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Organistational Structure Performance Management Reward & Recognition Attraction & Retention

		August 2010: Work 'Falling Through the Cracks'
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Managing people can be a challenge. As businesses grow and evolve people issues can sometimes become more difficult to handle. With the right skills and right support this complex area can become simpler to understand and manage. It is critical to get this people area right so you and your team can focus on achieving your business growth aspirations.

Organistational Structure

Are the right people in your business doing the right things? Are your revenue generating roles focused on the task at hand or are they distracted by non-core activities? Good role design and defining a clear organisational structure can support the growth of the business. Improved clarity in this space can provide greater direction, enhance the motivation of your team and can provide a greater understanding of career paths to support and retain your key talent.

Performance Management

Do your people understand your vision for the business? Do they know how their actions can support business growth? A performance management framework that links business vision to individual objectives can create greater buy-in, and can bring you one step closer to achieving your business goals. Being clear about performance expectations in your business can also support on-going performance management and allow you to recognise great performance and pro-actively manage poor performance.

Reward & Recognition

Do your rewards drive the behaviour you are looking for? Are your people suitably motivated? Understanding what motivates your team is critical when designing a reward and recognition framework. Being clear about the link between performance and reward is important to reinforce positive and productive behaviour. Reviewing the entire reward picture is becoming more important as many people are motivated by more than just money, so businesses need to think more broadly about attractive reward options.

Attraction & Retention

Are you attracting the candidates you want? Are you keeping your star performers? What you use to attract key talent is sometimes quite different from what you need to retain them. Establishing a meaningful Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that defines your offer (benefits and behaviours) can form the foundation for recruiting the right people. In addition, by articulating the scope of your offer you are making it clear to your current talent pool why they should stay.

For support in any of these areas or for guidance around any other human resource matter, please contact us.

August 2010: Work 'Falling Through the Cracks'

During May 2010, PeopleSelect surveyed a number of businesses in the Liverpool/ Macarthur region to understand the ‘people’ issues that they were facing. The most commonly sited issue raised by survey respondents around concerns that they have experienced or are currently experiencing in their business centred on work ‘falling through the cracks’.

What does this mean and what causes this issue?

Having work fall through the cracks means that work that should get done in your organisation isn’t. It isn’t getting done well or isn’t getting done at all. The implications of this problem can range from client needs not being met resulting in a loss of business and / or reputational issues; individual employees not performing to their optimal level leading to inefficiencies and motivational issues; as well as your business not achieving targets for growth.

There are a number of reasons why this may be the case. Some of the more common explanations for this phenomenon are as follows:

• Roles are not clearly defined and individuals do not know who is accountable for key activities. Some organisations may have areas of accountability where multiple roles are seen to be responsible often resulting in variable standards; work being repeated unnecessarily; or work missed as everyone thinks someone else will do it. In other cases, areas of accountability may have no clearly defined owner and the work typically ‘falls off the radar’.


• Processes are not mapped out across the business and hand-over points are not clear. Where do the responsibilities for one role end and another begin around key processes? Ie Initials sales, servicing and on-going support of clients.


• Changes in technology, systems and processes without the adequate level of communication, support and up-skilling. It is not uncommon for employees to site not knowing about a change or not knowing how to use a new system as the reason for not getting something done.


• Shifts in organisational strategy and priorities may also result in this occurring, the goal posts shift and the attention of individuals move with this change or does not change from the old strategy resulting in some areas of responsibility being inadvertently left behind.


• There is no role established in the business to manage key issues i.e marketing tasks are undertaken by multiple people in some organisations leading to issues around lines of accountability and ownership resulting in work ‘falling through the cracks’. Structurally it may make sense to consolidate all marketing activities into one role. This role may be a stand alone position or may have other broad accountability areas.


• Issues with individual performance that may stem from a number of causes:


• Poor hiring decisions have resulted in an individual/s who are not performing the role as required.


• The skills are there to support the work getting done, failure to establish development plans and monitor skills needed to get the job done to the agreed standard can result in work ‘falling through the cracks’.


• Managers are not actively managing individual performance where work is not getting done; in some cases they may complete the work for the offending individual/s rather than having ‘the conversation’ about under performance.


• There is no structured performance management system or not the right performance management framework is in place. This can lead to issues around timing for discussing a failure to complete work or results in the performance management discussion being about topics other than activities that are not getting completed.


• A poorly designed incentive program can also result in shifts in individual performance. What gets rewarded gets done so a focus on financials only may cause individuals to neglect other tasks that they are accountable for.


• Individuals may lack motivation and fail to get the job done. A common reason for this lack of motivation comes from limited awareness of the importance of their role in helping the business achieve it’s longer term goals. Being clear about the vision of the organisation and then sharing this with employees can encourage a more thorough approach to performing in the role.

The cause in your organisation may be one, or a combination of these reasons outlined above. Understanding the reasons for these gaps in your business is an important first step in identifying what changes you need to make to create a solid ‘leak free’ foundation for the future success of your organisation.

For further information or advice on this area, please contact PeopleSelect on 4629 7797 or Kristie Leopardi on 0408 945 053.

Previous Months Tips:

• March 2010
• April 2010
• May 2010
• June 2010
• July 2010