The Four Components of Human Performance
The Four Components of Human Performance
There are four key components that need to be in place for people to perform, and for organisations to prosper. What are they and what can we do to ensure they are in place?
by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions 
Performance is about people, and people can be fickle. Organisations are under pressure to do more with less; organisations are becoming flatter which, in turn, is extending the scope and responsibility of managers and leaders, increasing the number of reports and reducing the time that manager and leaders can spend with them.
So what do we need to do to ensure that we have the right building blocks in place so that people can perform effectively and efficiently?
Andrew’s Four Building Blocks
There are four building blocks which form the foundation for performance.
1. Desire to Work – people need to want to work. It is not about just satisfying their monetary or security needs. People want the opportunity to apply their skills and talents, to gain gratification from doing so, and to receive recognition for doing so.
2. Adequate Skills– if people have the desire but lack the necessary skills they will be unable to perform, they will be frustrated, and the organisation will be negatively impacted. Certain skills are essential for success. Employees may already have these skills; they may need to be trained in them, or to develop these skills experientially on the job. At the same time, especially with “knowledge workers”, the necessary skills and expertise may erode or even become obsolete (how many rotary telephone repair people do you know? Or typewrite repair experts?)
3. Right Attitude – if you hire nothing else, hire enthusiasm. Hire energy, hire excitement, and hire passion. These are not teachable. You can teach people your content and the skills required. The adage, “hire for attitude, train for aptitude”, has never been truer.
4. Right Behaviours– if people lack the right behaviours, even though they have the desire to work and the necessary skills, you will find poor performance. How many times have you gone out for a meal, which was excellent, but marred by slovenly, slow or disinterested service? How are you clients experiencing your people? Behaviours have to match the job results expected.
Look at your organisation and ask yourself how are you doing in each of these areas? Are you recruiting people with these four components from which you can build a foundation from which to build high-performance? Are there are weaknesses or gaps in your business, divisions or departments? Are these gaps areas which you can influence or are they areas which are in the domain of the employee?
All four components are required for human performance and measurement, but only some of them can be built by the employer, although all of them can be nurtured by the employer.
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