Avoid the Politics
by Neil I. Clark
People who get results, get noticed. Unfortunately, in any organisation,
there always seems to be someone who will want to bring them down,
or steal their results. It’s a sad fact of life.
Different Performers
Performance, as has been said before, is not dependent upon personality.
Your best salesperson, for instance, may be a totally outgoing and
exuberant individual. On the other hand, they could be a very quiet
achiever who is sometimes not even noticed. They display totally
different personality traits, but they are both top performers in
their jobs.
The danger is, of course, that you can get a non-performer who makes
lots of noise about what they have "achieved". They are
good PR experts. They know what noises to make to get attention.
And these people tend to get noticed simply because they are making "noise",
not because they are actually producing results.
Non-Performer Tactics
1. PR as a Tool
Some people operate on the basis that if they "PR" themselves
enough, they will get noticed and get rewarded. Their attention is
entirely on themselves and they will spend no end of time telling
you how good they are, or how much they have achieved. The game becomes "how
can I present myself in a good light in order to get rewarded",
rather than, "How can I get the results that this job requires."
The top performer is not usually motivated by rewards. They are
motivated by the results they get on the job.
2. Stealing Results
It might be hard to believe, but some non-performers actually go
to the extent of stealing the results of others. They have no actual
results of their own to "crow" about, so they claim (as
theirs) what someone else has done. The theft can be quite blatant,
but is often cleverly masked. One way in which they cover up their
deception is to come in on the tail end of something and then claim
all the glory.
Imagine this: a quite achiever works hard on a project for six months.
They have done all the preparation, all the research, all the building.
But when it comes to the final conclusion, some conniving non-performer
comes along and rapidly positions themselves as involved with it
all along. They then mount a skilful PR campaign with management
to focus all the attention on themselves and what "they have
achieved".
If management is not alert to this ploy, they can be conned into
thinking that the non-performer has done all the work, and therefore
give acknowledgment and rewards to the wrong person.
Performer Motivation
A top performer does not usually do the job in order to receive
rewards and acknowledgment. A true performer is motivated by the
challenge of achieving those results. If a top performer achieves
top results, but gets little reward for their effort (in terms of
verbal approval or bonuses), this is not
usually a problem in itself.
They get their kicks from the overcoming of the obstacles towards
achieving those results.
But it’s another thing entirely when their fine results are
attributed to another who does not deserve them. A top performer’s
results are actually their most treasured
reward. So if someone else
steals their results, the performer feels it — right where
it hurts.
One of the worst things you can do to a top performer is to attribute
their results to another.
- Not acknowledging the performer is usually a non-issue for them.
They are not looking for acknowledgment.
- But acknowledging someone else for what they have achieved can
be an extreme negative.
How do They React?
When a non-performer robs a performer of their hard earned results,
they definitely feel it and will have some sort of response. The
way in which they respond depends upon their personal make-up (their
personality, if you like).
- A very strong and direct performer will make a big fuss and lots
of waves. They will react so strongly that an outsider might
wonder what all the fuss is about. But realise that the performer
has been
stabbed in the back and can be very upset about it. And they
are likely to stop all production in order to right the wrong.
- A quieter, more reticent, performer is more likely to bottle
it all up and not make a fuss. They will be very disappointed,
but may
not express the disappointment is such a volatile manner. But
they have been equally hurt, and are also very
likely to stop production.
Overall Results Go Down
Regardless of how the performer may react to this situation, the
net result is that performance will diminish in that area. If it
really was the top performer who produced the results which are in
dispute, and they are no longer actively pursuing further results,
you can expect the statistics of that area to drop.
If all you have left is the non-performer (who did not, themselves,
actually produce the disputed results), you have no-one who is effectively
operating in that area. It is therefore very important to protect
your performers from this phenomenon.
How Do You Know?
The simple rule is: take a good look at the area and what results
are being produced. Don’t listen to what people tell you they
have achieved, without verifying what they say against results
that you can actually see.
Results are measurable. They are statistical in nature. It’s:-
- How many.
- How much.
- What improved, etc.
If you only listen to what people say they have achieved, you may
get a distorted picture. If you look at what has actually been accomplished
and who actually achieved it, you will get the right answers.
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