Does this really happen?
Business unit managers are under lots of pressure to perform, and occasionally are tempted to step over the line finding ways to look better than reality reflects. Of course, this has never happened to you, and you have never done this in your past. So, we are speaking of a theoretical manager here. Of course.
Well, how to prevent it from happening?
Here’s a way to prevent such behavior and create a tool for organization – and transparency at the same time. Create a “balanced scorecard” or single place to review a manager’s performance and / or that of the department. Use the four most important measures of success as the basis.
Financial perspective: financial statement showing key indicators such as revenue, expense, net income or other measures important to success.
Customer perspective: Ratings of customer satisfaction, statistics of customer retention, market share and even brand strength.
Internal process perspective: Measures of cycle time, response time, waste, purchasing effectiveness, and improvements and innovations.
Learning / growth perspective: Measures of employee satisfaction, employee turnover, employee education and skill advancement.
The result of this effort?
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Having this information and sharing it with the manager(s) empowers everyone to come up with solutions to problems, emphasizes common focus upon strengths and weaknesses, and eliminates surprises when formally reviewing performance.
You’d probably be doing many of these processes anyway, just not aimed at assembly into a single file or report for review by all. And this might be the prod you need to increase the quality and perhaps the quantity of customer and employee surveys. A real win for all.