Two Steps to Improving Your Performance Management Process
It’s no secret that HR and line leaders around the world have been searching for the “perfect” performance management process. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that we don’t need performance reviews at all. However, the hard truth about performance management is that its success requires facing up to the fact that it is challenging and sometimes unpleasant work. So rather than searching for the next great “thing” in performance management, ensuring the fundamentals are in place will make the process successful.
Step #1: Create a common view on the importance of performance across the organization. Ask your executive team: “What problem should performance management be solving?” This answer will guide how you design and operationalize the process, and what you will hold leaders accountable for. At what threshold (good or bad) do you really care about someone’s behaviors? How much do you want to differentiate between average performers and high performers? Without a common viewpoint you won’t have a foundation on which to build your performance management system. More importantly, your executives will send employees conflicting messages about standards and consequences of performance and behaviors.
Step #2: Ensure managers are discussing performance with their employees more than once a year (at the annual review). Establish the expectation that quarterly conversations need to take place with every employee. This conversation can be completed in about 15 minutes. A simple, but effective framework would require the manager to make two comments on progress against their current goals and two comments about what to do more of/less of in the future.
When done correctly performance management is the most powerful performance driving process in your organization. Scientific evidence is conclusive that delivering regular feedback incrementally increases individual performance. Knowing what you are trying to accomplish, and building a culture where regular feedback is the norm are two steps that can garner significant strides.
