Another useful window analysis is mapping staff where productivity of the employee is compared to the maintenance the employee requires from management. You can think of maintenance as the amount of management time needed for the employee or the amount of attention the employee demands. Productivity is the desired output of the employee measured as quantity, quality, or both. With window analysis, these factors are measured with a simple relative high or low metric. Together they represent a classic cost-benefit analysis, or CBA window, but applied to your staff. The cost is maintenance, the benefit is productivity.
In the low maintenance/high productivity window pane is the dream employee. They are likely the same core staff described in the Hammerstein window - but not necessarily. Hammerstein speaks to work-ethic - an inherent trait in the employee - but here, maintenance is measured as effort supplied by you, the supervisor.
The high maintenance/low productivity pane describes the employee that needs to be drummed out of you organization or are on the path of self destruction. You need to make book on their behavior early, or better yet, use what little productivity they have to get them to self-document their problems. When it comes time to drop the axe, you simply print out their file and present it to human resources.
The low/low's are your morale killers; never making enough of a problem to get taken out and barely doing anything at all. This group gets nothing but simple routine assignments. Your dream employees can help you break the work down into the smaller tasks that you will assign to this grumbling mass.
The high/high's are the "Dirty Harry's". They walk a thin line, often cross it, and are constantly getting into trouble. They are hard to control and very effective, but - wow, do they leave a mess behind! When possible, give some of the clean up work to the self-destructor. It will likely set them off into another round of self-documenting their awful performance.
Some say you should team your dream employees with your morale killers - hoping that these low productivity types will be inspired by the higher productivity stars. I think that is a good way to drag down your dream employees and turn your morale killers into the higher maintenance version of their low productivity selves. Let your dream employees run free of such hindrances. In fact, rarely is it a good idea to team any of these groups. It is best to keep them compartmentalized until you can reform them one-by-one and let them join the ranks of the dream team, move on, blow up, or fade away.
Whether it is productivity, skill level, maintenance, or willingness being analyzed - your job as a supervisor depends on your power to obtain a high performing team. Your ability to attract and retain good people will require more than staffing analysis. You need the tools to motivate and coach the staff you have, as well as the resources and support to make changes when motivation and coaching are not enough.
Window analysis can provide valuable insights with their analytical mashups. What key attributes, in a window analysis, illuminate your core challenges?
-AR
© Aron Ruthe, 2014