Tag Archive for: performance management

Four graphs that show how performance management has really changed over the past five years

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Cognology data shows:

  • Performance management in 2015 is more forward looking, with nearly 2x the focus on future career planning
  • The amount of feedback has significantly increased. The average individual can expect nine feedback events each year (up over 3x since 2011)
  • An increased employee development focus over the past five years, with individual L&D events per employee nearly doubling
  • Managers are more frequently tracking performance. On a per employee basis, there were 108% more performance outcomes recorded in 2014 (compared to 2010)

Performance management continues to evolve rapidly. Sometimes when there’s so much change happening so quickly, it’s easy to lose track of just how far things have moved. So this week, I’m taking the opportunity to dive into our anonymised Cognology product data to examine just how much performance management has changed over the past five years.

Looking at this data from a number of perspectives, I think there’s four interesting trends worth exploring:

Performance management change over the last 5 years

1. Performance management is increasingly forward looking

Over the period from 2010-2014, the focus on employee career planning has nearly doubled. The data shows that the average employee is now adding four progression points into their career plan each year. Each addition defines things that an individual needs to do to take the next step in their career.

As we see this number rise, it’s a sign that both managers and employees are more focused on performance management as a forward-looking activity. This is a very different style of performance management conversation. It’s all about the gap between where you are today and where you need to be tomorrow (rather than just focusing on your performance in the past period).

2. The amount of feedback has significantly increased

The amount of feedback that employees can expect to receive each year has also significantly increased. For the average employee, the number of annual feedback events has risen from just under three in 2011 to nearly nine in 2014. That’s an increase of over 3x in four years! Spreading this feedback out across the year, this increase means that employees received feedback roughly every six weeks in 2014 (compared to once every four months in 2011).

The power of frequent feedback is something I believe in passionately (and have talked about on many occasions, see here and here for two good examples).

This dramatic increase in the amount of feedback received is a fantastic sign (but I’d still argue that once every six weeks isn’t quite enough for most employees). In any case, we’re certainly heading in the right direction.

3. There’s more focus on individual development

Over the past five years we’ve seen individual level L&D events nearly double. These events record things like individual training, learning, coaching and mentoring.

Despite the current cost environment, we’re seeing more individual development happen now than ever before. It’s a great sign that executives clearly understand the ROI of a well-structured L&D program.

4. Managers are more frequently tracking performance

The data also shows that we’re seeing much more frequent tracking of individual performance. In 2014, the average employee had 19.9 performance “results” recorded over the course of the year (up from 9.6 to five years earlier). In our performance management language, a “result” means that an outcome has been recorded against a performance goal. In English, this means that managers are tracking performance against goals and objectives at a much more frequent (and detailed) level.

I know many people would argue this increased accountability is being driven by the current cost environment. My view is that this increase is also tied to the dramatic increase in the amount of feedback, with managers looking to inform better coaching and development planning. Fundamentally, it’s not possible to increase the amount of feedback by 3x without significantly more data!

The market is naturally evolving towards a more agile performance management

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll be familiar with my views on Agile Performance Management (performance management focused on highly frequent feedback and forward looking development). As the data here shows, it’s great to see that the market is naturally evolving towards a more agile version of performance management.

I think it’s also powerful to absorb the fact that this performance management evolution is happening in a cost-conscious market. It reinforces that businesses aren’t making these changes because they’re a ‘nice to have’. They’re moving to more frequent, forward-looking performance management because they can see the hard economic logic. Better performance management makes more money. And that’s an easy business case for all of us to get behind.

Jon Windust

Jon Windust is the CEO at Cognology – Talent management software for the future of work. Over 250 Australian businesses use Cognology to power cutting-edge talent strategy. You can follow Jon on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Use performance management to give your employees purpose, and watch what happens next

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Imagine joining Netflix before anyone knew what it was.  You received a job description before starting.  On day 1 your boss gets you started on your key responsibilities. Whether your role is to sign movie licensing deals, develop their software or provide customer service,  as often happens for a large majority of people, your sense of engagement will likely start strong and then wane in the months following the honeymoon period.

But now imagine what would happen if before you even started, you knew the purpose for Netflix and how you fit in.  You knew they wanted to create the worlds most popular movie and TV streaming service.  They wanted to give people access to the shows they loved on-demand, a completely new idea.

The people you worked with continually talked about this picture of the future.  How much more engaging and motivating would it be?  You’d have a purpose beyond your end of week pay packet. As Hubspot’s culture code puts it: “paychecks matter but purpose matters more.”

Individual performance (and subsequently overall business performance) dramatically improves when employees know why they are doing their job. It’s further enhanced when people know how their job impacts or contributes to the goals of the business overall.

The key benefits of a sense of purpose

Maintain a sense of purpose at all levels in your organisation – linking everyone’s job to the bigger picture – and your business will reap the rewards:

  • Significantly higher engagement – which lowers absenteeism and turnover and increases productivity
  • A faster business – with everyone pulling in the same direction you can achieve your goals more quickly
  • A more innovative business – having a clear direction promotes more creativity

Well-executed performance management clearly defines the link between an employee’s job and the objectives of the business – day in, day out. Here’s how:

1. Clearly articulate company goals to everyone

Sharing your company’s goals is the starting point for both purpose-driven employees and great performance management.

Creating a sense of purpose at an individual level starts with the leadership team asking “why do we do what we do?” – then clearly communicating the answer to the business. In his 2010 TED talk, Simon Sinek makes a terrifically powerful appeal to leaders (it’s worth watching):

“It’s those who start with “why” that have the ability to inspire those around them.”

Transparent company goals that are communicated clearly and often lay the foundations for a workforce driven by a shared purpose. They are also the bedrock for effective performance management.

At its core, great performance management ensures that employees are aligned with the business as it moves forward. It has the power to ensure the right people are in the right roles, doing the right tasks and developing their skills in line with business needs.

Of course, in order to do this job effectively, performance management relies on every employee understanding the fundamental goals of the business.

2. Align employee goals with business goals 

Give your employees purpose by clearly explaining exactly how their job affects the success of the business. A crucial step in the implementation of a great performance management system is giving goals this context.

The SMART approach is a best-practice method for setting goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound). The ‘R for relevant’ is the key here – make sure all goals are clearly relevant to the business’s purpose.

For example, using the idea in our introduction, if you were setting a goal for a HR executive, an aligned and purposeful objective would be to “Contribute to successful commencement of services in Australia by establishing a leadership team by January 2015 with proven past successes building operations from the ground up” 

At Netflix, giving employees context is ingrained behaviour. The Netflix culture code captures this by saying: “High performance people will do better work if they understand the context.”

But it’s not just Netflix that says so – research backs up the statement strongly. If you’re interested to read more on this, I can suggest two papers from the Center of Advanced Human Resource Studies: ‘Seeing Clearly’ from this collection of white papers and ‘Employee line of sight to the organisation’s strategic objectives – what it is, how it can be enhanced and what it makes happen’.

3. Use performance management to maintain a sense of purpose when things change

Business objectives, and subsequently business strategies, can change in a heartbeat – especially in fast-moving, innovative organisations, or those facing fierce competition, regulatory upheaval and so on. Change can mean that job roles quickly become misaligned with the new direction of the business. To keep your employees on the right track and adding value despite shifting sands, ongoing feedback and coaching is crucial.

The effect of coaching on purpose and engagement hasn’t gone unnoticed at Wells Fargo. A top executive announced last year that he expects bank managers to spend two thirds of their time coaching their staff.

Ongoing feedback and coaching are key elements of best-practice performance management. Providing plenty of contact time between employees and their managers/mentors, regular feedback means new strategies can be quickly implemented on the ground.

Done well, every coaching and feedback session will leave your employees feeling that achieving their individual goals are directly connected to the success of the business.

In conclusion

A sense of purpose lies at the very heart of driving employee engagement and better business performance.

Great results happen when every employee is connected to purpose, every day. Best-practice performance management makes this straightforward.

With clear goals, feedback and coaching, your employees will have a direct and tangible connection to the success of your organisation.

Jon Windust

Jon Windust is the CEO at Cognology – Talent management software for the future of work. Over 250 Australian businesses use Cognology to power cutting-edge talent strategy. You can follow Jon on Twitter or LinkedIn.

What does an ageing workforce mean for performance management?

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On 5 March 2015, the Australian Government released the latest, much-anticipated Intergenerational Report. The report predicts changes to Australia’s population over the next 40 years, making it an incredibly useful tool for building workplace systems that are fit for the future.

The data attracting the most attention in the report is focused on Australia’s ageing workforce. This got me thinking about the impact an older workforce will have on performance management.

We know that workplaces of the future will be highly collaborative and fast-moving. We also know that for people to develop quickly enough to keep up, we need a more ‘agile’ approach to performance management. My question is, does an older workforce support this need for Agile Performance Management?’

Agile performance management guide

A quick introduction to the Intergenerational Report

At least every five years the Government produces an Intergenerational Report to test the long-term sustainability of current policies. For Australian businesses, it’s a welcome opportunity to prepare for the future.

The report specifically looks at changes to Australia’s workforce size and age profile. The HR world can use this data to predict challenges (and opportunities) in work participation and productivity levels.

What will the Australian workforce look like in 2055?

The Australian Workforce in 2055 chart

The Intergenerational Report confirms that in 2055 Australia’s workforce will have many older workers than today (the key statistics are included in the graphic above).

As a proportion of Australia’s population, in the future there will be fewer people of traditional working age. (Relative to 1975 there will be 4.6 less working-age people to support each person over the age of 65.)

As a result, the report anticipates a 34% increase in the number of people staying in work beyond the age of 65. Put another way, by 2055 nearly one in five members of the Australian workforce will be aged over 65.

Why an older workforce makes Agile Performance Management even more critical

The report expects that the decrease in the number of available workers will be solved by older generations working for longer

We knew the population was ageing, but this data predicts a much bigger change than many of us would have expected. As a result, it’s critical that our workplaces are future-ready for a changing workforce.

The report expects that the decrease in the number of available workers will be solved by older generations working for longer. If this turns out to be correct, then Agile Performance Management will be crucial. Here’s why:

  1. Regular check-ins
    As we become more experienced, and grow older, it’s natural that we may not find enjoyment in the same things or be interested in doing the same kind of tasks. Regular check-ins between workers and managers will highlight these changes before they become problematic. As a result, workflow and task allocation can be changed accordingly. Excellent talent management is all about having the right person doing the right job at the right time.
  2. Capability development
    Being open to and acquiring new skills is crucial for older workers for two reasons:

    • The rate of technological change means that everyone needs to continually learn new skills to perform their jobs effectively. Younger generations tend to be naturally faster at picking up new skills, so developing the tech-based capabilities of older workers should be a priority to ensure their relevance in the workplace.
    • Roles are set to become broader as work becomes more collaborative. Older workers may need to develop new capabilities to make the most of this dynamic environment.
  3. Coaching and mentoring
    The experience of more mature workers is an excellent asset for any company. There’s a significant opportunity to utilise mature workers in coaching and mentoring roles to improve the knowledge and expertise of less experienced employees. Coaching doesn’t need to go in just one direction either (for example, younger workers could also coach older workers on technological skills).
  4. Frequent feedback
    Older workers may, or may not, be motivated to climb the corporate ladder, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need feedback. Regular feedback isn’t just for long-term development: it also has a major role in improving performance day-to-day. Regular feedback has also been proven to increase engagement, decrease stress levels, improve workplace relationships and optimise efficiency. (All of which translates to higher levels of job satisfaction and healthier, happier employees).

In conclusion

Our workforce is ageing. As a result, over coming decades there will be more people aged 65+ remaining in the workforce than ever before. It’s our job now to make sure these workers stay engaged, productive and happy at work. The fundamentals of Agile Performance Management (including ongoing feedback and mentoring) will be essential in ensuring older workers continue to contribute meaningfully, and at their highest level of performance.

Jon Windust

Jon Windust is the CEO at Cognology – Talent management software for the future of work. Over 250 Australian businesses use Cognology to power cutting-edge talent strategy. You can follow Jon on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Yes, you. Even the board needs performance feedback.

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The topic of performance management for boards came up in my recent Talent Management Talk with Tania Hannath. As we talk about in the short clip below, the performance management of boards is a positive, major trend that we’re seeing across both listed Australian corporates and the Not-For-Profit (NFP) sector.

In this article, I explore the growth of performance management at the board level in more detail. We start with a quick look at where this recent trend has come from, look at some hard data around the impacts, and briefly explore the similarities/differences in board-level performance management.

Why have businesses started evaluating boards?

In my opinion, there are three reasons why board-level performance management has seen such recent focus:

1. A change in requirements for ASX boards post-GFC

In July 2014, the ASX set out additional governance principles for ASX-listed companies. The first is the requirement for companies to report on how they are evaluating the performance of their boards.


2. A shift in the responsibilities of boards

An international review of corporate governance published in 2005 states:

“As boards are held increasingly accountable for corporate performance, they become more proactive in the leadership of the companies they govern.”

True to the report, in the decade since 2005, we have seen a profound shift in responsibility of boards from management support to organisational leadership. This change in organisational thinking means boards are now being held accountable for strategic direction, change management and formulating corporate objectives. This has two impacts on performance management:

1) It makes performance management for boards critically important, and
2) It gives us tangible, measurable performance indicators for board directors.


3.  The undeniable benefits of regular performance management at board level

Now we’re getting to the real heart of the matter – the ‘business case’ for board performance management:

  • The opportunity to track and improve the performance of every board function
  • The ability to prove performance to all stakeholders, which in turn:
    • Increases the trust of shareholders
    • Allows transparency for the government, employees and customers
  • Individual development and growth of directors

The verified impact of board-level performance management

An increasing number of studies are being conducted into the impact of board-level performance management. As you’ll see, the data makes a powerful case for why performance management at the board level is so important:

  • 72% of those who expected board members to participate in formal skills and knowledge development expected revenue to increase. (Perpetual Philanthropic Services, 2015)
  • High-performing boards spent seven days a year on performance management compared to four by low-performing boards. (McKinsey Quarterly Review, 2014)
  • The board activities most strongly correlated with organisational effectiveness include strategic planning and board development. (‘Board performance and organizational effectiveness in nonprofit social services organizations’, Green, JC and Griesinger, DW, 2006)
  • More than 80% of European and US institutional investors say they will pay more for companies with good governance. (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2001)

How does board-level performance management work?

Practically, performance management for boards is very similar to the process for everyone else in the organisation. Great performance management at every level is built on:

As I’ve said before on the topic of best-practice performance management:

“Top athletes, entrepreneurs and leading businesses all have one thing in common. They have goals and they succeed by regularly seeking feedback on their progress to achieving their goals. They use the feedback to adjust the things that aren’t working for them and to know what is working well. Winners are constantly looking for ways to improve.”

Notice how there’s no mention of ‘managers’ or ‘employees’ above. Best practice performance management is not necessarily ‘top down’, and it’s not just for tracking performance. At its core, performance management is about ongoing improvement. That’s a goal (and a process) that all high performers should actively buy into – regardless of if they’re in the graduate program or the boardroom.

In summary

It’s fantastic to see that performance management is achieving real traction at board level. As the data shows, performance management for the board as a whole and for individual directors brings great results for the organisation at all levels, and for shareholders and other stakeholders too.

If your organisation has implemented board-level performance management I’d love to hear about your experience. Reach out on Twitter via @cognology.

Talent Management Talk #3 – Talent management in the NFP sector (featuring Tania Hannath)

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In this week’s Talent Management Talk I’m joined by Tania Hannath – Director at People Axis. Tania has worked across both not-for-profit and for-profit companies. So she’s perfectly placed to compare different approaches in talent and performance management in the two sectors.

Tania’s extensive experience and strong opinions made for a great discussion around culture and behaviours, 360 feedback, setting goals and performance reviews. She’s also recently done some really interesting work in performance management for boards. We dive into that topic at 7 minutes 30 seconds.

Watch our 10-minute discussion or read the transcript below. If this is an area you have experience in or you have questions about, let me know via the comments or on Twitter; @cognology

Talent Management talk

 

Jon:
Hey everybody and welcome to Talent Management Talk. I’m Jon Windust, the CEO of Cognology, and I’m here today with Tania Hannath who is an expert HR consultant and who also happens to do a lot of work in the not-for-profit space.

Culture and behaviours in not-for-profit organisations

This is going to be really interesting because… culture: how do you actually build that culture? How do you start to instil that in the organisation?

Tania:
We know that there are many things that impact culture. For me, two of the greatest levers are leadership – the quality of leadership – and then also your performance management system. But ultimately where you want to start is to define what does this culture look like?

So if I am working in this organisation, what does it feel like? What does it look like? When people are working at their best with colleagues. When they’re working at their best with the people we are servicing. What are they doing? What are their key behaviours? And defining those.

Jon:
So one of the first things you’re doing is creating that set of behaviours, defining that set of behaviours? To me, one of the things I find really useful about behaviours and one of the reasons I think they’re such a good tool. Apart from being a very clear description of an expectation, they can be used by managers as a tool in everyday conversation or in a one-on-one with a team member. Yes, I think they’re really critical as a tool for leaders to help them in managing their staff.

Tania:
Very much so Jon. The other thing is that people are joining these not-for-profits because they’re passionate about the purpose and mission. So it’s fundamental that the organisation helps them to see how that culture fits the purpose and the mission. But also how the work that they do and their department does, fits that culture and the mission. Because if they can’t see that… They’re not joining for the money! They don’t have the short-term and the long-term incentive benefits that you have in the for-profit world.

They’re joining really for that purpose of the organisation. And when they can’t see how they contribute and how the organisation is inwardly replicating what it’s doing externally, from a cultural perspective, they are disillusioned far quicker than in a for-profit world.

Jon:
Okay, that’s really interesting.

How to deliver 360 feedback in NFPs

Can we talk a little bit about 360? You’ve mentioned 360-degree feedback and I’m just sort of wondering, is there something about 360-degree feedback in the not-for-profit world that’s different to the for-profit world? It sort of seems that it might be a more difficult thing to implement in the not-for-profit world or am I sort of missing something there?

Tania:
I think there is a barrier. I don’t know that the not-for-profit world sees it but there is a barrier around “we are different, we have a very philanthropic purpose.” If it’s a faith-based not-for-profit: “we don’t want some standard 360,” or: “we need to really customise because we are so unique.” Well, we have many for-profit clients who also tell us, “We are very different from other organisations,” but definitely I think where we start to get into faith-based not-for-profits and the whole philanthropic aspect of not-for-profits, they see themselves as very different.

So 360’s, in particular the Cognology tool, is highly customisable. So with those clients, I can have that conversation to say, “You can help me design these questions,” or “you have a go at the questions you want and I’ll look at them and make sure they’re behaviourable based and simple and written in verbs and things that are rateable.” I think once we get over that hurdle…

I mean the other thing I think sometimes, because we’ve got people in not-for-profit space who are very relational, the feedback is sometimes nicer… than in the for-profit [world], so maybe not always as honest!

The importance of setting goals

Jon:
What do you think about the argument that some people use: “Well, goals, they’re just too difficult and you shouldn’t set them in the first place.”

Tania:
It’s a total copout!

Jon:
Okay. That’s that!

Tania:
I mean accountability! It’s probably one of the things that frustrates me: “We want more participation. We want more engagement. We want more consultation in organisations” – but we won’t be accountable.

Jon:
Yes.

Tania:
Those two things go hand-in-hand.

Jon:
The other thing that some people might miss about goals, one of the benefits of them, is being able to give people a lot more autonomy in their roles. Essentially what you’re doing through the goal is giving them accountability, and that then allows you to give those people a lot more autonomy in their roles. It should lead to a much happier work place if people have got more control over how they do things.

How performance reviews differ in NFPs

The other thing that interests me here is that generally around review time every year, here in Australia being July/August, you start to see articles calling for the end of the performance review. I find this really curious because here you are saying, “This is one of the key tools that you’re using to improve accountability and culture in not-for-profit organisations,” what are you doing right that other people are missing?

Tania:
It would be interesting to actually know or have a look at those performance reviews that those writers are talking about Jon, and we don’t have perhaps an insight into that. I’m saying that because a really close friend of mine the other day, we were sitting having a coffee, and she said, “Oh, I’ve got my performance review in a few hours. I thought you’d be interested to have a look.” She gave it to me because she knows the work that I do in organisations, and it was a tick-box exercise.

Jon:
Oh, ouch.

Tania:
I looked at her and said, “But I know that you have different portfolios and different responsibilities, so how [is that] reflect[ed] in this document and where are you going to talk about what you’ve achieved?” I looked at my friend and I know what she does and I know how much she gives to her organisation and I looked at this document and there was a big disconnect.

Jon:
Yes.

Tania:
So if those writers are talking about those processes, they are not beneficial. They may be a HR process where you can tick it off from a risk and a compliance perspective but I’m not convinced that they add to that.

So [I’m] obviously a big advocate for tailoring questions. If we’re going to ask questions on behaviours and culture and values – that those are   tailored, they have been co-designed, that there’s communication around those in the organisation and they sit in the review.

Jon:
Yes, and you do something with the end results.

Tania:
Yes.

Can 360 feedback work for boards?

Jon:
So tell me about this 360 feedback for boards. That just seems… I mean board performance, we don’t normally think about it do we? And actually managing the performance of boards. How do you actually do that?

Tania:
For me it’s also been very exciting because for… let’s just call it 20 (it’s more) but for 20 years working in organisations, in terms of performance management and 360, through the CEO and then to the top of that organisation chart which is the board itself.

It’s pretty exciting to see the whole gamut of that organisation embrace these things because the paradox has often been (and here I’m talking about boards generally) that we’re going to hold the executive management accountable. We’re going to assess their performance but we are quite quiet about what we have been doing.

Jon:
But often you can get really massive issues with boards, can’t you?

Tania:
Yes. So post the GFC, we do see a whole lot of movement around requirements of boards. Out of that GFC, issues in terms of corporate governance, issues around executive remuneration.

The ASX, in terms of their governance recommendations and also principles – basically in July 2014 have put out some additional principles. And one of those first principles is around wanting (so we’re talking about ASX boards) to actually report on how they’re evaluating their boards…

Jon:
Right.

Tania:
And the board, the individuals, the directors on the board, and also the board subcommittees. So that gives you a flavour for what is happening in the for-profit space and I think it’s a great opportunity in the not-for-profit space, given the things that we’ve talked about, given the money that’s been entrusted by donors, given the money that’s been given by government to this particular sector, there is a great opportunity for the sector to build stronger relationships with these donors. To show greater transparency by saying, “Look, this is one of the ways in which we do good governance. We are prepared to evaluate ourselves as individuals and the work we’re doing, and our subcommittees and the board as a whole.”

Jon:
Alright, look, it’s been an absolutely fascinating discussion. I really thank you for sharing your expertise with us today. Thanks.

Tania:
Thank you.

Please don’t go. How to hang on to your high performers.

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You’ve got an employee who constantly outperforms. They hit deadlines, they deliver great results and their reviews are full of high fives. For many new managers in this case, it’s tempting to think that you don’t need to worry about performance management. But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

High performer competencies

 

When it comes to your top talent, performance management has a different job to do, and that’s retention. In this article I’ll give you the 3 fundamentals of performance management for your top talent (so they don’t leave).

But first, why are high performers so important?

In knowledge work, a high performer can deliver 400% more productivity than an average performer. And if they leave, replacing them is extremely hard in today’s climate. As the current talent war rages on we’re reminded that there simply aren’t enough highly talented people to go around.

The three fundamentals to managing the performance of a high-performer

1. Understand their future career plans

High performers are always thinking ahead – especially careerwise. So make sure you are too. Make sure you understand what their plan is for their career (trust me, they’ll have one).

Be realistic that your high performer won’t stay at your company forever. But you’re setting them up for an early exit unless you help them actively progress towards their career goals.

This means giving your high performer frequent evidence that you’re thinking about their career and helping them to progress towards their goals. One of the easiest ways to do this is to link shorter-term goals and projects back to their longer-term plan and career goals.

One final caveat: It’s important to remember that not all high performers aspire to be leaders. Make sure you have the career conversation before assuming that your high performer is looking to follow the leadership path.

2. Facilitate regular (and I mean regular) feedback

Recent research shows that 50% of high performers say they expect at least a monthly sit down with their manager. High performers like to know exactly how they are performing and where they can improve.

It’s critical that you don’t just stick to closed-door, pre-arranged meetings for feedback. High performers want to know that you have their interests at heart. The best way to do this is to provide important feedback quickly and as a matter of priority.

3. Challenge them

High performers always need to feel like they’re moving forward. Here are some quick tips to make that happen:

  • Get them mentoring: If their career plan involves a leadership position, give them mentoring responsibilities. You should be able to make this happen quickly and easily, even if you don’t have a formal mentoring program.
  • Allocate project work: Identify projects where you can allocate autonomy and responsibility. One of the easy ways to get the best out of a high performer is to regularly take them outside their comfort zone. Autonomous projects (even if small scale) are a great way to do this.
  • Find different responsibilities: A typical distinguishing factor of high performers is that they like to develop a broad range of skills. So if you’re struggling with ways to challenge them, try looking outside of their typical responsibilities.

In conclusion

When you’re dealing with high performers, it’s critical to remember that great performance doesn’t mean happiness and engagement. They’re capable of delivering a great job as the same time as they disengage from the organisation.

The way to prevent this disengagement is to focus time and effort on career planning, regular feedback and frequent challenges. Time invested here will ensure you keep your high performers on the job over the long term.

Do you have any other quick tips for performance managing high performers? I’d love to hear about them on Twitter at @cognology.

4 powerful new findings in the science of performance management

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We all know how useful the latest theories and findings from the world of academia can be. But who’s got time to keep track of them all?

Worry not. I’ve collected four particularly interesting papers on performance management. They’re all from the last three years, so you’ve got plenty of new research to get you thinking about better performance management.

Let’s jump into the research.

Science in performance management

 

Performance management effectiveness: practices or context

Authors: VY Haines III, S St-Onge 

Publication: The International Journal of Human Resource Management

Citations: 16

Year: 2012

What they did:

This study looks at the effect of practices and context on performance management outcomes. Using a sample of 312 private and public sector organisations with 200 or more employees, the study looked at:

Three practices:

  • Training for managers around performance management
  • Multisource (360-degree) feedback
  • Employee recognition

Three contexts:

  • Organisational culture
  • Employee relations climate
  • Strategic integration of human resource management

What they found:

The study found that both practices and context support effective performance management. Certain practices and cultures, however, had a higher positive effect than others:

Practices and cultural characteristics leading to outperformance:

  • Performance management training for managers
  • An emphasis on employee recognition
  • Valuing employee engagement
  • Communication of the relevance and significance of performance management to strategic goals
  • Human resources management integrated with the business plans of the organisation

Key takeaways:

To help your performance management system work at its full potential:

  • Give your managers training around feedback
  • Recognise high-performing employees
  • Truly value employee engagement
  • Suggest that your HRD sits on the executive committee

 

Using performance management to win the talent war

Authors: H Aguinis, RK Gottfredson, H Joo

Publication: Business Horizons

Citations: 19

Year: 2012

What they did:

The research explores the idea that there aren’t enough top performers to go around. It goes on to discuss how implementing a performance management system can help you retain those coveted top performers.

What they found:

The paper offers four research-based recommendations to retain top talent using performance management:

  1. Create and maintain individualised developmental plans
  2. Ensure that work is challenging, interesting, and meaningful
  3. Provide clear advancement opportunities
  4. Implement contingent rewards

Key takeaway:

Great performance management will help you retain your top performers. Consider creating individualised development plans, keep work challenging, offer advancement opportunities and build a reward framework.

 

From talent management to talent optimisation

Author: WA Schiemann

Publication: Journal of World Business

Citations: 5

Year: 2014 

What they did:

In this research Schiemann sets out with the theory that performance management is generally used to create alignment. However unless certain practices are followed, this can be to the detriment of engagement. He states: “Providing feedback is both a skill and an art. When it is not done well, employees may leave reviews with diminished engagement.”

Schiemann uses two studies to find ways of increasing engagement and of developing staff:

Study 1: A review of 150 departments from a Metrus Institute global database.

Study 2: A study of 11 companies that included 5000 employees.

What they found:

  • Managers who provide constructive feedback have higher capability and engagement ratings from their employees
  • When employees strongly agreed that their managers provided ongoing coaching and feedback, 93% reported a willingness to put in additional effort when needed, compared to only 33% of those who reported poor coaching and feedback

Key takeaway:

Performance management systems can increase employee engagement. You just need to make sure your managers are delivering regular, ongoing coaching and constructive feedback.

 

The lifecycle approach of performance management: implications for public management and evaluation

Authors: GJ van Helden, Å Johnsen, J Vakkuri

Publication: Evaluation – The International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice

Citations: 7

Year: 2012 

What they did:

This is a really interesting paper that tackles how performance management systems are approached by both organisations and academics. The paper argues for a simple 4-step ‘lifecycle’ framework to design and evaluate performance management systems:

Step 1: Design

Step 2: Implementation

Step 3: Use

Step 4: Assessment

The authors argue that the lifecycle approach is important, because it recognises:

  • The interdependencies of performance management throughout the business
  • The specific people that should be involved at each stage
  • The far-reaching impact of performance management

What they found:

Businesses that adopt a lifecycle approach would be more likely to:

  • Customise their performance management system around business objectives.
  • Ensure that employees welcome the performance management system – with effective change management.
  • Measure the long-term effectiveness of their performance management system.

Key takeaway:

Managing your performance management system using the lifecycle approach could impact the attention (and budget) it gets from across the business.

In conclusion…

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog you’ll know that I’ve got strong opinions on the power of great performance management. It’s always good to see brand-new research that backs up this thinking!

Have you read an interesting paper recently? Or would you like me to deep-dive into any of these papers in an upcoming blog? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter: @Cognology.

What can Netflix, HubSpot, Zappos and Google teach you about the future of performance management?

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