Closing the Performance Gap: How Organizations Build Skills, Systems, and Culture

Performance Gap Analysis

Improving performance across an organization often means taking a close look at what people need to succeed—whether that’s better skills, the right technology, streamlined processes, or a culture that supports the work.

Gaps in Required Knowledge and Skills

A skill gap analysis compares what the organization needs now (or soon) with the skills described in current job roles. When gaps appear, they can often be addressed through targeted training, coaching, mentoring, or by simply updating outdated job descriptions.

For example, an OED initiative might reveal that the organization needs stronger supervisory and managerial talent. In that case, HR may identify high-potential employees and help them build the capabilities required—through hands-on experience, leadership training, or development in areas like communication and relationship management.

Key Activities and Tasks

1. Identify the talent the organization needs. What is essential to meet the overall objectives?

• Make sure job descriptions accurately reflect current and future work requirements. Create new descriptions for roles expected to emerge.

• Clarify performance standards and define how they’ll be measured.

• Compare employees’ current skill sets—both formal and informal—to the competencies needed going forward.

• Identify where gaps exist.

2. Develop existing staff.

• Assess whether current staffing levels are sufficient or whether recruitment is needed.

• Coordinate the hiring and selection process when new talent is required.

• Build workforce development programs that strengthen technical, functional, and behavioral skills needed to deliver results.

3. Build a strong talent pipeline.

• Implement a performance management system that encourages stretch goals.

• Clearly communicate expectations.

• Measure performance regularly and objectively, offering honest, constructive feedback.

• Create coaching and mentoring opportunities, and build internal networks so experienced employees can share knowledge with newer ones.

• Identify key positions that require succession planning—roles critical to strategy or those that take years to master.

Technology Requirements

When technology falls short, performance often follows. Sometimes improving performance simply requires better tools—whether that means investing in new digital solutions that reduce errors or building knowledge management systems that help employees access information quickly and reliably.

Process Requirements

Work processes naturally evolve over time, and not always in the right direction. They may drift away from customer needs, fail to keep up with technological changes, or become tangled with delays, duplication, and conflicting priorities.

To prevent this, processes should be regularly reviewed for efficiency and relevance. When issues surface, the process may need to be redesigned, tested, and relaunched.

Organizational Culture Requirements

As organizations grow or change direction, their culture may no longer support where they want to go. In these cases, cultural transformation becomes essential.

A cultural intervention often includes four major steps:

1. Describe the current culture.

This includes observing the language people use, how leaders make decisions, how communication flows, and what stories, rituals, behaviors, and artifacts define the work environment.
Tools like cultural audits, assessments, and focus groups help identify where the culture supports or conflicts with organizational goals.

For example, in a culture that values customer service, indicators might include how often employees meet customers, how much direct interaction they have, and the level of customer-service-specific training they receive. These indicators can also serve as benchmarks before and after an OED initiative.

2. Identify the aspirational culture.

The OED team explores existing data and interviews key leaders to understand what cultural traits the organization wants to embody.

3. Identify gaps and conflicts.

Leaders must recognize where the current culture falls short of the aspired one. The OED team can help them see how culture influences performance, engagement, and even employer brand.

4. Develop change initiatives.

Cultural change can take many forms, including:

• Coaching or replacing leaders who don’t support or model the desired values.

• Aligning reward and recognition systems with the new behaviors.

• Retiring old symbols or rituals and creating new ones that reflect the desired culture.

• Reinforcing leader behavior that demonstrates the values every day.

Example: Diversity and Inclusion

If an organization publicly commits to diversity but finds its workforce and leadership are still homogenous, the OED strategy may include:

• Redesigning the recruiting process to attract diverse candidates.

• Creating a supportive onboarding program—possibly including peer mentors—to help new hires transition smoothly.

• Making cultural awareness and anti-bias education a prerequisite for moving into supervisory roles.

• Establishing an office dedicated to receiving, investigating, and reporting discrimination-related complaints.