Performance management – are your processes fit for purpose?

There’s no doubt that technological developments are driving some of the advances inthe way organisations monitor and manage the performance of their people – butnew insights from neuroscience are also helping to pave the way for more sophisticatedapproaches.

A recent article in the journal Strategy and Business questions whether some traditionalforms of performance management (particularly systems which rate or rank people)are actually demotivating and potentially damaging.

The authors suggest there are two fundamental problems. Firstly, if people feel they arebeing measured or compared with others it provokes a ‘fight or flight’ brain response,which gets in the way of the reflective and considered dialogue that makes aperformance management conversation truly effective.

Secondly, performance management systems can inadvertently lead to a ‘fixed’mindset (the idea that intelligence and talent are set at birth and we can’t changethem) rather than a ‘growth’ mindset (where we believe we have the ability to learn,develop and grow).

So what can HR practitioners do to make their performance management processesmore motivational and in particular, more developmental?

Feedback is for life, not just for Christmas. In other words, if you want to stimulate a realstep-change in people’s performance, you need to supplement the formal annualreview with regular performance conversations. It’s about giving on-going feedback atkey stages (perhaps after a project or important piece of work has been completed) andperhaps widening the feedback circle when appropriate to include clients andcolleagues.

Make feedback an ongoing process

This can be done formally through 360 degree processes or simply by encouraging theindividual to ask people ‘how it was for them’. Talented people are hungry for feedback(in a recent CIPD survey 81 per cent said they valued feedback and recognition), sodon’t shy away from it.

Celebrate successes

All too often, performance reviews focus on what went wrong, where people’sweaknesses lie and what they need to do to get better. A more effective approach is toturn the appraisal on its head and focus on what achievements have been made,what’s going really well and how the individual can do more of it. That doesn’t meanbrushing poor performance under the carpet or ignoring important skills gaps. It’s aboutmaking the whole performance management process less ‘remedial’ and focusing onthe positives rather than the negatives.

Performance management conversations provide a forum where the manager andtheir direct report can work together to set goals. It helps to establish clarity aboutwhat’s expected, eliminates misunderstandings about what is and isn’t important, andensures people are focusing their attention on work that is aligned to corporatepriorities.

Focus on the future

This ‘forward looking’ approach is much more useful than the more conventional‘looking back at the past year’ that tends to happen in appraisals. It means people arefocused on what the organisation needs them to do right now and managers can bemore agile, adjusting individual or team goals if corporate priorities suddenly change.

In a recent CIPD survey, only 39 per cent of people felt their organisation’sperformance management process was ‘fair’. This is hardly surprising. In manycompanies processes are applied inconsistently and depend greatly on whether linemanagers regard performance management as a useful tool or a ‘tick box’ exercise theyhave to complete to keep HR happy.

Make it transparent

The latest technology can do much to streamlineperformance management processes and makeeverything much more open. Emails can beautomatically set up to nudge managers whenformal appraisals or informal check-ins are due. HRportals provide a central place where discussionsabout goals, aspirations and planned developmentactivities can be housed and made accessible to thepeople who need to see them.

How do you make sure your performance management processes deliver the goods?

Let us know in the comment section, or tweet us at @CezanneHR

Some information courtesy of CIPD