Ultimate Performance: Measuring Human Resources at Work

Correlating Performance and Goals

A company without a mission is like a ship without a compass; whether the captain turns left or right, he must know in which direction his craft is sailing. Even with the sail (technology) in place and the sailors working diligently, without a mapped course the ship will not swiftly reach any desired destination.

Likewise, without a destination in mind, a company can be easily blown off-course by customer budget and staffing concerns. The fundamentals of performance are missions and objectives. Having departmental missions and objectives that correlate with the company-wide mission helps assure that the practices remain focused.

Similarly, the performance of the individual correlates with the performance of the entire organization, just as acquiring a baseball player with high stats will not improve the team’s record if the rest of the players are not training or reaching their potential. A team must be able to work closely together to accomplish their goals.

It’s not just the top performers that are essential for company-wide success. For example, Barry Bonds is arguably one of the greatest home run hitters of all time, but the San Francisco Giants are not a perennial powerhouse like the Yankees. Individual employees need to have clear work objectives, which are based on their departmental and company-wide mission. The metrics by which they are measured should both fit into their individual performance measures and directly relate to the broader ...