Performance Management - Getting it done the right way

There is a race of sorts in businesses today and HR and Training & Development professionals alike are all poised and ready to cross the finish line next with the best process, and more effective way to ….

Conduct the performance management process.

Several Fortune 500 companies have already done away with the traditional, self-assessment, 360, manager-employee conversation, consensus group/round-table discussion process.  Lilly, Adobe, Google and even GE the behemoth that started this whole thing some 30 years ago have all forgone the old, outdated, cumbersome approach; and there is a prediction that by the end of 2017 up to 50% of Fortune 500 companies will follow suit. So, what are they doing and how do you get on the band-wagon.

First you must gain a consensus that what you are doing is not working (that won’t be difficult), then according a Harvard Business Review article (“Reinventing the Performance Management Process” – April 2015 HBR) performance reviews should be in real time and should “Fuel performance in the future vs. assess it from the past.” The article discusses three objectives that companies need to ensure happens when it comes to addressing performance and making this process meaningful for the employee and profitable for the business. They include:

1. Recognizing Performance – This is typically done through a variable compensation plan. (Merit pay; bonus, etc.)
2. Seeing the performance that is desired clearly – Ask what are your future plans; plans based on the person’s current performance. What will you as the manager do in the “future” based on the skills that this person you are rating has.
3. Fuel the performance -This is simply the action steps you take to getting what you want from the employee.

Objective 3 is the real meat of what is needed to revamping and making a change that is not only meaningful but valuable to the organization. It speaks to doing away with what has become our comfort blanket while at the same time making us sick the longer we hold on to it. We no longer want to go through those arduous processes mentioned earlier in this post, yet are we willing to do what it will take to get to that next level, to actually cross the finish line.

Here’s a check list:

• Invest in a winning game plan
• Establish a consistent coaching approach
• Do it often
• Be flexible
• Be transparent

At the end of the day companies and managers should be seeking to get the best out of their employees while also openly communicating to them. They need to also allow employees to do what they do best, work to their strengths while gaining new skills.