Our impact

Adopting a conversational approach to driving performance

Empowering leaders and employees to have effective performance conversations.

The Challenge

Our client, one of Australia’s leading Universities wanted to move the organisation from a tick-the-box, compliance-based performance management culture to one that embraced authentic performance conversations. Leaders and employees within the University often resisted and avoided the performance conversation, lacking an understanding of their collective roles in managing performance, how to effectively write performance objectives and have a constructive and empowering performance conversation focused on a growth mindset.

To achieve this culture change the University launched a new Performance Management process. To support this launch the University wanted to build awareness of the new process whilst simultaneously building capability in writing performance objectives and having effective performance conversations.

The Approach

LTA was engaged to design a series of face-to-face workshops to be delivered in three stages across the year to coincide with the performance process. The focus would be on understanding the new performance/development process, the importance of an authentic conversation in building performance and engagement and the manager/employee’s role and responsibilities in the process. In addition, capability would be developed in writing effective performance objectives and having effective performance conversations. Skills in coaching, listening, active questioning and giving and receiving feedback were among the core skills to be developed.

The University’s HR team partnered with us across the design process to ensure synergies and alignment to existing systems and cultural nuances.

The Outcome

Feedback from participants was very positive, supported by evaluations which showed a positive shift in manager’s and employee’s knowledge / skill and confidence on every learning objective.

The neuroscience and neuroleadership expertise that we injected into the process supported and contributed to the success of this initiative. In particular, we were able to introduce a different perspective around performance conversations, and how these were, and should be, conducted. The insights and support leaders received empowered them to better manage any emotional reactivity during the conversations. In addition, insights from neuroscience were also used to shape simple reward and recognition strategies which could be used during the process.

Our strong partnership with the client, positioned them strongly to carry the initiative forward internally, embedding it into the fabric of their organisation.