Managing performance

Performance management is so easy to get right, but more often than not, it doesn't work. Many organisations worry about how they manage performance if everyone is working remotely, flexible or has the freedom to come and go as they please. The reality is that if you are good at managing performance now, you will be in the future. In a nutshell, performance management done well should just simply be management.

The majority of companies today are still stuck with an outdated performance management process that just don't improve performance. This means going through an annual performance after collating numerous forms, giving ratings and assessing fairness and bias. There is probably a performance appraisal and with an element of self-evaluation form. Then as you look to the future, a whole new set of annual goals are set, without much consideration for the day to day role and fast changing enviroment in which work is prioritised.

It’s not that these processes are necessarily “broken”, but the workplace has changed.

In today’s workforce, people are at the center of things and managers now serve employees in a bottom-up relationship, unlike when workers feared their managers. The concepts of management and leadership have taken big strides, which means that performance management needs an upgrade, too. It’s time to be more agile and frequent with goal-setting, measuring progress, and feedback.

Management is making sure people know what they need to do and they have what they need to get it done. It is being clear and aligned about priorities and making sure that’s aligned to the business priorities. It doesn't matter where the people are actually working, so long as they are working on the right stuff at the right time, and in the right way. A good performance manager, supports they team members to deliver and recognises when things are going well, and not so well, and acting accordingly as soon as they notice.

In the future of work, the agile, liberated team will be more common. You may bring people in to work on a specific task or project, then disband. You may have key personnel focused on routine operational delivery that can be measured daily or monthly, or flexible teams of contractors, freelancers and experts. The principle of management is the same. It should be an ongoing process and whether it's done face to face or remotely, managers need to be proactive in the process and help people to deliver.

Another change that we have already seen happen with fantastic results is inclusion in goal setting and problem solving. As a leader, you set the direction, the WHAT, and then empower the team or employees to set the HOW. They become invested if they have been included. If it was their idea or target, they are more likely to want to see it succeed. Their reputation and word is at stake.

Creating empowering and inclusive organisations means leading differently, and with the tools and systems availble to leaders in the future, their job just got a whole lot easier.

The systems

Paper trails, files and folders don't cut it now, and definately won't in the future. Once you have identified how you want to manage performance, why and the behaviours around it, using technology just makes life easier. Performance management software helps align your workforce to organisational objectives, measure and evaluate individual employee performance, and continually measure organisational results. Technology can track all activities that ensure goals are met and give real-time update on delivery. Of course, ssytems are only as good as the data that is put in them, so an empahsis on updating systems will become the norm.

It doesn't matter if you have a team member in Australia, a contractor in Brazil or a core team in London, collaborative systems and goal/output systems can syncronise everything so you no who is doing what, when and how. It means that managers can free themselves up to focus on having real conversations, ongoing feedback, and building relationships. Everyone will understand how they perform and contribute to overall goals, creating a sense of teamwork and belonging.

You will have the capability to track and assign agile goals, repriortise tasks as and when they change, sign off projects and celebrate the wins. What's more, performance management systems won't simply record goals and track performance against them. They will also home all kinds of rich information to enable human capability and talent management to thrive.

Coaching management

In the future of work, managers will act as coaches to their employees. Technology will enable them to create goals, lock in accountability, build career plans and give realtime feedback.

Appraisal Management

Imagine being able to appraise performance in realtime, at the end of a tasks or project, against project and company success criteria. Imagine all of that information being collated so HR know how to assess pay rises and benefits in a fair and equitable way. Imagine Leaders being able to gain insights on performance anytime, in any function at the click of a button. Appraisal elements in the systems enables organisations to store, analyze, and track changes in their employee performance from year to year and across appraisal periods. This means real data on the return on investment for training, development or even reorganisations.

Goal Setting Alignment

Goal tools help managers and individuals write goals and track their performance toward them in a consistent manner. Reminders are synced to peoples calendars to remind them to update their progress, gain feedback or to have a conversation with their manager. Everything is so much more efficient. With an added feedback tool, you can gain real time feedback from everyone involved in the project, customers, suppliers and colleagues, giving 360 feedback and continuous improvement opportunities.

Competency frameworks

I always say, how do you know what good like if you can't explain it. Competencies and skills management are a brilliant way to explain what good looks like. The tools track certifications, skills tests, and licenses and behavioural elements that keep the company on track, compliant and improving. You will also be able to assess who in the business has which skills and experience, thus put the best people on the right work at the right time, buddy them up with new starters or even spot gaps in company capability.

Career mapping and development planning

Imagine being able to map everyone, regardless of where they are physically located. You can plan long-term career moves with individuals. You can capture all kinds of data on peoples aspirations, life and career goals and link them to the companies needs. Succession planning will be simple.

Everything can be reported, captured and bias removed. Investment and strategic planning becomes easier and a culture of continuous improvement becomes a reality.

BUT...

None of this matters without the conversational intelligence reuqired to really manage the performance of others. Everything happens in conversation. Whether you talk everyday or once a month, the quality of that conversation will determine success or failure. Managers need systems training, and above all conversational training. It starts with emotional intelligence that then informs the conversational intelligence.

Checklist

Before you redesign your performance management process and infrastructure, ask yourself these questions?

What exactly do you want your performance management process to do, look like, feel like and the experience to be like?
Have you got examples within the business where it is done well? If so, what works and why?
What isn't working and why? Before you fix the problem make sure you understand the cause - it could be cultural, behavioural, skill, education or just too complex.
Do you know what good looks like? You can only manage performance if you know what good or great performance is - can you articluate that?
As leaders, are you clear on your purpose, vision, mission and strategy? If not, no matter what PM systems you put in place, it won't work.

Discover more from 3WH

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.