Our modern day culture is often obsessed with perfection. Magazine covers are graced by photoshopped professional models and our TV screens are filled with successful eclectics whose wealth is their biggest problem.

Fortunately, perfection is not an attainable goal; the real goal is the path we follow as we strive for peak performance which is the essence of a 'perfect employee'.

It was Vince Lombardi that said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” Considering that the NFL Super Bowl trophy is named after Vince Lombardi, you could say he knew a thing or two about peak performance…

So, what qualities help us along this path to being the ‘perfect employee’? 

What are the 11 P's of Peak Performance?

If obtaining peak performance is our professional goal, then, what exactly are the attributes that we need to be the 'perfect employee'?  Following is the list of benchmark qualities you should strive for on your path:

1. Proficient. Sure, you can’t have all the answers but you know how to dive in or connect with the right people to figure them out. You come to the table with suggestions - not more problems. You are constantly looking at how to improve the process.

2. Proud. You are proud of your work because your efforts are always well thought out, tested and reviewed. You don't rely on others to finish your assignments but ask others to quality check your work to make sure it is always correct.

3. Persistent. We all know to learn from mistakes, but the 'perfect employee' personifies this concept. You admit when you are wrong sooner than later. If you don't know how to do something, you find out how … with no excuses.

4. Passionate. You LOVE what you do and radiate emotion when you talk about your work!  You learn on your own, offer improvements, and share with others what you know.

5. Productive. Your willingness to push up your sleeves and work overtime while not jeopardizing other commitments is renowned. While we all have parts of our jobs that are not favorable, 'perfect employees' realize the goal of those less desirable tasks and get them done.

6. Positive. You exemplify “Can Do!” by accepting that you can always improve, you see challenges as opportunities, and you think about how things can be done instead of complaining about what you can't change (including the past).

7. Professional. You understand that while comradery is important with co-workers and clients, there is a fine line between “fun” and unprofessional “fooling around.” You make sure your work is top notch and your comments will not ever be construed as childish or offensive.

8. Able to keep Promises. You are always thinking about priorities and when the job will be completed in order to deliver in order to keep your promise. You communicate when a conflict arises but still look to deliver on time. You are faithful about deadlines and rarely provide excuses.

9. Punctual. You understand the value of time, yours as well as others. People think “punctual” is your middle name.

10. Able to Promote … others and yourself. You promote great deeds and great work regardless of who completed it. You are always thinking and talking about ways to make the workplace a better environment for your colleagues and services better for clients.

11. Purposeful. Each day has a purpose. You take each day and every action seriously; constantly thinking about what needs to be accomplished and how to generate purposeful results.

HOW to be “perfect” (or close)?

Many of us in Accounting have to wear a dual hat of the HR manager.  Somehow it is assumed that accounting experience qualifies you to manage the HR process.  Why?  Perhaps it is due to the portion of HR that involves risk (employment laws are everywhere) or perhaps it is the crossover between HR and payroll. 

Outside of payroll, there isn’t much crossover between the two jobs. Further blurring the issue, an increasing amount of firms are utilizing third party payroll services.

For the true HR part of the job, we create spreadsheets to track and review timelines and employment metrics.  We struggle to keep track of employee initiatives and job metrics.  Most employee reviews are a reflection of their performance over the last couple months at best as managers often forget successes or failures earlier in the year.  Job descriptions are vague and associated with metrics that are difficult, if not impossible, to measure objectively. Employees are often dissatisfied if they receive a positive or neutral review without an increase in compensation. 

So what is the answer?  We can use our Deltek Vision System to assist us.  

Some items are relatively simple.  Utilize user defined fields to track the next review date and have a scheduled workflow send a reminder to the manager and yourself.  You can set up a user defined grid to allow tracking of an employee’s pay/position history so that it is easy to track the changes through the years.  All of this is helpful, but it really doesn’t solve the full problem.

With the advent of Vision 7.0 and User Defined Info Centers, you can go many steps further.   Utilize a combination of User Defined Info Centers, User Defined fields, standard workflows and scheduled workflows, to set up HR, and review tracking system managed from within your existing Vision system. 

How would something like this work?

You can create a user defined info center to house your employee job descriptions.  These job descriptions can contain the measurable metrics for the job along with overall core competencies.

You then create a “review form” using user defined fields in the employee info center.   A stored procedure will allow you to pull the employee metrics and competencies into the employee review tab.

After the review is complete, results can be stored in Vision and reviewed later. 

Stored procedures can update a tracking grid for the employee so that historical review scores can be seen at a glance.  You can also use grids to provide places for managers to track employee’s progress throughout the year.

User defined fields, grids, workflows & stored procedures - Is all that really necessary?  Not really.  All this can continue to be managed in various worksheets, word documents and calendars. 

The system above simply allows all of the disparate parts of an employee review/compensation/current and long term history to be maintained in one place.  Also, the beauty of using Vision and User Defined elements is the ability to customize your HR procedures to your company needs.  I mean it IS by definition “User Defined”.

So what are some tips for an effective HR process?

Whether you decide to automate your HR, or keep up the use of spreadsheets,  there are some things you can do to make your HR processes more effective:

• Create well defined job descriptions and make them available to employees.
• Within the job descriptions, define the metrics by which employees will be measured.  Ensure the metrics are specific. For example, the Project Managers will ensure work authorizations for every additional service provided to clients.
• Have a well-defined review policy.
• Separate the review schedule from the schedule for raises.  Raises are given, not only on performance, but on budgetary restrictions.  This removes one level of angst from the reviews.
• Provide managers a place to keep track of employee successes and failures.  Allow employees to update their successes and failures also.  This allows the employees to be more active participants in the process.

Has your firm utilized the Custom Info Center? If so, in what ways? Leave us a comment.  Not on Deltek Vision 7.0 yet? See how our firm can help you transition to 7.0.