Assessing organizational performance: when, why and how?

Typical symptoms of under-performance are:

·         Growth targets are not being met

·         Revenue is declining

·         Market share is shrinking

·         Opportunities are being missed

·         A merger or acquisition is problematic

·         Deadlines are being missed

·         Poor teamwork

·         Management gets surprises

·         Employees rarely exceed expectations

·         Same issues keep reoccurring

·         Best people are leaving

·         A corporate initiative is stuck

·         Feeling that there are opportunities to improve performance -- to move from good to great”

A cause may be that employees are not engaged – not performing near or at their full potential.  Gallup surveys reveal that only 30 percent of employees are engaged.

A cause may be ineffective direct supervisors.  A Gallup poll of more 1 million employed U.S. workers concluded that the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss or immediate supervisor.

Assessing organizational performance requires pinpointing the problems and their causes.  This requires using a survey that poses the right questions.