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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: Pursing Excellence

A new look at an old thorn.

2 PRESENTATION AGENDA

1. INTRODUCTION: About Performance Management.

2. THE UGLY: The Employee Experience.

3. THE BAD: Common Practices

4. THE GOOD: Essential Practices.

5. BEST PRACTICES: Twelve Steps to Success

adelehaar@shaw.ca

TODAY’S PRESENTATION

You’re out here because you are supposed to

receive a performance review?

I’m out here because I’m supposed to give one! P

ERFO

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MA

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What is performance management?

WHAT? A system or set of processes that provide feedback on how individuals complete their work.

HOW? Through completion of a form, a rating system …and sometimes a meeting and a conversation.

WHY? Tie individual job efforts to strategic goals, and incrementally improve employee’s skills and abilities.

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Support business critical goals; focusing efforts on desired results.

Develop espoused culture and organization competencies.

Identify employee development opportunities and skill gaps.

Showcase individual contributions to success.

Reward hard work and superior performance.

= develop engaged employees.

What can performance management do?

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QUICK SURVEY

1. How many of you have experienced performance reviews?

2. Is your manager positive about PM and well prepared for reviews?

3. You and your manager don’t mind completing reviews.

4. From your experience, does the process add value?

5. Is it fair, equitable, well-calibrated?

6. Does your manager acknowledge your successes and help you improve?

7. Your reviews take place at least on a quarterly basis?.

8. You talk about performance frequently/weekly.

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THE UGLY: EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK

The following three slides summarize the most frequent complaints that employees have about performance management.

1. Managers openly trash talk the process.

2. No employee buy-in, buy-in at any level or top-down commitment.

3. Managers not prepared; onus falls on the employee.

4. Not effective in improving performance.

5. Not tied to compensation or other rewards.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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6. Not objective. Unfair. Based on opinions not facts.

7. Lack of consistency between reviews and reviewers.

8. Retrospective —focuses on past behaviour.

9. Correction oriented. Used as a forum for bad news.

10. Does not result in support, assistance or coaching.

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11. Recency —focus is on last project/last week/last screw-up.

12. An excuse for not talking for the rest of the year.

13. Issues are not addressed in the moment, when it matters, when support is needed and learning is optimal.

14. Too time consuming and not worth the effort.

15. Goals are not tracked or measured, just talked about.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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THE UGLY TRUTH: Research Results

90% of employees find annual reviews an ineffective means of providing performance feedback, and an exceptionally painful one; reviews are associated with receiving disappointing or bad news.

Reviews are a demotivating experience for most employees

Managers would rather do almost anything other than PM reviews.

Most managers report PM to be a waste of time.

Close to 90% of employees and managers admit that they don’t say what they would like to say during reviews.

Most companies are not able to link performance management with improved performance.

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THE BAD: THE REALITY Lack of training and manager skill to manage performance.

Lack of top-down commitment to the PM process.

Absence of shared understanding about processes/practices.

Inability to link PM with improved performance, promotions, career development, wage increases, talent development etc.

Forum for once a year threats, not productive feedback.

Criteria for evaluation are subjective, not measureable.

Completed by a single evaluator, without input from others.

Isolated evaluations, conducted annually.

Individual understanding or goals don’t line up with corporate.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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Good Performance Management systems…

1. CREATE ALIGNMENT

2. IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

3. BUILD ENGAGEMENT

To realize these outcomes requires practices that create commitment to, and accountability for performance management at all levels in the organization.

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1. CREATE ALIGNMENT Corporate commitment to performance management is at the heart of creating a culture that values and supports performance improvement and goal achievement, thus creating a competitive advantage.

Cascade strategic objectives from the corporate level through the organization to the front lines.

Align individual, department and organizational performance goals.

Nurture commitment to creating a performance-focussed culture and continuous improvement mindset.

THE GOOD: ESSENTIAL PRACTICES

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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2. IMPROVE PERFORMANCE Build internal bench strength: Develop knowledge, abilities, skills and expertise, so company, department, and individual goals are achieved.

Identify gaps and developmental or growth requirements.

Determine formal learning and in-house training needs Provide feedback, coaching, mentoring and training.

Leverage strengths to facilitate peer coaching.

Link needs/gaps to talent acquisition/management.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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3. BUILD ENGAGEMENT Organizations that truly engage and inspire employees produce world class levels of innovation, productivity and performance.

Involve employees in goal setting, department reviews etc.

Identify and leverage individual strengths.

Facilitate career and professional development.

Applaud and reward contributions and hard work.

Hold open and frequent performance conversations.

Provide communication in a risk-free environment.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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BEST PRACTICES

SHARED ACCOUNTABILITY

The Company and Executives.

Managers/Supervisors.

Employees.

MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE

Commitment and Accountability.

Trained and Motivated Managers.

Appropriate Tools and Practices.

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BEST PRACTICES

CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY

Strategic planning incorporates goal setting that can

be converted to individual performance goals.

The right program and processes are in place.

There is accountability for program implementation.

Training and supporting tools for the PM process are

provided to one and all.

Commitment to the process is created at all levels.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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MANAGER/SUPERVISOR ACCOUNTABILITY

Demonstrate strong commitment and champion the process.

With employees set stretch goals and developmental benchmarks.

Provide on-going feedback on department/business unit results; project or client successes and individual results.

Support goal achievement with on-going check-ins, feedback, coaching, training, tools etc.

Gather intelligence from business partners on employee performance; keep notes on individual performance.

Acknowledge and recognize hard work, commitment and dedication.

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EMPLOYEE ACCOUNTABILITY

Be fully prepared and participate in goal setting.

Champion the development of personal skills and abilities.

Determine developmental goals and set career aspirations.

Request feedback and ask for coaching and support as needed.

Surface challenges, bottlenecks and other roadblocks.

Frequently inquire about personal performance.

Keep notes on successes, failures, support given to others etc.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

EMPLOYEE DEMANDS

What do employees look for?

What drives engagement?

Regardless of the type of system,

the following initiatives will

establish strategic and successful

PM practices.

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TWELVE BEST PRACTICES

ALIGNMENT OF GOALS and DELIVERABLES

1. Determine cultural requirements such as core values.

2. Establish competency requirements/soft skills.

3. Develop corporate/strategic performance goals.

4. Cascade goals down to department level and front lines.

5. Discuss department/business unit goals and collaboratively set individual performance goals.

6. Establish quantifiable performance indicators/KPIs.

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TWELVE BEST PRACTICES

MANAGEMENT ACTIONS

7. Clarify individual roles and accountabilities.

8. Regularly monitor performance.

9. Provide feedback, share observations and outcomes.

10. Regularly provide support, coaching and training.

11. Acknowledge and reward performance.

12. Formally evaluate overall performance.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

THE KEY TO SUCCESS? 1. The most important role is played by managers.

2. The most important factors are management skills to support

performance management practices.

3. The most critical outcome is a risk-free environment and affiliative

culture that encourages risk taking and celebrates wins.

4. The most important tool is a supportive working relationship between

manager and employee.

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Assumes accountability for developing human potential and empowering organization performance.

Dedicates time, energy and effort to performance management every day; regularly checks-in to see how employees are doing.

Holds proactive performance conversations; deals with difficult situations when they happen. Is transparent.

Utilizes a variety of coaching approaches to address the various strengths and needs of their employees.

Is a coach, mentor, subject matter expert and trusted advisor.

THE PERFORMANCE MANAGER…

FORMALLY DOCUMENTED INDIVIDUAL FEEDBACK Progressive Coaching, Quarterly and Year-End Reviews.

CORPORATE PERFORMANCE UPDATES

Quarterly and at Year-End.

CORPORATE, DEPARTMENT & INDIVIDUAL

WEEKLY INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS

FORMAL QUARTERLY FEEDBACK

YEAR-END MEETING AND EVALUATION

BEST PM SYSTEM COMPONENTS

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PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK

Daily Department Huddles.

Weekly Department/Business Unit Meetings.

Executive and Management Meetings.

Monthly Department/BU Updates.

Quarterly Corporate Updates.

Annual Corporate Year-end Wrap-ups.

Engaged employees want to know how the company

and their department are performing.

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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INDIVIDUAL FEEDBACK

Daily Check-Ins and Coaching Moments.

Just-in-time Training and formal learning.

Work/Project Reviews and Post Mortems.

Monthly Performance Conversations.

Quarterly Performance Reviews.

Annual Performance Evaluations.

Engaged employees want to know how they are

contributing to the organization’s success:

THE BIGGEST

CHALLENGES

Learning to collaboratively discuss performance on an on-going basis.

Holding formal monthly performance conversations.

Learning to hold honest, objective face-to-face conversations, most importantly when it involves constructive feedback.

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SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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On-going performance conversations and just-in-time coaching create open, transparent two-way communication.

Employees should always know how they are performing.

Achievements and performance are compared to mutually agreed upon goals during a formal quarterly review.

Successes are celebrated.

Failures are supported and discussed for learning.

Managers create a safety net where employees are encouraged to take informed risks and review outcomes.

PERFORMANCE CONVERSATIONS

adelehaar@shaw.ca

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A PERFORMANCE CULTURE

A feedback-rich environment where discussions about performance, outcomes and achievements occur daily.

A coaching culture where employees receive the feedback, support and coaching they need from their managers.

A collaborative workplace where employees teach, coach and mentor each other and demonstrate thanks and appreciation.

An affiliative atmosphere where business partners acknowledge each others work, and management rewards individual effort and provides recognition as deserved.

adelehaar@shaw.ca