Part II: A Blindfold Performance

The concept is sound, so why the blank stare and furrowed brow reaction? How hard can it be to grasp the notion that if you measure performance, you will be able to determine your strengths and weaknesses? In astonished frustration, Stan Uris shook his head as he stomped through Rollercoaster Indemnity Co.’s (RIC’s) hallways.

Stan, however, would be pleased to know that Alfred Mann got the concept. As soon as the review had turned up Stan’s little claims problem, it was evident this tool had potential. With Alfie Mann’s encouragement, Stan ran with this Performance Measurement and Manage- ment thing; in only one quarter, he saw the effectiveness of his team improve.

RIDING THE REVIEWS

The year before, an initial review determined that simple lack of communication had left Stanley uncertain if his staff had been holding vendors to their own performance standards; file management was causing a great deal of leakage. Initially, Stan moaned about how much money the review had cost the company; he later realized the review had actually saved the company money. In the absence of reviewing his team’s performance and management, Stan was oblivious as to what the problem could be; after the review, his mind reeled – Stan began thinking about what else they did not know.

Working closely with Mann and a rep from a performance review company, Stan had the KPIs re-weighted to emphasize other areas of operations and determine how his team ranked. Overall his team performed well but, in a few cases, it was clear that staff members were not aware of company policy regarding certain practices. The review process generated reports Stan could show Mann and a couple of the other executives. Based on the numbers, they had approved his request for a training session.

The results were in – three of his 11-team members had been completely unaware of some of RIC’s most fundamental policies and guidelines. What really frightened Stan was that there were 253 employees in the Company’s claims department – Stan could only imagine the resulting chaos if the review indicated that over a quarter of these employees were similarly not compliant with RIC policies. Just as quickly as he cringed at the thought, however, Stan began to imagine how smoothly things would run if all his employees became aligned. He began talking with Mann about expanding the review process to include all of RIC. Yet, this was the point when problems began with Winifred Maus.

PLAYERS PERFORM

Maus immediately seemed to hate the idea of a review process. “We already have an auditing process in place,” Maus said. “How is an outsider supposed to know what our policies are? It will cost too much to implement. We would have to retrain management and they would have to retrain their staff. They will not want to do the extra work, and neither will I. This is just a waste of time. You are trying to shirk your responsibilities. If managers don’t watch their own staff, they can find other jobs – plenty of people at the unemployment office are looking for work.”

Stan paused, could it be that Maus really wanted RIC to fail? He shook his head – no, Maus was just old school, that is all. She still saw people as things, commodities, simple position fillers, expendable. She did not understand that people are the heartbeat of this organization – their actions, their performance would invariably drive RIC to the head of the pack or straight into the ground. She paid brief lip service to the notion that RIC was a team, but never really believed it.

Mann, on the other hand, really was a team player. He truly believed that no one person was more or less valuable than another in the organization. Mann understood that everyone had roles to fill; so long as everyone knew what was expected of them, they could move ahead as a unit, aligned with one another, with the policies and objectives of RIC.

The idea began to polarize upper and middle management. Like Maus, many felt there was little value in measuring things like performance. Nevertheless, some did see merit in the idea. Stan knew that if he wanted to get this thing implemented, he would have to persuade management of its merit.

This afternoon, Stan delivered a final presentation. A few fence sitters waited to see what the majority would do before voicing their own opinions; all Stan had to do was persuade a few of these individuals and the balance would tip to his side.

CENTER RING

He worried a great deal about his presentation, until he started going over the material. Then he began to breathe a little easier, because the material really did speak for itself. He opened the door to the boardroom, and 22 pairs of eyes turned toward him. Stan took a breath and began to speak. He showed how the KPI weighting system worked, and how he had come to define and weight the KPIs using RIC standards and the standards of both RIC’s clients and vendors. He showed how weighting in this way meant all results would have applications specifically pertinent to RIC, its vendors and clientele. He illustrated how this process produced reports that showed employee strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the reports gave a listing of strengths and weaknesses discovered in his team. He also passed out reports that showed how these strengths and weaknesses were being corrected or reinforced and how easy it was to recalibrate, thus awarding a greater on “unsolved” KPI’s.

“So, you’re telling me that we have to do this more than once, Uris?” Maus griped. “What do you think, that we’re made of money?”

“Listen,” Stan argued. “You can diet for a month to lose a couple of inches to fit into your old tux for a wedding, but what happens after that? You go back to your old ways and get fat again.” He turned to address the rest of the room; “We have got to make this a lifestyle choice – a decision to change the way we do things around here for good. It’s harder to live a healthy life, but in the end its better for you. In the end, this will be better for Rollercoaster Indemnity.”

“Besides, how long do you think it will be before the External Quality Assurance and Standardization Companies start ‘suggesting’ that they need to come in more than once?” He threw a sheaf of papers on the boardroom table; “This is all the proof of quality any vendor or client will ever need.”

Stan saw that a few more heads were nodding and he knew when to make his exit. Mann stood. “Thank you, Stan,” Mann said, “we’ll take it under advisement.” Then he winked.

Stan sat in his office for about an hour, hoping things would go his way. He was a good middle manager, liked RIC and really thought this performance measurement process was something important. The phone rang; the display flashed red with Mann’s number. It was a tie, Mann said, Milgrin Farquad was still sitting on the fence. The split was up to him.

Stan sighed as he hung up the phone. What was wrong with these people, why could not they see the potential for growth here? The potential for vendor and client satisfaction and retention? They could even use a review process like this to solve their looming employee shortage. He shook his head. Well, it was up to Milgrin now. Stan was left wondering what side he would land on – Mann or Maus?

Will Milgrin be a Mann or a Maus? Will Stanley Uris get to implement a performance review process designed to realign Rollercoaster Indemnity Co. and improve performance, ensuring client satisfaction and larger profit margins? Stay tuned for our final installment of the Adventures and Further Adventures of Stan Uris.