The Hudson Strategic Group

Performance Excellence as Policy

Key Performance Policies

1. Organizational Resources (All Expense or Capitol Expenditures) are Tied to Improving the Ability to Meet Objectives and Strategies and Reviewed Regularly (any published schedule) – As a Policy the Company Review its Decisions Openly

This includes (but not limited to): Key Financial, Market, and Compliance Objectives and the preferred strategies for accomplishing them. Mission, goals and strategies are to be set by ownership with input from senior management. Resource allocation will be tied to improvements in meeting goals and objectives. A systematic goal setting and review methodology is to be established that optimizes the organization accomplishment of its stated mission.

Implications of having this goal setting policy:

An improvement oriented goal setting and resource allocation policy is required to establish the requirement that managers are engaged in inquiry. Inquiry is required in order to know if a goal is optimal, if processes are optimal, if the organization is improving its ability to meet requirements and expectations (or even what those expectations are). Inquiry will lead to action in response to the answer. This policy establishes the rights of ownership to demand a return on their investment as described in the objectives. It also established the rights of management to be held accountable only to the goals approved. – empowers assessment and analysis

2. Zero Defects – As a Policy the Company does not tolerate defects.

This includes (but not limited to): Plan vs. Actual Defects; Product Production Defects (errors or cycle time); Work Place Norms Defects; Internal Support Process Defects (errors or cycle time); Customer/Market Requirements Defects; Customer Complaints (errors or cycle time); Regulatory Compliance Defects, Etc

Implications of having this Zero Defects policy:

A zero defects policy removes a lot of politics from personal performance measurements. The focus will shift from obtaining negotiated targets and onto dealing with factual problems that are present. For example a manager might have a target of 80% on some measure, this policy would ask for a detailed analysis of the 20%, which was not obtained. Managers can be rewarded for having a strong handle on the root causes of defects, and a good track record of completing tasks designed to eliminate them. If however a manager is engaged in activities (however important they are declared to be) that do not reduce defects in terms of errors or cycle-times, high performance ratings could be elusive. This policy establishes the rights of owners and senior managers to demand perfect performance or detailed explanations for all performance breakdowns – empowers GAP analysis

3. Continuous Improvement – As a policy the company strives to improve on all of its process in order to eliminate defects.

It is not enough to meet projections; we need to have an action plan to address the reasons (root cause) of problems we have incurred along the way.

Implications of having this Improvement policy:

A continuous improvement policy complements a zero defects policy, in that this policy requires managers to establish and maintain a plan to eliminate the defects in the processes under their jurisdiction. Without a policy that mandates improvement plans the owners and senior managers have little right to expect that the organization actually improve its performance. This policy establishes the rights of owners and senior managers to see action plans designed to achieve perfect performance against stated business requirements. However, improved performance can be expected only if the improvements are planned for and funded systematically. This policy establishes the rights of managers to demand support for improvements or relief from performance breakdowns. – empowers action planning

4. Employee Participation in problem solving - As a policy, each employee will be involved in the identification and implementation of corrective actions (no exceptions to policies 1, 2 or 3).

Each person will be responsible for participating in the performance management and measurement system at the level appropriate to their assigned job responsibility. Senior management will review organizational performance on a regular basis and provide employees with an assessment of the current status of company processes as that performance relates to planned objectives.

Implications of having this Involvement policy:

An Employee involvement policy ensures that managers and employees have equal opportunity to participate in protecting the organization and their jobs. By requiring each employee to participate, the organization maximizes the potential for success. This policy establishes the right of each employee to provide input that must be considered by his or her manager. This policy also obligates owners and senior managers to establish and review control means used to ensure its’ (and all other policies) implementation. The review process can be key in that it provides the opportunity to examine operational indicators or measures of employee involvement. – empowers involvement and teams

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