Gaetano: Peak Performance Should Be a Way of Life
2003-12-15 email this article to a friend.
One of the advantages of living in the Gallatin Valley is the area’s ability to attract talented professionals -- people with world-class credentials who leave behind the big city life to raise their families in a Montana lifestyle they’ve come to know and love.
One such person is human resource consultant Phillip Gaetano, president of PeopleGain, Inc., who is moving here in January. Before starting his company four years ago, Gaetano distinguished himself as one of corporate America’s most innovative HR executives, assuming key roles with cutting edge companies like PepsiCo, General Electric, Dun & Bradstreet, Alumax and Sara Lee. Now in great demand as an HR and business development consultant, Phil describes as his “passion” the building of competitive advantage through improved human resources, where HR becomes a profit center that maximizes quality, productivity and customer service excellence.
Phil was kind enough to share with me recently, some of his thoughts and passions on effective HR management, workforce productivity and other topics. The following is the first of two enlightening installments.
RK: Everyone wants their employees to work at peak performance. What are the biggest obstacles to performance, common to small and large firms alike?
GAETANO: There are many causes for employees falling short of peak performance. Time and again I see clients that want top performance from their employees, but they don’t know where to start. Many companies think they should begin by initiating performance reviews. These are well intentioned acts, but more often they hurt performance rather than improve it. One primary obstacle to peak performance is the absence of an effective performance management process (PMP.) I’m not talking about an employee review that happens once or twice a year. What I mean is a process that companies have in place that changes how employees are managed, every day on every activity. The best performing companies make performance management a way of life, not an event. They have processes in place that make it impossible to manage any other way. Their employees are expected to perform at their best every day, and they know it.
In addition, every employee should have meaningful goals and each goal should clearly contribute to the company’s objectives. The term “line of sight” determines how clearly employees can see their actions benefiting the company, and how they are rewarded for their achievements. The clearer the line of sight, the better for everyone. Other factors that contribute to high performance include: consistent and high standards demonstrated by management; using metrics that provide fast, accurate and objective data on key performance indicators; managing employees in a fair and objective way, and ensuring that resources are provided for employees to be successful. And there are some “soft skill” issues such as getting employees committed to excellence, providing effective feedback, and communicating effectively.
RK: We hear a lot about “HR Metrics” – the measuring of employee performance relative to company goals. Why do you feel these are important?
GAETANO: HR Metrics are not new. I have been employing them in businesses for over 20 years, and am a strong advocate for them when used properly. I believe they are becoming more popular because employee related issues are at the forefront of business, and leaders are looking to more analytical ways to quantify employee activities. Unfortunately, like many things, a little knowledge can be dangerous. This field of measurement changes just as business changes, and new metrics are developed to measure key business indicators. What doesn’t change is the reason for using metrics – to get a positive result. HR metrics that increase value in a company are good. But having metrics in place for the sake of measuring is wasteful. The question owners and CEOs should be asking is, “what areas of my business are we improving from this measure? The answer should be simple and clear.
RK: Team-building and positive employee relations are often elusive goals. What do you see as the single most important factor in maintaining a positive, cooperative workplace?
GAETANO: There’s not one answer, but trust is critical. Knowing that you can rely on others is a powerful thing for most people. The best teams are built on trust. Another equally important factor is the ability to succeed. In life, in competitive sports, people want to succeed. There are few things that build self-esteem, teamwork and cooperation like success. But success requires effective planning, good communications and solid leadership.
RK: Is there such as thing as natural leadership? Is a company more likely to recruit leaders or cultivate them?
GAETANO: Yes, I believe some people demonstrate leadership qualities well before they choose their vocation. I coach my son’s sports teams and I see leadership traits in children as young as six years old. But the nature-nurture question may not be as important as placing the right leader in the right role. I have seen people with average leadership capabilities become very successful, while others with great leadership traits fail in a job, then go elsewhere and succeed. The better companies have a balance of developing from within and going outside for leaders. It’s always good to demonstrate to employees that loyalty is rewarded. It’s also good to bring in people from other companies with different ideas. The companies where I have worked are known for developing their industries’ best leaders, but they still go outside to ensure they bring in a fresh perspective .
RK: What are some of the HR management challenges – and opportunities – unique to the small company culture of the Gallatin Valley?
GAETANO: That really depends on an individual company’s goals. In most companies, employee related costs are the largest expense, up to 80 percent of operating budgets. And cost is even more important in smaller companies that have fewer resources. So reducing cost is a huge opportunity. The other thing is that HR management means different things to different people. If you think like me, you look at every process in a company that an employee touches, and you see tremendous opportunity to improve value in the whole organization. HR management involves getting the best quality, service, productivity and value from human assets. That’s a challenge and opportunity in all companies everywhere.
RK: Is the outsourcing of human resource functions more appropriate to large companies or small? How does one know when outsourcing is needed?
GAETANO: It definitely makes sense with small and mid-sized companies, and it’s becoming increasingly popular with large companies. Outsourcing allows company management to focus their energies and resources on their core business and mission, while leaving HR services to HR experts. My rules in determining outsourcing are if someone can make your life easier, consider outsourcing. If someone can do it faster, better and cheaper than you can, definitely outsource.
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