leadership
Securing future success
High performance leadership
Wim Dufourné
cc
I
5
Performance management ensures a level
of open communication between leaders
and their people about mutual expecta-
tions, provides a focus for goal setting and
simplifies the process of collecting results
and providing feedback. Organisations
that excel at performance management
are 40 - 50% more likely to outperform
their competitors
The important aspect of any strategy is
to really have a clear vision of what you
want to achieve, coupled with the ability
to get this vision across to everyone in the
organisation,' Dufoumé says. 'Goals must
be clearly mapped out in action plans for
how to turn vision into reality.'
Thomas Penzkofer, Global Head of
Management Development Rl, explains
how Performance Management can help
Rabobank achieve business objectives.
'Effective performance management is in-
tegrated into our business processes, and
key milestones coincide with Rabobank's
annual planning, reporting and evaluation
structure,' he says. 'But most important,
it's a mindset shift - to raise business
performance overall, managers must be
skilied and confident in having day-to-day
conversations with their people about
what they do and how they do it. In this
way, performance management becomes
integral to how we do business and how
we develop professionally.'
It's not just about "results", however.
Rabobank's performance management
also measures people's behaviour around
Rabobank's Core Competencies of Focus
on Results, Cooperation and Customer
Satisfaction. 'Performance Management is
the mother of all management processes
and measures the quality and potential
of our people, and helps them adopt
and live the values of our organisation,'
Dufourné says.
A cornerstone of the performance
management strategy is the Leadership
for High Performance Programme. The
programme strengthens Rabobank's
competitive edge by giving structure
and substance to the way leaders
communicate with their teams, drive
for performance and develop talent. It
builds leadership skills, provides tools
for talent development and coaching
and equips staff to manage organisa-
tional change.
'By showing leaders how to recognise
the potential and talents of their team
members,' Dufourné says, 'the pro
gramme enables leaders to identify high
performers with ambition, potential and
mobility and is therefore a cornerstone
for management development.'
Development Dimensions International
(DDI), global specialists in leadership
development, worked closely with
Rabobank to develop the Leadership
for High Performance Programme. 'DDI
has extensive experience in delivering
leadership training to the financial serv
ices sector,' Penzkofer says, 'they are our
partner of choice for the development
