Whatever your organization’s assessment system or your current leadership practice, there is always room for improvement when it comes to performance management. According to the Corporate Leadership Council’s (CLC) research in “Building the High Performance Organization”, the single lever of being clear on performance expectations can lead to a 36% increase in organizational productivity. So why aren’t more leaders clear when setting employee expectations?
Unfortunately, universal frustration with performance management systems has led to the promotion of systems that have been designed more for their ease of use, or conformance, rather than for driving organizational performance. Generic performance elements and competencies, “roll-over” standards, pass/fail systems, and an all too frequent focus on process over content, have contributed to the erosion of performance assessment systems – and a loss of credibility in them as well.
Further, in many organizations, employees doubt the ability of their leader to accurately, and objectively, measure performance. Managers themselves freely admit that they are unclear on how best to capture and measure the work output of their organization, or worse yet, they may not be clear on the organization’s vision or strategic priorities to start with. Ironically, the very conforming processes that have been designed to “ease the pain” of performance management are likely making the situation worse.
Equally important to setting goals that are clear is setting goals that are relevant – creating a direct connection between organizational performance assessment systems and the “real work” of the organization. For performance management to work, our plans, our goals, and, most importantly, our time must all be aligned. Only then will organizational strategies and goals predictably lead to desired business results.
We believe an effective performance management system, capturing relevant and measurable work activity, can be a manager’s best friend – aligning and driving priority work activity, establishing the basis for improved employee/manager trust levels, and paving the way for sure business results. .
Hemsley Fraser is proud to offer a variety of professional consulting services to assist in putting organizational strategy into action.