How we help improve performance
across frontline and operational teams

We enable first-line managers to identify what their top performers do differently, then embed those behaviours across the wider team.

In most teams, there are a few top performers and a few low performers. But most team members sit in the middle. Our approach lifts the performance of that middle group closer to the level of top performers. We call this ‘moving the middle’.

 

Our 4-Step Approach

Here’s the practical 4-step approach we help clients put in place to ‘move the middle’.

Click a step below to see more details.

  • We’ve found that average team performance can be improved to the level exceeded by the top 25% of team members. We recommend setting this as the performance goal.

    Key activities:

    • Deciding the KPI to be improved.

    • Identifying the input measures that drive that KPI, and how they’ll be tracked.

    • Analysing current performance data and agreeing the performance goal.

  • We'll guide your first-line managers to identify what their top performers do differently.

    Key activities:

    • Using performance data to identify top and average performers.

    • Determining the behavioural differences between those two groups.

    • Deciding who will be responsible for identifying the winning behaviours, and how they’ll be communicated to team members.

    • Establishing how the winning behaviours will be documented and kept up-to-date.

  • We’ll help you put the management routines in place to make the winning behaviours part of business-as-usual across your teams.

    Key activities:

    • Identifying the people management routines first- and second-line managers need to use.

    • Defining how first- and second-line managers will be held accountable for using those routines.

    • Enabling managers to apply the practical techniques required to turn winning behaviours into team habits.

  • Your first-line managers lift the performance of their middle 60-70% of team members, so you achieve your performance goal. We call this ‘moving the middle’.

    Key activity:

    • Working with you as a senior leader to keep implementation on track.

    Our support continues until:

    • The new management routines are embedded as business-as-usual.

    • The winning behaviours become team-wide habits.

    • The performance goal is achieved.

    You’ll typically start to see improvements in performance or productivity from month 3, as first-line managers begin implementing. In most cases, momentum builds through months 4 to 6 as the winning behaviours become embedded across the broader team.

 

Our Performance Promise

We’ll work with you to identify the 1 or 2 KPIs you most want to improve, then set a performance goal for each. Using our approach, you’ll achieve those goals within 6 months — or we’ll keep working with you at no extra cost until you do.

 

Ready to talk?

We work online with clients anywhere. To give clients the level of support and guidance they need, we work with no more than 10 organisations at a time.

If you want to improve performance across your frontline or operational teams, book a call. We’ll discuss your situation, whether our approach is the right fit, and the performance improvement your teams could achieve.

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