Performance Management is broken? OK, what do we do about it?

There are a myriad of articles, blog posts and research reports suggesting that performance management is broken. It is hard to generalise, but I tend to agree with the statement. Something that is of vital importance to people and organisations is often done quite badly. That said, I totally disagree with the knee-jerk reaction that says we should abandon performance management because it is broken. There is a need to do something and to do it well.

 

There are a few things around performance management that I think are really obvious and change the way we should do it:

  • Performance management isn’t just about dealing with poor performance and should not be under-performance management. If we design something that is primarily focused on dealing with underperformance, we miss so many opportunities to help people thrive.
  • At the heart of effective performance management is a conversation, a really high-quality, radically honest conversation about performance. If you don’t have radical honesty, then what needs to be said may not be said. I’ve witnessed this far too often and the implications are wide-reaching and costly.
  • None of us are perfect, we all have different strengths and weaknesses. Getting the best out of somebody who is just like us is simple. Getting the best out of somebody who is different to us can be hard. If we have the diverse teams that we need, then most managers will spend most of their time trying to get the best out of people who are different to them. I believe that the only way to equip them to do that is to provide them with some level of coaching skills.
  • Performance management may not be the easiest thing in the world but it isn’t rocket science. However, no amount of process will make it work well. The only way to make it work well is by equipping managers to have high-quality conversations and these are easier when they are done more regularly than once a year.

Performance management has lots of opportunities for improvement but let’s not abandon it or kid ourselves that we can invent a magic process that will fix it. Let’s equip managers to help people thrive.

Boardroom Despair

Read more

Latest News

Read More

Workforce classification: ‘A silent risk with loud consequences’

3 December 2024

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

Durham University – Human ResourcesSalary: £24,044 to £25,433

University of St Andrews – Human ResourcesSalary: £37,999 to £45,163 per annum.

Our Client, a renowned, global financial services company based in the City of London are looking for a Head of HR to join their team

Are you passionate about HR and eager to grow your career in a progressive, local organisation? If you have relevant experience, your CIPD Level 3

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE