If your employees can say these things about their work, you've got a high performing team:

• "My job fits me so well, often work is play."
• "My work is a natural expression of my talents and personality." 
• "I don't have to pretend to be someone else at work."
• "My job rewards my most important values and allows me to fulfill my goals in terms of personal growth, achievement, income and stability."

If these statements are not true for your team - here' s why and what you can do about it:   

First - realize that this belief, often unconscious, is NOT true: " Most people can do most jobs if they just try and work really hard."  This subtle, and completely FALSE idea, is one reason why leaders put the wrong people in the wrong roles, causing low productivity, frustration and costly turnover.

The TRUTH is that high performance requires JOB FIT. Job Fit is when you have a strong MATCH between what the job needs and an employee's greatest strengths.

Also, when leaders assume that someone is a 'sure thing' because they've worked at Microsoft or they have a degree from Harvard - or any other big name company, school or impressive resume item - poor hiring decisions can happen; that's because people are so much MORE than just their background and experience.
 
While background and experience does matter, communication strengths, motivations and interests, personal skills and cultural fit, matter more.  Research tells us that when a person's work is a closely aligned to ALL of who they are, they're SIX times more likely to be committed to the work and 44% more productive.

When someone's background looks great, leaders often stop critically assessing whether the candidate is truly a fit for the job. They make the hire and then, six months later, they're stuck with someone with a fancy degree who's failing.
EXAMPLE: This area isn't visible in the interview but it impacts performance. He's missing deadlines and blaming others.  He has 'faulty spark plugs' in these areas: personal accountability, self management, teamwork and goal achievement. 

GAS IN THE TANK - Is the gas tank is empty or full? EXAMPLE: She can do the job, but doesn't WANT to. The job rewards process, order and structure, and she's never seen a rule she didn't want to break.  She hates the job. Her performance is inconsistent.

• THREE HIRING TOOLS: 
  -Use these "Under the Hood" interview questions .
  -Do this in interviews: Talk Less and Listen More.
  -Use the Superior Performance Assessment Process to measure job fit.

• COACHING SERVICES:
  -For Low Performers: We pinpoint specific gap areas to determine exactly where the performance challenge is by using the Job Fit Analogy, the TriMetrixHD assessment, short-term phone coaching and targeted development tools, for fast improvement.  
  -For Succession Development and Retention: Use our coaching process to build bench strength by targeting development areas based upon present or future job needs.
  - An Overview of Our Coaching Process