A recent study conducted by industrial psychologists summarized the attitudes of over 200,000 employees toward their companies.  The results showed that:

•  Most felt the difference in pay between supervisors and those supervised was too great.
•  Sixty percent lacked confidence in their company's future.
•  Most felt they had too little to say about decisions that affected their future.
•  A majority resented the way layoffs were handled.
•  More than half took a dim view of their workplace and their company.
•  Almost half questioned the integrity of management.

A Personal Performance Contract (PPC) is a written agreement between an employee and his or her manager that records accomplishments to be achieved within a specific time period.  Accomplishments should benefit both the employee and the organization as a whole.

Steps for Constructing a Personal Performance Contract

There are six basic steps for constructing a personal performance agreement:

1.    Carefully conduct an analysis of the job to determine the most important needs that are to be satisfied.
2.    Prepare highest priority objectives that are vital to the success of the job.
3.    Develop an action plan that specifies who will be doing what by when.
4.    Prepare a time and cost schedule to measure the financial impact of achieving the action plan.
5.    Include self-development as an important part of the agreement.
6.    Conduct regular reviews to make sure that progress is being made and that expectations are being met.

Preparing and implementing a personal performance contract requires commitment and knowledge of the function and purpose of this instrument.

Benefits of a Personal Performance Contract

There are six main benefits of a PPC:

1.    It provides an opportunity to see the job from the viewpoint of both the employee and the supervisor.
2.    It is a method for agreeing upon needs and priorities of the job in relation to their function in the organization.
3.    It is a vehicle for keeping focused on objectives.
4.    It helps the employee to see his or her role in the “big picture” and to better understand organizational changes.
5.    It helps the employee to keep focused on problems and obstacles that need solutions.
6     It establishes accountability for action, that is,  who will do what by when?

Defining Job Success

By completing the following statements an employee can, in his or her own words, define job success and begin the process of preparing a personal performance contract:

• A successful employee is one who:
• Success for me personally means:
• Success in my job depends on my ability to:
• My formula for achieving success is:

Evaluating Employee Strengths

The employee’s next step, after defining success on the job, is to evaluate his strengths.  These could include: 

• Aspects of the job that are most enjoyable
• Clearly defined growth objectives
• Understanding how his contributions are valued by the employer
• Willingness to accept accountability and responsibility for his actions and decisions
• What he has learned from past mistakes and failures to avoid in the future
• Knowledge and experience on the job

The first step in preparing a Personal Performance Contract is to complete a job analysis worksheet.  This worksheet includes: 

• Facts and information affecting job performance, 
• Purpose of the job, 
• Responsibilities of the job,
• When and under what circumstances the job performance should be presented

Some jobs are more difficult to measure than others, but none are impossible to measure.  It is accomplished by breaking the job down into distinct job parts called “key result areas.”  Key result areas are not goals; they are areas of responsibilities from which specific goals can be prepared.

Creating Commitment

Many experts believe a major reason for the decline in the “work ethic” is that many employees feel their jobs are boring or dehumanizing.  Others take less pride in what they do because they consider their work unfulfilling.  Personal Performance Contracts can be a major step in overcoming these problems. 

If you would like more information on how to implement this excellent business tool in your organization, e-mail your request to PPC@clean-pro-industries.com.

For more information on the CPI Business Development Program go to clean-pro-industries.com and click on “Business Development Program.”

Good success in all your business endeavors.

Forrest L. Farmer
Publisher and Consultant
CPI Business Development Division of 
Clean-Pro Industries, Inc.
 

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