Admit It: We Aren't Great at Measuring Performance!

Naomi DuCharme, CHST, CPC, CPRC

Integrating Wellness Solutions Founder, Consultant & Coach

[email protected]

We are pretty bad at measuring performance and outcomes, both at work and in our lives. When we haven’t clearly defined what success actually looks like, we tend to measure whatever is easiest to see:

Who looks busy.
Who is physically present.
Who responds the fastest.
Who appears the most disciplined.
Whether something makes us feel better RIGHT NOW.

We are VERY good at accepting what our surface-level senses tell us without stopping to inquire more deeply. I sincerely believe this is part of what drives proximity bias in the workplace. It is also part of what allows grey-area alcohol or drug use to quietly progress in otherwise high-functioning individuals.

When we don’t know what we are actually measuring, appearances and immediate feelings become the measurement, and they can take us pretty far off course.

When Hustle Looks Like Success

Years ago, I worked for a construction company that introduced a new employee recognition program. Being the over-acheiver that I am, I took making this program successful personally so I was looking hard for people to recognize.

Every time I visited one particular jobsite, I noticed an apprentice who was literally hustling everywhere he went. He was drenched in sweat, walking with purpose and bringing a ton of what I perceived to be "energy" to an otherwise ho-hum jobsite.

I decided to submit him for recognition for hustling and keeping the energy high. He received the recognition during the monthly, all-hands safety meeting. As the supervisor read his recognition aloud, I could feel the air get sucked out of the room...

People's eyes went straight to the floor. There was no clapping or patting on the back. My stomach dropped. What just happened?

A senior carpenter I knew and trusted was willing to fill me in.

It turned out the apprentice was running around like a chicken with his head cut off because he was constantly forgetting tools and equipment. He was making so many mistakes that he regularly had to redo work and, in some cases, reorder supplies.

The rest of the crew wanted him off the job, and I had just publicly recognized him for hustling.

I wanted to barf.

The senior carpenter went on to tell me that, as a carpenter over the age of 60, he looked slow, but he didn’t have to hustle like that. He planned his work. He laid out what he needed each day. He kept his tools and equipment immaculate. He got shit right the first time.

As someone who was usually the only woman on the jobsite, I could not believe I had let this happen, that I had made this happen. My intention certainly wasn’t to discriminate, but I was absolutely fooled by my basic human senses. What I saw led me to an assumption: physical hustle and sweat equal success, contribution and dedication.

That happened about 10 years ago, and I will never forget it. That made me the leader that I am today.

I tell this story often because it is such a clear example of how easily we can be fooled. Not because we are bad people, but because we are human.

Our brains see something, assign meaning to it and close the loop.

He is sweating, so he must be working hard.
She is at her desk, so she must be productive.
She speaks confidently, so she must be competent.
He is quiet, so he must not have anything to contribute.

Check the box. Conclusion reached. On to the next thing.

For Workplaces: Undefined Success Creates Bias

The problem in my construction story wasn’t only that I made a bad judgment call, the deeper problem was that I had no meaningful measure of success to reference and this happens in workplaces every single day.

I used visible hustle as a substitute for quality, efficiency, planning, finances, teamwork and contribution.

When organizations, teams and leaders don't clearly defined the outcomes they are trying to achieve, they tend to reward what is easiest to observe.

Visibility becomes productivity, responsiveness becomes commitment, long hours becomes dedication, confidence becomes competence, physical presence becomes proof of contribution.

This is where defining and measuring success becomes a workplace wellbeing issue, and a psychosocial safety and equity issue.

When expectations are vague, employees are forced to guess what their supervisor will reward. Moving targets, unclear roles and inconsistent evaluations create uncertainty and chronic stress. People may feel they have to constantly prove that they are busy, available and committed rather than focusing on doing thoughtful, sustainable and high-quality work.

Unclear measurements also create more room for bias. The person closest to the boss may receive more recognition than the person producing excellent results behind the scenes. The employee who can stay late may appear more dedicated than the employee who has caregiving responsibilities but consistently delivers high-quality work. The extrovert may appear more engaged than the introvert who is actually knocking it out of the park.

That is proximity bias: the unconscious tendency to give better evaluations, opportunities or treatment to people and things that are physically closer or more visible to us.

When success is poorly defined, proximity, personality and performance theater can begin to matter more than actual performance at work and at home. This can lead to toxic environments, poor outcomes, and for the individuals who become really good at performance theater for thier parents and supervisors...they lose sight of who they actually are and what is actually important.

Return-to-Office Mandates Are a Measurement Problem

I have been having this conversation more frequently as organizations implement return-to-office mandates.

A colleague recently told me his company was switching from two remote days per week to full-time work in the office. He asked for my opinion from a workforce wellbeing perspective. (He was looking for what most people are looking for: a broad-brush, sweeping generalization and if you know me, you aren't going to get that and you should run from anyone that does!)

Are remote-work mandates good or bad? Should everyone do it or no one?

Coming up with one sweeping policy or mandate is far easier than doing the actual work of recognizing that every industry, organization, team and individual contributor should have clearly defined measures of success.

It should be reasonably clear whether those outcomes are being met. It should also be clear whether those outcomes require in-person work, can be achieved remotely or depend on some thoughtful combination of the two.

Another person, who has been retired for many years, told me there was no way he would have worked remotely because he never would have received a promotion or climbed the ladder the way he did.

That is the perfect opportunity to talk about proximity bias again! Was he promoted because he produced the best outcomes or because he had a stay at home mom supporting his ability to golf after hours with the boss? (for the record, he is amazing and wicked smart, but I have to ask these questions. He did admit that he sometimes stayed for happy hours and travel that was hardly producing any outcomes or extra connections.)

Did physical access and visibility make his contributions easier for decision-makers to notice? Both were probably true, but without clearly defined measures, we don't really know.

If an organization cannot explain what success looks like without referring to where someone is sitting, how quickly they answer a message or how busy they appear, they may not have a remote-work problem. They may have a performance-management problem.

For Individuals: Autopilot Becomes the Measurement

The same pattern happens in our personal lives. Somewhere along the line, fun or social alcohol and drug use can quietly become stress management and the down-regulation easy button.

We might not ever stop to question whether it is still the best tool for the job.

If the only outcome we are measuring is, “Did this help me feel different for a few hours?” then alcohol may appear to be working perfectly, but what if the outcomes we actually care about are:

How we sleep.
How we feel in the morning.
Our physical and mental health.
Our patience with our families.
Our relationships.
Our confidence.
Our ability to stay present.
Our capacity to build a life we don’t regularly need to escape from.

When we expand the definition of success, we may discover that the tool is not working nearly as well as we originally thought. You might also realize that a behavior you have been defending as helpful is contributing to the very problem you are trying to solve.

This isn’t only about alcohol or drugs. We do it with food, scrolling, overworking, shopping, avoiding difficult conversations and filling every quiet moment with stimulation.

Proximity bias shows up here, too.

We eat and drink shit we know does not support us because it is right there. It stays in our line of sight and our subconscious until reaching for it becomes automatic.

How Do We Do Better?

Start with something you can do today: Question as many of your thoughts as you can before you act.

No big show or production. Just pause after a thought and ask:

Is that true?

How do I know it is true?

What outcome am I actually trying to create?

Is this choice moving me toward that outcome or further away?

Is this contributing to success or simply familiar, visible or immediately available?

Your brain is a wicked-fast machine that helps you jump to conclusions when you sense something because, well, survival. But we aren’t talking about immediate survival here, we are talking about the ways those autopilot shortcuts can lead us down the wrong path at work, in our leadership and in our lives.

The Tougher Work: Define Success

For individuals, this means asking:

What do I actually want my life, health, relationships and leadership to be like?

Which behaviors genuinely support those outcomes?

Am I measuring success by the temporary relief I feel today or by the life I am creating over time?

For workplaces, this means asking:

What outcomes is the organization trying to achieve?

What does the team need to contribute to those outcomes?

What does success look like for each contributing role within the team?

How will we measure quality, contribution and progress?

Do employees have the resources, clarity, autonomy and support required to meet those expectations?

Are we rewarding meaningful outcomes or visibility, proximity, personality and busyness?

If you have ever created a job description, and I don’t mean using the boilerplate template that hasn’t been updated since 2002, you know what I am getting at in these questions.

I mean actually working through the organizational goals, team goals and what you need from that individual contributor. Define what success genuinely look like?

When we fail to define success, we leave a hole. Bias, assumptions and autopilot will happily fill it if we don't.

Your Turn

Hit reply and tell me which side of this conversation you are thinking about:

INDIVIDUAL: What behavior or assumption are you beginning to question?

WORKPLACE: Where is success still too vague in your organization, team or role and what are people using as a substitute for meaningful measurement?

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Naomi DuCharme | [email protected]

Workforce Wellbeing Strategist | Facilitor | Coach

Integrating Wellness Solutions: Where safety, health, and wellbeing aren't one-off programs or initiatives; they're outcomes of well-designed, integrated, human systems.

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