for the Image Conference today to hear Jay! 

A New Definition of Performance
Jay Forte, Humanetrics LLC

I have a question for you. Why do you pay your people – or why do people pay the people you recruit?

I always get so many answers from this question but I still have one favorite answer: we pay our employees to provide the best, most efficient and most profitable response in this moment - period. We pay them to think on their feet and respond to the situations they encounter with a focus on service, efficiency and profitability. We don’t pay them to do a job; we pay them to respond in a meaningful way. And it is therefore our responsibility to know how to inspire this response. And it starts with a changed definition of performance.

Today’s intellectual (provide service) age has employees face-to-face with customers. This personal contact with customers now requires that employees be wisely hired into roles in which they “fit.” Today, great performance happens when employees are both good at what they do and passionate about doing it.

Consider that I need my employees to think on their feet each moment of the day (I like to say that employees need to pack their brains when they pack their lunch). Employees who are intrinsically good at what a job requires (talented) know how to get the job “done right” for a customer. This is good but not great. What would be better is if the employee were also passionate or interested in the work as well. Employees who are also passionate about what they do commit the extra effort to raise their performance, do extraordinary things and emotionally connect with customers. This is critical to an organization’s profitability and success.

Performance has changed. It is no longer about doing a job. It is about thinking through the best, most efficient and most profitable response in this moment. To create this kind of performance requires that employees are good at what they do (their talents and strengths match those needed in the job), and interested, or even passionate, about doing the job. Knowing that performance has changed is critical to attracting and hiring the right employees. Its not about doing the job – its about thinking the event through each time. 

Knowing this encourages today’s intellectual-age recruiters to do more than just hire – they become strategic performance business partners. More on this at the 2011 Image Conference in Raleigh