Our people are our most valuable resource; they make our organisations successful and give our products and services real meaning.
Since we spend a huge proportion of our lives working, it's the responsibility of organisations and managers to help every individual realise their potential.
(If you're interested - the original version of this is from August 2023 and a little more wordy and with some more examples.)
Why Managing People and Measuring Performance is Important
Performance management is crucial for linking regular and annual reviews to productivity, but also engagement and individual employee growth and retention. Effectively managing individuals and teams to maximise performance, and consistently and fairly measuring this, is essential for building trust and maintaining employee engagement. Getting it wrong can lead to lost productivity, growing disengagement with the team and organisation, and the eventual loss of valuable employees.
The Key Role of Managers in Performance Management
Managers are pivotal in creating and motivating high-performing teams. Their approach to performance management can be a decisive factor. However, managers need the right tools, training, and support to do this effectively. Too often, managers rely on their experiences and flawed systems, which can lead to biases and self-preservation behaviours.
The Pitfalls of Traditional Performance Reviews
Many organisations still use outdated performance review methods that can be negative experiences. These methods often justify salary increases or promotions without fostering real development.
People Aren't Binary
People's potential and performance can't be reduced to yes/no answers or simplistic ratings. For instance, if someone hasn't met their targets, it might be due to unrealistic goals or lack of support. Nuances, explanations, and context are crucial.
Performance Matrices
Classifying individuals into performance matrices can be detrimental. Labels like "underperformer" or "low potential" are arbitrary and often reflect the assessor's biases. These matrices can stifle both leadership and general potential and unfairly pigeonhole employees, while potentially also undermining the opportunity and need to really understand and ‘see’ the potential in the pool of resources at manager’s fingertips.
Spreadsheet Bias
While spreadsheets can help normalise data, they can't capture the full story of an individual's performance. Numbers in cells lack the depth to reflect an individual's unique strengths, all their contributions or the factors potentially affecting their performance.
Open Text Boxes
Asking employees to summarise their performance in open text boxes can feel like a tick-box exercise. This approach can be challenging for those who aren't natural writers and may still result in a quasi pass/fail judgement.
Moving Beyond "Meeting Expectations"
Boiling down a year's worth of contributions to "You meet expectations" is demotivating. It often stifles conversation and development, causing resentment. Performance reviews should offer tailored feedback and constructive advice for improvement, and the conversations which drive and support growth and improvement should be part of ongoing regular and intentional interactions.
Focusing on Negatives
Focusing on what employees didn't do well can be incredibly negative, especially when the same issues recur yearly. Recognising and addressing these struggles constructively is more beneficial.
Making the Most of Your People
Organisations should focus on coaching and managing their existing people rather than constantly seeking external solutions. Effective coaching, or even more of a conscious move away from ‘directing’ employees by individual managers, helps employees grow with the organisation's challenges and opportunities.
The Privilege and Responsibility of Leadership
Leading people is a privilege and a responsibility. Coaching and mentoring on an ongoing basis fosters trust and respect and helps employees feel valued. This approach maximises potential and contributes to personal and organisational success.
What's the Alternative?
The alternative to effective people management is wasting potential, losing good employees, or having them quietly quit. It's about not being the organisation or manager you could be and failing to harness and develop your people's strengths.
Embracing a Different Approach
There is no quick fix. Organisations need to adopt new ways of measuring performance and realising potential. This starts with providing managers the tools, training, and support to become better managers; with a focus on finding an approach and pace which suits the individual manager.
Just as individual team members are different, so are individual managers. It is just as easy to assume that everyone can and will succeed my managing in the same way, when the reality is that each manager will have different strengths which they will need to find a way to effectively utilise to apply their own unique style and approach which will be authentic and natural to them.
For more insights, events and guidance focused on helping managers become more strengths-focused and better at harnessing their team's strengths, then sign up for our newsletter or get in touch.