{"id":3703,"date":"2022-09-23T18:49:15","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T16:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.druckerforum.org\/blog\/?p=3703"},"modified":"2022-09-23T19:12:42","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T17:12:42","slug":"what-performance-matters-by-mark-w-beliczky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.druckerforum.org\/blog\/what-performance-matters-by-mark-w-beliczky\/","title":{"rendered":"What performance matters?
by Mark W. B\u00e9liczky"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It is no surprise that the theme and focus of the 2022 Global Peter Drucker Forum is \u201cPerformance that Matters: Sparking the Entrepreneurial Spirit.\u201d And Drucker was very clear about the significance and importance of goals, measures and performance when he stated that \u201cUnless we determine what shall be measured and what the yardstick of measurement in an area will be, the area itself will not be seen.<\/a>\u201d And some sixty-eight years ago in his book, The Practice of Management,<\/em> he also spoke to performance when he outlined the idea of MBOs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is likely that Peter Drucker would start a \u201cPerformance that Matters\u201d discussion by first addressing the purpose of a business \u2014 \u201c<\/em>to create a customer\u2026the customer is a foundation of a business and keeps it in existence. The customer alone gives employment. And it is to supply the customer that society entrusts wealth-producing resources to the business enterprise.\u201d <\/a>The fundamental \u201cPerformance that Matters\u201d questions businesses should then be asking and tracking would be: how well are \u201cwe\u201d performing in creating NEW customers, followed by the measures of customer retention and satisfaction<\/a>. Failure to know and track these very basic customer growth performance metrics likely results in a business challenged in achieving both sustainable growth and competitive advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two functions of a business<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drucker goes on to state that \u201cthe business enterprise has two–and only two–basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.<\/a>\u201d The next set of performance measures would be marketing effectiveness<\/a> and the organization\u2019s propensity to innovate<\/a>\u2014 metrics that allow the company to adjust, refine and move swiftly and directly toward achieving market distinctiveness and leadership. Peter Drucker also notes that marketing and innovation are key entrepreneurial functions and having a culture of entrepreneurship\/<\/a>intrapreneurship<\/a> can truly set the enterprise apart from all others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many established organizations the decision to embrace and move to a more compelling entrepreneurial culture (the process that turns those (creative) ideas into actual innovations<\/a>) many be daunting, but very possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Job crafting<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good starting point would be to introduce “job crafting<\/a>\u201d or the re-framing of jobs to be more meaningful and aligned with team members\u2019 interests and values. And one will know when they have arrived at a more entrepreneurial culture\/climate when the following questions can be answered by \u201cyes\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you try to learn new things at work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you ask your boss to coach or mentor you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you often take on more tasks than your role formally requires?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in staying on the theme of culture and \u201cPerformance that Matters,\u201d should not an organization also be setting its sights on and measuring the extent to which they have a high-performance culture?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow the research<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research conducted by the Gallup<\/a> organization focused on measuring and determining the key success attributes for the best managers. They found that these managers: set clear expectations, defined employee roles, created trusting environments, encouraged employee growth and development, and continuously raised the bar and encouraged high performance. Further, it was found that these managers created a climate of empowerment and in sharing authority\/power with vs. over team members. They were also aware of and recognized their business as ever-changing, and maintained a keen focus on innovation and on developing a customer-centric strategy \u2014 team members understanding of individual and collective responsibilities in meeting customer needs and expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another \u201cPerformance that Matters\u201d is leadership communication and collaboration. Gallup<\/a> research also revealed that high-performing leaders and managers understood their role in the communication process, scheduled regular one-on-one conversations, used collaborative approaches, and created strong levels of trust. Lastly, these high-performance leaders maintained a heightened intent to change and their commitment to change resulted in an enhanced brand both with customers and team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, there are many great examples of highly successful businesses which have crafted and successfully executed compelling strategies and which 32 have also been quite successful in establishing effective \u201cperformance that matter\u201d scorecards. However, there is significant work yet to be done when considering the global business performance scorecard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n