AT the turn of the century, it is impossible to open a journal or newspaperwithout coming across the term knowledge-worker. Although Drucker coined theterm a few decades ago, it has gained currency in the last decade with thedramatic shift in the nature of work.
Knowledge-workers are an emerging elite - the new means of value-creation.This presents a tremendous challenge to organisations, as they no longercontrol their key assets who walk out of the door every night, taking theintellectual capital of the organisation with them.
Knowledge-workers are people who interpret and apply information to createand provide value-adding solutions. The ability to make sense of complex,ambiguous or incomplete information and make decisions or `informed leaps inthe dark' is key. Investment bankers, lawyers, researchers, journalists,consultants, and doctors are but a few types of people that make up thisgrowing breed of knowledge-workers.
Andersen Consulting's recent study in conjunction with the AustralianGraduate School of Management revealed:
ability to work in fluid and flexible teamsTake the case of management consultants who bring a wealth of experience toa client organisation, owing to their training and past engagements. Eachconsultant typically possesses deep skills in a specific field while havinga broad understanding of other essential areas. Every client engagement isunique and requires consultants to apply their training, experience, andjudgment to synthesise and appropriate solution.
Harnessing these scarce resources is becoming a top priority for anyorganisation that wants to compete in the information age. A study conductedby Andersen Consulting and the Economist Intelligence Unit found that 80 percent executives believed that "the ability to attract and retain the bestpeople" will be the primary force influencing business strategy by the year2010.
Andersen Consulting's integrated performance management framework
Andersen Consulting too has faced the issues of attracting, nurturing andretaining the best people. In line with its vision of building theconsulting firm of the future, it has developed an approach to managing itsknowledge-workers.
The Andersen Consulting performance management framework combines fouressential processes woven into an annual cycle - performance appraisal,promotions, banding and mentoring. The framework is designed to meet theneeds of our organisation, which operates across geographic boundaries,often works with teams assembled and deployed at short notice and supports acombination of client and office-based work.
State-of-the-art tools support this framework globally thereby providingconsistency while retaining flexibility to meet the needs of adiverseworkforce. For instance, the paperless performance appraisal tool(Career MAP Writer) meets the specific needs of all 65,000 personnel, at anylevel, in any function, across the globe!
Performance appraisal
The performance appraisal process focuses on addressing the developmentalneeds of an individual. It serves as the foundation of the performancemanagement framework and documents an individual's strengths, areas forimprovement, contributions, and suggestions for future assignments. Asopposed to traditional assessment methods, the individual's performance ismeasured using "performance factors" - typical job challenges that a personfaces. These require individuals to apply a mix of skills and behaviour toobtain a successful outcome. Examples include "Maximises Team's Performance"or "Analyses and Solves Poorly Defined Problems".
Promotions
Promotion recognises an individual's ability and potential to perform at thenext career level, and serves to motivate people to providing growthopportunities. While the appraisal process measures performance factors atthe individual's current level, the promotion process focuses on assessingperformance factors at the next level. For instance, a factor like "Organiseand Direct Quality Work Efforts" may require an individual at one careerlevel to plan and co-ordinate a team's work to meet commitments. At the nextlevel, it could imply the need to structure and manage projects to meetclient expectations and minimise potential obstacles.
Banding
It is important for the organisation to identify and reward top performers.The banding process is intended to assess the relative contribution andperformance of an individual. A unique feature is factors in an individual'seffort at "Building Best People" in line with Andersen Consulting's corevalues. The output of this process is a merit pay increase, which is alsodriven by the organisation's competitive compensation positioning.
Mentoring
The cornerstone of the performance management framework is mentoringprocess, which provides for friendly and objective feedback to anindividual. This takes place through an annual or mid-year review. Duringthis review, the mentor draws upon performance appraisals, promotion andbanding inputs, to provide a holistic perspective on the individual'sprogression prospects. An important objective of this review is goalsetting. Individuals develop a Professional Development Plan, which includesskill needs, preferences, training, self-development and contributiontowards Building Best People.
The mentoring relationship is designed to give an individual a moreexperienced friend, philosopher and guide. Effective mentoring forms a keyperformance indicator for senior personnel in the organisation.
Summary
The dynamics of the new workforce demand innovative approaches to managingpeople. In the next millennium, integrated performance managementframeworks, like the one described above, will play a pivotal role inenabling organisations to maximise the potential of their knowledge workersand gain competitive advantage.
The author is manager (HR), Andersen Consulting
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.