The 3Cs of success and performance dimensions

In a typical corporate set up, it is believed that in case of any talent management initiative,3 factors called 3 Cs need to be considered:

Competence 

Commitment 

Context

Competence is the ability to perform the prescribed task in the most effective manner. So, if the employee has right skills to perform his KRAs, he can be considered as competent. He has the ability to perform his role. Ability can be evaluated both in terms of the performance and the potential. Mc Kinsey has given 9 box model for talent management to differentiate employees on the basis of their performance and potential. Talent management initiatives like training and development, performance appraisals, succession planning, workforce planning can be executed based on the 9- box model. Employees are differentiated into 3 types based on their performance:

-Star Performers

-Solid citizens 

-Misfits

Mostly, it follows 70:20:10 ratio for solid citizens, star performers and misfits respectively. However, it may vary depending on where the organization stands w.r.t the growth curve.

Commitment is the drive or motivation to complete the task successfully. Usually, it is observed that committed employees not just perform well in their assignments but they work towards the larger goal for organization's long- term vision. But commitment is never a permanent asset. Organizations must strive hard in their engagement initiatives to keep the employees motivated. 

The third C is the context of the employee. To measure success one must not forget the work related factors. Work related factors can be divided into 2 types:

-Work content factors 

-Work context factors 

Both need to be evaluated to keep the employees motivated. Work content factors are related to the job profile. Lets consider few points:

-Is the assignment challenging?

-Is it giving me the opportunity to sharpen my skills?

- Is it giving me the opportunity to learn new skills?

- Is it useful in my long term plan and aligning with my long term goals?

Similarly, lets ponder on the work context factors:

- Office environment 

-Flexibility 

-Work culture 

-Job location

-Training sessions

In any talent development initiative, due consideration should be given to these two factors. In a recent survey, it was decoded that engaged employees give 2.5 times better results as compared to disengaged employees. 

So, what influences performance?

The next aspect is performance dimensions. Keeping others constant, performance is a result of the ability (competence) and motivation (commitment).The long standing belief that ability and motivation have multiplicative effects on performance. 

i.e. Performance =f(Ability × Motivation ) is basically a conceptual model. Multiplicative model is non compensatory and predicts that when individuals possess little motivation, the performance will be poor despite cognitive ability. Number of direct tests to prove this model are surprisingly low but the idea seems to be psychologically and logically convincing. Recent meta-analytics studies conducted by Chad et al has strongly suggested for additive model in which effects are largely independent and compensatory. The findings have serious implications on how we build strategies for our Talent management frameworks, particularly in hiring process .As the variables - ability and motivation ,are largely independent, organizations must measure both the variables of candidates and  employees to predict future performance. Similarly, findings suggest that ability is more important to performance during training and induction but long- term impact will largely depend on the differential the organization and role emphasizes. e.g.. in a leadership role high level of motivation is needed to effectively manage teams. If outcomes are more strategically significant like in sales ,organizations should focus on the ability.

Devika Anand