Performance Management

There has been a great deal written on the pros and cons of different performance management approaches over the last decade and we have seen these evolve and shift accordingly.

Ten years ago, there was a groundswell of opinion against performance ratings and as a result many organisations removed them and favoured more open and discussion led approaches. There was an emerging belief that performance ratings had no place in the modern world of work and were an antiquated hangover from the twentieth century.

However, it is telling that many of those who went down this route have gradually and quietly reintroduced ratings, albeit a more simplified version as they struggled to manage without them altogether for a number of reasons.

It must also not be forgotten that performance management is part of the pay transparency requirements that will be introduced across Europe in the very near future. Under those regulations, an employer will potentially be able to use performance differentiation to justify pay differences between individuals in the same/ similar roles. Clearly, this justification will be difficult without some form of consistent assessment metric and consequently employers across Europe are already beginning to look at reviewing their approach and reintroducing ratings with this in mind.

We must also never lose sight of the fact that your performance management scheme is a really powerful employee communication tool. The metrics (quantifiable and/or behavioural) that an organisation chooses to reinforce through its performance management approach sends a really important and very strong message to employees about what the business values and expects.

How we can help

We work with clients to:

• Ensure that the performance management approach is right for an employer and its people and is aligned both culturally and in terms of the metrics being utilised
• Review the performance cycle and its relationship to the business cycle (and to related reward processes)
• Understand and refine the messages being sent to employees about performance and the organisations culture and values related to the scheme
• Understand the schemes suitability (or evolutions needed) to enable compliance with pay transparency regulations
• Understand employee and leader perceptions of a scheme and the evolutions they would like to see
• Design / evolve robust and sustainable fit-for-purpose schemes that are tailored to the needs of a particular business