PUBLISHED ARTICLES

In business today it is a fierce competition and only companies with their long term visions and missions clear to them survive in the long run. All too often do we see companies with great ideas or products disappear and no one really understood what happened. Organizations have four primary ways they can differentiate themselves from their competitors and become successful:

• A superior product
• More working capital
• State of the art facilities, hardware, or equipment
• Their employees, and the culture of the workplace in which they work
 
Which of these factors has the greatest potential to create and sustain a competitive advantage, and why? Products can be copied. Money can be borrowed. Facilities and technology age rapidly and can become obsolete overnight. Therefore, the people who populate an organization are the most important factor in creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. The unique culture of an organization and its ability to attract, motivate, and retain top performers contributes powerfully to success. The people in an organization are actually the one success factor that most will impact long-term success!

The challenge for a company is to realize the potential value of its employees in cultivating their competitive advantage. An organization establishes a powerful means of ensuring its own success through a well-implemented and consistently applied performance management system. When employees are motivated to perform up to and beyond expected standards, they will contribute to shaping a performance environment more efficient and longer lasting than that which is possible through the individual achievements of any one employee.

It is not always easy to see how ones performance management system influences individual behavior in the company. But it is important that employees know what is expected of them and where they stand. An effective performance management system provides a structure within which this knowledge is communicated and this understanding is fostered. Each employee can then focus his or her efforts on those behaviors that have been identified as most important through the establishment of goals and the identification of relevant competencies.

It is also important that your performance management system ensures that everyone’s efforts contribute meaningfully to the organization’s success and overall attainment of organizational objectives. Goal setting, feedback, documentation, and the other steps in the performance management process constitute interdependent elements of an integrated system that—as a whole—supports and reinforces the overall objectives of the organization. This is why the company vision and mission needs to be in place, so that everyone’s actions and goals are aligned with the company’s direction. Do you as a manager or employee have clear goals and understand your company’s vision and mission?

- Peter J. Karlsson