“Before Shadowmatch we attempted to recover sub optimal performers by focusing on the delivery of the outputs. The behavioural aspect of performance was poorly managed – if at all. With Shadowmatch, we can recover poorer performers on a behavioural level. After behaviour based performance discussions with all my staff, I now realize that behaviour accounts for most of the lack of performance.”- Sports Administration and Management Department – One of the top three Universities of South Africa
Recovering Sub Optimal Performers Behaviourally
Through Shadowmatch, this University Sports Administration department has a clear map of the behaviours of their top performers, their approach towards the job, their efficiencies in doing the work as well as the intellectual content necessary to succeed. They could assess sub optimal performance from a behavioural based viewpoint and embark upon behaviour based development programs to recover performance.
Customer Background:
The university sports administration department is responsible for administering the entire sport related infrastructure (playing fields, stadiums, courts, equipment and such). They set up and maintain student committees to jointly run the sport, manage sports related bursaries including the donors, identify and grow talent and keep the sporting discipline live and well within the University and greater community. It is a tough and demanding job. Some administrators succeed, some do okay and some really struggle. It is imperative that all succeed.
Why Shadowmatch?
The head of the Sports Administration department was looking for a way to help his people to achieve greater and more consistent success. “I was looking for something that could satisfactorily explain why some of my administrators succeeded and why some really struggled. I believed it was linked to what they were doing out there, but I didn’t have the luxury of knowing exactly what they were doing out there. So I knew very little. I just knew when things were not fully working. All I really had to go on was how they worked with me and the results they delivered. And my conversations to date to recover performance had not been working. I had to find a better way and I had none. That is, until Shadowmatch.”
Shadowmatch’s Contribution
“After all my administrators completed their Shadowmatch worksheets and we had setup the benchmarks, I suddenly had clear insight into my people’s behaviours – what they were doing. What’s more, Shadowmatch rank ordered my people’s performance relative to the top performers with a score of how I would most probably rate the individual’s performance relative to my best performers. It is a score out of 10 ranging from 0 to 10 in increments of 1. You can think of it as a percentage score: 0% to 100% – I was shocked. I couldn’t argue with the results. I began to appreciate the extent to which measurable behaviours contribute to performance and a lack thereof. With the visual tools we could identify immediate behavioural reasons for a lack of performance. We held half-hour behavior performance discussions with all my staff. It was amazing how positive the whole process was. The discussions were a pleasure. They were focused and meaningful, providing people with an immediate way forward and a structured program to help them develop the behaviour habits necessary to succeed on the job.”
Author: Guy Krige