Measuring Climate – Measuring Performance!
Climate – ‘how does it feel to work around here’ – can account for 70% of overall team performance and is the biggest single factor in driving performance. Team Climate is predominantly the result of the team leader's behaviour towards their team, and up to 70% of the climate is the result of leadership behaviour, or the specific management style of a team’s leader. Think back to your performance at school. How much of your performance in one subject versus another was the result of your innate intelligence, and how much was the result of the relationship you had with the teacher? Great teachers bring out the best in us, just as great leaders do in the workplace or great coaches on the sports field. Not surprisingly, poor teachers, leaders and coaches do the opposite.
Measuring climate within teams and organisations is a critical enabler to achieving clarity and focusing effort on the areas that really matter. The results help leaders and team members to review how the team is currently operating, recognising strengths and weaknesses and determining how to overcome the challenges and barriers they may face to maximize potential. This ensures both efficient training spend and effective development, in the right areas. It can also show clear ROI with training and development intervention where the improved climate, improves performance and thereon, output.
The Performance Climate Survey® (PCS®) is a unique and powerful system which helps teams to diagnose and focus their attention on the critical factors impacting overall team performance. Written and developed by Performance First it has been deployed globally by large and small organisations alike, helping them better understand and improve performance.
PCS® has been built on the foundations of robust research (*McClelland et al 1985) that focused on the link between the climate in which people work, their level of attainment or performance, and the factors impacting this performance.
Just like the weather, the climate of a team changes over time. Whereas some teams exist in a happy and productive climate much of the time, others are more challenging. The climates that do not ‘feel right’ can be stressful and unhappy places to be. In the worst cases, these 'toxic' climates are characterised by high levels of sickness, absenteeism, staff turnover and stress-related illnesses. In teams where the climate is positive and productive, a much higher level of performance is observed.
Whichever position teams are in, by breaking down the climate into identifiable and actionable areas, you can improve it. By recognising the tone set by leaders, you can understand the impact and address issues of mindset, attitude, training and capability.
Making diagnostic testing of your leaders, people and teams part of your normal business activity can have a profound effect in developing an open dialogue, identifying where it’s going well, where it’s not, and take the necessary steps forward to improve.
Michael Payne
Director
*McCLelland DC (1985) Motivation and organizational climate, Harvard Business School Press, Boston
Many companies wish you season's greetings or an ecard. At Performance First we like to put your performance first and give you something meaningful.
To that end we would like to offer a free trial of the Performance Climate Survey for each of the 12 days of Christmas. This will be for up to 3 of your teams and be on a first come first served basis.
So if you are serious about improving performance contact annelise@performancefirst.com quoting ’12 Days of Christmas PCS’
