Business Performance Assessment Program Best Practice 4 – Random, Unannounced Inspections

It’s perfectly natural and expected that individuals want to do a good job and be recognized for it or at a minimum want to do a good enough job to avoid what are to them undesired consequences. Subsequently, people look to what their superiors communicate as required job performance to gag the level and timing of their efforts.[wcm_restrict plans=”47746, 25542, 25653″]

Irrespective of the specific performance standard, routine performance measurement timing often drives undesired behaviors. This frequently overlooked performance driver is itself a performance standard, one that indicates the narrow time frame within which performance matters. Individuals tend to heighten their performance during this short measurement period when ‘it really matters’ and relax their efforts during other times. Random, unannounced inspections help overcome this performance decline phenomenon.

Random, unannounced inspections help keep an organization’s members operating near peak performance on a continuous basis. To receive the greatest benefit from these inspections without overly stressing employees, consider the following principles when implementing a random inspection process:

1. random, unannounced inspections are conducted within all organizational business units and workgroups
2. inspections focus on activities and processes critical to mission performance
3. an unannounced inspection frequency should be established relative to the immediately preceding formal or random inspection of that area. This frequency should allow enough time for the evaluated organization or individual to implement and realize results from corrective actions coming out of the preceding inspection but not be so long as to allow for a lax in performance
4. organizations to be inspected are made aware of the unannounced inspections no earlier than reasonably needed to gather required records and schedule personnel interviews and observations without significantly impacting business operations
5. unannounced inspections evaluate performance more broadly and deeply than the few performance measures covering the applicable activity or process
6. random, unannounced inspections follow the same evaluation process as formal, scheduled inspections including data gathering and evaluation, briefings, reports, and follow-up actions
7. inspection outcomes contribute to organizational and individual performance evaluations in a manner similar to that of scheduled inspections and routinely maintained performance measures

Final Thought…

Fundamentally, managers should expect individuals to perform such that they are not afraid to have the boss look at their work or know what they are doing at work. Those individuals adhering to this standard by doing their very best at work will always be inspection ready.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember plans=”47746, 25542, 25653″]

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