From Me to We: Creating Change through Contribution
From performance to contribution
Shifting the focus from performance to improving contribution not only results in a more efficient and effective team. It also creates an agile culture that is fit for the future.
Most companies have performance management systems that measure how well an employee completes the task they are asked to do. The focus is on how the individual has met the objectives set from the last review, which in most cases was 12 months ago.
Performance Management
Focuses on the individual and how well they have met their objectives.
In a constantly evolving business landscape, it seems counter-effective to be focusing purely on individual performance. As the saying goes, there is no I in team and yet performance management focuses on the individual and how well they have met the objectives set a year earlier.
The result? Rather than contributing to the greater good, employees learn that individual activity is what gets measured - and therefore what matters. Where is the incentive to go the extra mile when it’s your completed tasks rather than your contribution that really matters?
Contribution - Greater than the sum of parts
Contribution
Is the difference employees make to help your business succeed.
Performance is activity, it’s doing what you are asked to do. Contribution is the difference employees deliver that helps the business succeed. Contributors spot challenges before they become issues, in short, they are the grease in the wheels, ensuring everything keeps turning.
To give an example, imagine two employees, Dave and Sarah, are tasked to build an engine component this week. To do this they need a specific widget that the company holds in stock, so they go to the warehouse to collect the widget. In the warehouse, they spot that these are the last two widgets remaining on the shelf. However, as they only need two, they take one each and return to building their engine component this week.
Sarah and Dave achieved their performance targets because they completed the engine component in the set time frame. However, prompted by the out-of-stock situation, Sarah has considered the potential impact to the team of the widget being out of stock and has acted. She starts to work with the procurement and supply chain teams to ensure that out-of-situations are avoided in future.
By thinking about the entire system and taking action to ensure effective and efficient workflows, Sarah is making sure the system works better for everyone.
The difference people make
Contribution is people thinking about and improving the entire system.
When performance becomes your activity and the focus is squarely on hitting goals and targets, productivity will inevitably suffer. Whereas contribution is the difference people make when acting in the best interests for the company, and it’s the extra factor that helps organisations to succeed.
Contribution is about thinking of the entire system, being proactive and adding value in a way that creates real difference. It is more than just ticking performance boxes.
Rewarding activity instead of behaviour
Organisations that focus on rewarding activity inadvertently foster an environment where the attention is on tasks, short-term goals, the tactics of delivery and problem-solving - which inevitably happens after the challenge has become an issue.
These outcomes are often the result of four key counter-contributing behaviours seen in leaders and managers.
Poor Time Management
Managers who can’t manage their own time well are the type that are rarely available to their team. These managers are always in a rush because they are reacting to every situation that arises.
This type of manager tends to have little interest or influence within the company outside of their own area. Their behaviour is the opposite of contributing, this type of manager is only thinking about their little bit of the business and not the company.
Lack of Courage
Seen all too frequently, particularly in technical businesses, where managers tend to tolerate inappropriate behaviour and low standards. Why? Because they don’t want to have difficult conversations or face feedback that could be uncomfortable, they just allow the issue to continue unresolved.
This type also doesn’t manage upwards very well, their excuse being that they don’t want to get involved with office politics. The reality is that their behavioural style to exert influence with their own team is confrontational or autocratic – and that does not translate well when dealing with their own managers. Office politics is not the issue, their behaviour is and what may seem like a display of power is really a lack of courage. True leaders focus on letting go and empowering their people not holding them back.
Looking After Number One
Managers that display counter contributing behaviour are focused on looking after themselves. Knowledge is power and these types guard their own expertise, just so they can come to the rescue when a situation goes wrong. This is particularly the case with individuals in power who gain a sense of self-worth from retaining technical expertise.
The expert in the room who knows everything, can fix everything but won’t mentor their team or share their knowledge is purely thinking of themselves. They keep the prestigious and high-profile tasks, ensuring the limelight remains on them.
Rather than letting someone else learn, grow, and benefit from their experience, this type of manager loves being centre stage. Being indispensable is at the very core of this type of manager and if that involves discouraging career progression, particularly for those people who might be a threat to them in the future, then so be it.
This manager is likely to hold back valuable members of their own team from progressing and moving on within the company because it works in their favour. This behaviour is harmful, leaving teams disempowered and dependent instead of self-sufficient and motivated.
Not a ‘people person’
A bad leader is one that is not people orientated. They give lip service to the value of appraisals but treat them as a box ticking exercise rather than a valuable conversation with a member of their team. This type is dismissive of suggestions from others and has little interest in people, primarily because they do not know how to handle them. They avoid uncomfortable situations at all costs, mainly due to a lack of courage.
Contribution: A catalyst for change that boosts productivity
If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that organisations need to be agile and able to respond to evolving events. We need leaders who can lead, managers who can manage, team members doing and deputies developing.
Shifting the focus from ‘me’ to ‘we’ encourages greater contribution and delivers tangible results. It builds skills, shifts mindsets, creates greater capability, and develops a culture where employees can learn, develop, and succeed.
Employees contribute more when they are trusted, given meaningful goals, and empowered to look beyond short-term tasks. When people are empowered, they look at the wider ecosystem of team, company, customers, suppliers, and the market sector. They ensure their contribution is making a difference which is good for company culture – and for the bottom line.
Contributing teams deliver customer satisfaction and keep loyal suppliers engaged. Catalysing higher levels of contribution allows people to become more agile. This makes teams magnetic and desirable; others see an enriched team firing on all cylinders and they want to be part of that success - people will be queuing to join the team. As long-term partnerships continue to grow, so does company productivity, efficiency, and revenue streams.
Contributing Managers Create Contributing Teams
Managers play a critical role in taking the strategic narrative from the leaders and turning it into a language that can be understood with meaningful goals for their teams to act on. This translation function is important because it connects people in the team, ensures they know their daily purpose and understand the future direction.
This translation function flows both ways with managers taking the employees’ viewpoint from the coal face back up to the leaders. This insight from the front lines is invaluable for informing strategic direction. Contributing managers are valuable conduits through which communication flows naturally.
Increasing Contribution levels, Increasing Success
When companies choose to measure contribution rather than performance and develop the mindset and behaviours to support that choice, increased potential, and opportunity naturally follows.
The companies we have worked with have seen a significant increase in contribution, delivering measurable differences and observable benefits. Managers who were once bogged down in the detail, firefighting issues and responding reactively have, through our contribution programme, reversed this spiral. Their teams are now functioning at a higher level, collaborating with their peers, and more consistently delivering good customer service.
People want to be employed in rewarding jobs, where they are trusted and valued, working in companies they are proud to be a part of. By helping managers to think differently, through independent coaching and learning, negative behaviours can be eroded.
What is the recipe for improving contribution?
Our Contribution programme helps organisations and their employees realise their full potential and become better contributors. It consists of:
Assessment (self and 360°) of current and desired contribution and co-creation of a Growth Plan
One-to-One Executive Coaching Sessions to act on the Growth Plan
Action Learning Sets for group problem solving
Topic Training Modules to fit with where each individual is on their learning journey
Senior Leadership Team (SLT) Workshops to work on team-specific issues.
Find out more on how Treehouse can help your company can increase opportunity, productivity and develop a sustainable culture fit for the future.
“The programme devised by Treehouse has had a dramatic impact on our people; developing them from managers to capable leaders who are making a real difference. Truly valuing contribution; setting direction, not telling, creating engagement, developing others, and leading with authenticity & humility.”