Page 239 - Performance Leadership

228 • Part IV Implementing the Performance Leadership Framework

and will not lead to the intended results. But the overall strategic direc-
tion should be known to, and understood by, all within the company and
all other stakeholders. Otherwise it cannot be made actionable.

Reciprocity
Next to sharing information in order to collaborate better on a day-to-day
basis, the relationship needs to be managed. Key performance indicators
are needed, but they should not be focused on how to optimize the orga-
nization’s own performance only. Sharing the same top-down metrics
the organization had before, but with a wider audience of stakeholders,
doesn’t make sense. Performance indicators should be reciprocal, show-
ing what the stakeholder adds to the organization’s performance and how
the organization contributes to its stakeholders’ performance.
A huge contribution to managing stakeholder relationships comes
8
from a methodology called the performance prism. One of the key mes-
sages of the performance prism is that stakeholders have requirements
and offer contributions. This methodology describes in great detail,
among other things, what stakeholders could (and perhaps should)
expect from each other. With this in mind, it triggers the right strate-
gic, planned discussion. The requirements of different stakeholders, or
the requirements between a single stakeholder and the organization,
may not align, or may produce some tension, or may even be con-
flicting. Without realizing this, we may act on assumptions or, worse,
we may be ignorant of these needs. By understanding these objectives,
we can find a solution to reconcile these differences, which probably
will lead to much smarter solutions than optimizing a single set of
objectives. Figure 12.4 and Table 12.4 provide an overview of an orga-
nization’s stakeholders and their needs, according to the performance
prism methodology.
Figure 12.4 clearly shows how customer/supplier relationships are the
basis of all value creation in the performance network. The suppliers of
an organization view that organization as a client, while the organization
itself has its own clients. Organizations are looking for profit, growth,
favorable opinions, and trust downstream in the value chain.They are
also looking for fast, cheap, and easy products and services upstream in
the value chain. Other stakeholders, such as employees, the community,