Performance management is certainly grabbing the headlines right now!
Much of the debate is around frequency and form of performance management. I’m not convinced that a different set of ‘guidelines’ is really going to achieve a step change in the performance of our teams.
The debate also focuses around millennials demanding to be managed differently. A useful headline to help make the case to change but my experience is that people, regardless of age, still want the same thing. To make a difference, to receive regular feedback on how they are doing and to learn and grow. Maybe the millennials just want it quicker.
These expectations do need us to think and behave differently. We all know someone who does this brilliantly so I would encourage you to spend time with them to find out their magic formula to achieve great results time after time. One thing is for sure, being a slave to the retrospective rituals of performance management will not be top of the list.
My experience is that there are three practices that will consistently feature.
1. Own the recruitment process
Hire attitude, hire potential and involve your team in the decision on who joins. Make sure the process has the space to let the relationship start to take shape. Virgin are exceptional at this and it shows. If you do get it wrong, act quickly and fairly.
2. Involve the team in shaping the future
Be brave enough to involve your people in shaping the goals of the team. This means sharing information about challenges facing the business and trusting your team to define what success looks like. The collective creativity, knowledge and ambition of the team will set the bar well beyond traditional performance management practices, with the added advantage of commitment and peer accountability being baked in. Get your team together and give them the freedom to think.
3. Coach in the moment
Create regular opportunities to coach in the moment. Focus on the individual sitting in front of you and provide what they need right now to perform at their best. It could be a deep dive into a challenging goal, sharing feedback on how they are doing, recognising greatness, a review of priorities or developing a new skill. It’s not a one-size fits all approach. It doesn’t need a system or form to make it happen.
It is refreshing to read that managers and employees are to be ‘trusted’ more as we move away from prescriptive performance management practices. You can then focus more on hiring great people. involving the team in shaping the future and coaching in the moment. Give good people the freedom to act and it can only benefit the customer and the business.
I would encourage HR leaders to focus on making it easy for leaders to lead; reduce the paperwork and provide the leaders with the confidence and skills to make performance management a natural part of what they do every day.
I’d love to hear from others what they would add to the list.