The Performance Challenge [Paperback]

Jerry Gilley (Author), Nathaniel W. Boughton (Author), Ann Maycunich (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0738201618 | ISBN-13: 978-0738201610 | Publication Date: December 15, 1999

Businesses of all shapes and sizes constantly struggle to balance the immediate demands of the market and shareholders against the cost of investing internally in the long-term development of their employees. And though many organizations draw up eloquent mission statements and proudly proclaim that ”our people are our greatest asset,” in practice they fail to make the commitment to employees in favor of meeting short-term goals. The net result is a failure to achieve a consistently high level of performance.In The Performance Challenge, Jerry W. Gilley, Nathaniel W. Boughton, and Ann Maycunich draw from their extensive research, teaching, and consulting experience to present a comprehensive approach to performance management that will help executives in any organization lear to establish a dynamic balance among people, processes, and strategic objectives. The cornerstone of this approach is the Performance Alignment Model, which consists of seven separate but interrelated steps: conducting stakeholder valuation improving job design establishing synergistic relationships applying performance coaching conducting developmental evaluations creating performance growth and development plans linking compensation and rewards to performance growth and development As executives learn to apply these principles simultaneously, they can pinpoint obstacles to performance improvement and create an environment that successfully assesses stakeholder needs and expectations; links employees’ tasks and responsibilities directly to the company’s strategic goals and objectives; provides opportunities for mentoring, skills development, and feedback to enhance performance; and rewards employees for entrepreneurship, leadership, teamwork, creativity, and loyalty. In the process, managers take on new roles as coaches, trainers, and counselors, while corporate leaders reward those who contribute to collaborative, creative problem solving.Ultimately, The Performance Challenge outlines a vision of a new type of corporate structure—the ”developmental” organization—defined by its abilities to enhance the collective talent of its employees for the purposes of better serving its customers and shareholders.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jerry W. Gilley is an associate professor in organizational and human resource development at Iowa State University and was formerly the director of organizational and executive development for William M. Mercer, Inc. He lives in Ames, Iowa.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (December 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738201618
• ISBN-13: 978-0738201610
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,557,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good concepts and well written!, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Performance Challenge: Developing Management Systems to Make Employees Your Organization's Greatest Asset (Hardcover)

The performance coaching model is meaty, yet presented in a very accessible manner. Many companies don't take the job of performance measurement, standards, and feedback seriously enough, which hampers performance. Gilley offers practical tips on making the performance appraisal process more effective. Well worth the time.

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging Everyday Employees, November 5, 2007

By 

Dennis DeWilde "The Performance Connection" (Cleveland area, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Performance Challenge (Paperback)

The performance challenge is to develop management systems that make employees the organization's greatest asset. The answer is a performance aligning process to transform everyday employees into high performers thru a 7-step methodology according to the authors of this self-defined organizational effectiveness book. The first two steps are the duty of the organization, while the last five are a joint manager/employee responsibility. Together these steps avoid a piecemeal approach to meeting the corporate performance challenge. The seven separate but interrelated steps, each covered in a separate chapter's discussion, are as follows:

Step 1: Conducting Stakeholder Valuation
Step 2: Improving Job Design
Step 3: Establishing Synergistic Relationships
Step 4: Applying Performance Coaching
Step 5: Conducting Developmental Evaluations
Step 6: Creating Performance Growth and Development Plans
Step 7: Linking compensation and Rewards to Performance Growth and Development

But, the authors then tell us that regardless of the use of these or any other performance improvement steps, organizations are doomed without effective leadership. So in Chapter 9 effective leadership is described as someone skilled at; critical reflection, strategic thinking, interpersonal interactions, and performance-enhancement.

However, if employee transformation and effective leadership are not enough to meet more complex performance challenges, then it may be necessary to transform from work groups to virtual teams to generate collaborative solutions. The need and process for this strategy is discussed in Chapter 10.

As you can see, meeting the performance challenge is not as simple as it started out to be, and in the end, the book moves beyond even these three strategies to consider the next evolutionary step in organizational philosophy, what the authors call a "developmental organization". Today, even the strategies described in the book for the "developmental organization" are being seen as `not enough' to meet the performance challenge, and progressive organizations are looking at relational management concepts to mesh the individual's need for purpose, identity, and accountability with the organizations performance vision. This meshing of individual and business needs holds the possibility to truly make people an organization's greatest asset.

Dennis DeWilde, author of "The Performance Connection"