Self-governing companies continue to outperform competitors that rely on other types of performance management, according to Forbes.com. These top-down, command and control executives are sure to ask “how can that be?” How can a company or a business run smoothly and perform beyond the highest expectations without being micromanaged, monitored and coerced. The answer is performance management — which means monitoring employees’ progress, developing their skills, planning for future tasks and rewarding good performance without breathing down their necks at all time.
Keys to Successful Performance Management
- Customer Satisfaction — Self-governing companies that allow their employees the latitude they need will create happy customers. Not only will the employees’ pleasure with their jobs affect how customers perceive the business, but it will drive the staff to go the extra mile for the customers’ benefit. A good way to connect customers to employees is through communication software, which allows employees to chat live with customers, as opposed to automated communication. Customers receive superior service this way, which is key in any successful business.
- High Levels of Resilience — A business with employees who are trusted, loyal and happy will have flexibility and a spirit that isn’t found in those companies where formal authority and inflexible rules and policies reign. The self-governing companies are those that have the positive passion to make the most of a good situation and the tenacity to get them through a tough time.
- Financial Performance — Ground-breaking companies are casting off conventional chains of command and finding that increased financial performance is a pleasing effect of establishing self-governing management systems. It’s logical that if you have happy, productive employees and consistently satisfied customers, your finances will be in the black.
Augmenting the Company’s Roots
A good-will atmosphere is the result of elevated levels of trust in the workplace. Companies that choose to manage performance through self-governance are finding satisfying results. Trusting coworkers to have original ideas and then supporting those ideas through collaboration and brain-storming sets a company up to excel and prosper.
Many factors indicate whether you are succeeding at performance management within your company. Is your business doing well on a day-to-day basis in a seemingly effortless manner? A company that bases its performance management on self-governance with a high-trust factor has employees who enjoy their work because of the freedom they have to do their jobs. They enjoy working together and will remain loyal to the company, making your business run like a well-oiled machine.
Not Quite a Trend…Yet
So we know these businesses exist, but as reported on Forbes, only a small percentage of companies have established a trust-based self-governing work environment. The numbers show that as few as 1 in 30 businesses promote this type of atmosphere.
The trend is shifting, though, with leaders looking for ways to transform their businesses. In some cases, it might be hard to teach an old dog new tricks. But if that new trick involves increasing profits and longevity while boosting creativity, employers are bound to see the value in becoming self-governing.
