Why attainment is greater than average

Overview

Our increasingly value-centric world continues to demand that we look beyond the basic use of Averages to that of Attainment when managing performance. Average, as we know, is about getting above a line, even if it is just a few bright stars eclipsing everything else. Now consider if we to suddenly lose a few of those stars or just the brightest one, what would happen to overall performance, how long would it take to recover, and what would it say about our foundations? This is where we see the value of Attainment as a metric. It forces inward accountability from the outset and especially in the ways below.

Attainment Reflects Complete Performance

Technically, a group can meet its target with only half of its members achieving. However, the attainment score would only be 50%, which would be failing or mediocre on most scoring systems. This means that if two teams meet their targets, the team with more of its members achieving would be better performing and reflect stronger leadership. The higher attainment team would also be better able to absorb promotions and turnovers because it is more than a team with stars but a team that can produce top performers.

Attainment Embraces Continuous Improvement

Under the attainment culture, the leader with 50% attainment will need to implement development plans for the team members who are not achieving because they cannot be ignored. Also, the 50% meeting will need their own development plans to ensure they do not drop off due to the leader’s broadened focus. Whereas this may not cause significant improvements in the already high average performance, it is firming up the foundations by doing two main things. Firstly, it tests the leader’s ability to create top performers, which is crucial as turnover will happen, and performance should have stability. More importantly, it lessens sub-standard performance and its knock-on effects seen in rework, customer churn, and employee dissatisfaction.

Attainment Fosters the Köhler effect

A phenomenon that occurs when a person works harder as a member of a group than when working alone.

https://www.britannica.com/science/Kohler-effect

This culture of looking at each team member individually is an ideal breeding ground for the Köhler effect to thrive. As underachieving team members get the extra attention and sense the social comparison, and not wanting to be considered a weak link, they start performing closer to their full potential. This causes an increase in their motivation and receptiveness to coaching and development and energizes them toward accomplishing their goals. Interestingly, once they have experienced high performance and its trappings, they are more likely to continue at that level, adding to attainment and enhancing performance stability.

All in All

Averages will still have a place in how we operate, but to add competitive value to employees, clients, shareholders, and other stakeholders, we must look to or include attainment. The risk of having up to half of a team’s potential not being tapped is probably too great. So, let us take the attainment challenge and see where were stand. We won’t regret it in the long term.