Organizational Clarity: Performance Guru

In one of my classes we were asked to find a Performance guru someone who revolutionize the industry that they were in, or made such a s huge impact that their contributions were felt on a global scale.  This is an actual entry from that class, please add any questions or points you want to share to this blog post. Please add points or possible solutions to the comments section of this blog entry.
Identify someone you admire--someone who has accomplished something that you'd like to do one day but just haven't been able to pull off. This can be a person who is well known or an unsung hero. The accomplishment should involve factors outside the realm of natural or inherent talent (for example, if you can't carry a tune, don't choose Adele) and in large part due to aspects of performance that can be managed. Tell us about your "Performance Guru" by:

Including a brief bio of this person and a link to a web resource if available
Describe why you selected this person
How this person's performance drove his/her success--add details and specifics where available
How his/her performance relates to the principles of HPT

Although, he is not my first choice, I picked Ray Kroc founder of the McDonald’s System, Inc., that and because of the movie “the Founder” which I have yet to see (The Biography.com, 2017).  Ray Kroc was not the founder of McDonald’s he was merely a milkshake machine salesman that understood the potential of the business and how to franchise it. McDonalds was actually a Barbeque restaurant founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald, he (Kroc) merely took what they started in terms of an assembly line and standardized food portions for the product and applied this laser-like focus to everything else in the restaurant. Kroc became the president of McDonalds in 1955 to 1977 his determination engaged the people around him and underneath him (community of practice) to take McDonald’s from its humble beginnings in San Bernardino and create multimillion dollar corporation that evolved its reach to even larger global force it is today (The Biography.com, 2017).

As my third choice, I like the fact that Kroc saw the methodologies that the McDonald’s brothers had in place, and simply improved on the policies and procedures then applied that singular focus to other areas of the restaurant such as cleanliness and store design (The Biography.com, 2017). This limited the amount of investment and funding planning/decisions that each Franchisee would need to implement. The McDonald’s corporation already forecasts these practices as evident through their product portion sizes, or packaging designs, McDonald’s has with years of experience developed a formula of automation and standardization that allows it to maximize its potential and profits.

Ray Kroc used Strategic planning to direct the organization into franchisees and developed a formula which included not only the franchisees but also the organization’s suppliers; and employees. This allowed a measure of talent management that created “Hamburger University” in which he created a standardized method of management training (Mcdonalds.com, 2017). It also allowed Kroc to push the concept that individually owned franchisees although are their own, singular business, are still united under the McDonald’s organizational umbrella. With employee training, employee, career and organization development being united into one message of organizational commitment that the training at Hamburger U provides Kroc developed a successful business model that is a great example of the principles of HPT (Van Tiem, et al., 2012).

Web bio for Ray Kroc: http://www.biography.com/people/ray-kroc-9369349#synopsis
McDonald’s Web bio for Ray Kroc: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-us/our-history.html

References:
The Biography.com (2017) “Ray Kroc Biography” Biography Retrieved on February 13, 2017 from: http://www.biography.com/people/ray-kroc-9369349#synopsis
Mcdonalds.com (2017) “About us: Our History” McDonalds Corporation Retrieved on February 13, 2017 from: https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-us/our-history.html
Van Tiem, D., Moseley, J. L., & Dessinger, J. C. (2012). Fundamentals of performance improvement: Optimizing results through people, process, and organizations. John Wiley & Sons.

Organization Clarity: HPT in the news

In one of my classes that dealt with HPT we were asked to find a business/organization in the news and discuss how using the HPT Model, what changes or actions we would implement and provide links to the imaginary scenario. This is an actual entry from that class, please add any questions or points you want to share to this blog post. Please add points or possible solutions to the comments section of this blog entry.

The need for performance improvement is universal and permeates just about every aspect of our world. Locate a real-life example of an individual, a group, or an organization that has an issue that the HPT model might address. Look for these problems in current events, web based social media, newspapers, magazines, etc. Post a link to the problem story and add your thoughts about how the HPT model might be applied to find and implement solutions.

I am picking an organization that recently made a huge announcement in the local news yesterday, Caterpillar, which recently announced that it will move its corporate headquarters from Peoria, Il to Chicago, IL.  On NBC News, it was stated that the company would move 300 executive jobs to the city of Chicago, however what this article adds to it is that Caterpillar was scheduled to build a new headquarters in Peoria but that idea was put on the shelve in 2015 (NBCChicago.com, 2017). This would have also added a high numbers of construction jobs in the Peoria area as well. The issue is that the company is enduring its fifth straight year of revenue loss, so to conveniently meet with its global customers (66% of the business) the company has decided that it was easier to move into Chicago (Trotter, 2017). With the two major airports the company believes it will be easier to meet and keep clients with the city’s multiple transportation options.

Caterpillar believes it has a credible option, for both the company, Chicago by opening a new office and transporting 300 employees and also by leaving 12,000 jobs still in Peoria (Trotter, 2017). However, in this case I believe the HPT model if implemented would reflect that the Caterpillar has not done a complete Performance Analysis. In this case, I believe the company needs to reapply or reconsider doing another Environmental Analysis, stating that schmoozing foreign clients in the Peoria area the reason the company is losing money seems strange. I would definitely concentrate on competition since Caterpillar is fighting for its place in a global market.

Plus, I would run another Cause Analysis to check recheck how did this decision to move came about. If Caterpillar believes moving to the city of Chicago is the type of environment which will help the company attract new clientele and strengthen the business relationships of current ones, I am not sure if the data they received was accurate. I would send a lighthearted survey to the organization’s the clientele regarding how much a change in locations would sway their decision to do business with Caterpillar.

Also, I would want to know what type of environmental supports were obviously not available in Peoria that are in Chicago to see if there are relationships and partnerships with the local community now, that were hardly or never utilized and thereby harming the organization. Seeing how the organization which seemingly has no problem with moving out of its Corporate headquarters for more than 50 years, can give one the impression that the organization had a mediocre relationship with the local community. Going on the basis that the area was a negative factor to attracting clients, the organization is thoroughly disengaged with the community of Peoria, but understanding why that happened would also assist in determining how Caterpillar can make appropriate changes to overcome its five-year performance gap in Chicago.

References
Nbcchicago.com (2017) “Caterpillar Moving Global Headquarters to Chicago Area” NBC Universal Media, LLC Jan 31, 2017 http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Caterpillar-Moving-Global-Headquarters-Chicago-412288093.html
Trotter, Greg (2017) “In Peoria, Caterpillar's move feels like 'kick in the gut' Chicago Tribune Jan 31, 2017 Retrieved on January 31, 2017 from: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-caterpillar-peoria-reaction-0201-biz-20170131-story.html

HPI: Burning Questions and Takeaways

In one of my classes that dealt with HPI there were of course a thousand questions regarding the subject however you were only allowed to pick one and discuss what we learned that semester. This is an actual entry from that class, please add any questions or points you want to share to this blog post.

Part 1: Please post your "burning question" from the Module 1 group forum and the answers you found this semester. What aspects of the question are still unclear? How might you continue to learn and gain the knowledge you need after our semester ends?
Part 2: Next tell us your key take aways from our class and how you plan to apply what you have learned.

Part 1-The burning question from the Module one group was:
“One of the burning questions that I have about HPI that I hope to be able to answer is, how to gain or maintain sustainability after a successful intervention? Also another question I have, is how do you hold accountable a sponsor who is interested in a HPI one moment, then loses interests (and the HPI loses support) the next, only to be shocked when the HPI fails?”

I have not found in-depth answers for either of these questions, that I feel are valid and very important to the success of any intervention. Most of the material covered was about what is covered during the intervention, what types of tools used, how to get the sponsor to secure resources, etc., but did not go deep enough. I think that methods like RSVP, Capacity building and implementing for sustainability are great for discussion, but only answer a change in leadership as the most logical factor for a lack of sustainability, but not organizational culture as a deterrent. Even using Mosely and Hasting’s Model stage of institutionalizing it has been my experience does not work with sponsors or CEOs that have the interest in a momentary interest in a program. Even if you use standard evaluations either formative or summative, and have positive results if the sponsor is not interested in the details or wants to jump to another program altogether (that has been my experience) maintaining sustainability or making them accountable is very hard or even impossible.

One key takeaway I took from this class is from an issue I had early in the class with the differences between the Cause Analysis and Root cause analysis. As students we have the option to refer to textbooks and other students for answers. However, in a client’s case, and the advent of google if there is confusion about the difference of the tools the client might feel more empowered to research these terms themselves in order to bridge the gaps of their understanding of the process. This in turn could cause more problems for the professional than create solutions.

In fact, I would also include the issue of many individuals in management who confuse 360-degree feedback and 360 degree appraisals into this group. Knowing this I clearly need to be wary of individuals with this type of “initiative” and have ready clear definitions on hand in case of this possible scenario to set the record straight.

The other takeaway is that these interventions can definitely be used not as tool but as retaliatory options by those in management, against employees that they feel are not meeting a certain standard. Even in cases that the employee is meeting all organizational performance standards, if this employee is not meeting a certain organizational culture these positive interventions can be abused and it is up to professional to inform the sponsors in the organization to implement consequences on these individuals to ensure the success of the program’s implementation.

Job search: what not or who to listen to...

The thing about job searched is that everyone has an opinion on how to do it. It does take a lot of patience and will because there is a lot of rejections that happen between when you start and when you get that final offer. There are a lot of job search sites out there and tons of alerts, keywords, etc to consider. But before that you have to get those individuals who want to tell you how to do a job search out of your head and out of listening range. There the experts, who have great tidbits, to follow and adapt into your own personal style when looking for a job.

However, be careful of those who are looking to sell a book, web site or event, the advice you get is very general to hook you in, but more importantly to buy whatever they are selling. This is not bad at all because there are books out there that are worth it. But if you are unemployed the money to buy the book is non-existent and that book is a pipe dream. At least these are experts that you are looking at and possibly considering whose advice to follow.

Unfortunately, then there are the non-experts: family, friends, coworkers, etc., who want to tell you their two bits on searching for a job. The ones to really throw their opinions into the arena who you really need to watch out for is those who are miserable in their job and who have not looked for a job in months or even years! I cannot tell you how many times I heard "just take anything" or "just walk in there and ask for an application"... yeah. In today's society most organizations require you apply online, or search their job postings online to start the journey in becoming employed. However, for these individuals they become a broken record of "what you need to do" in your job search.

This is one record you do not need to listen too. The outdated misinformation that you do follow from these individuals will derail you from your goal of getting a job in your field or even add more time to your job search/unemployment. That really sucks but these individuals who are looking out for you are really torpedoing your efforts major league. Just say thanks and move on, in the majority of cases it will be easy to identify and easy to disregard. Quickly do so, and move forward because there is a silver lining and great opportunities out there.

Hook up with your peers, professors and other individuals who are currently looking for a job because they may not share all the same interests but these are the groups who will have the best advice for what works and what does not. In fact, they might be able to give you the best advice possible to land the job you want and find it the way you want to do it.

Hook up with your peers, professors and other individuals who are currently looking for a job because they may not share all the same interests but these are the group's who will have the best advice for what works and what does not. In fact, they might be able to give you the best advice possible to land the job you want and find it the way you want to do it.