Performance Management is So Last Century

Literally. Performance Management has its roots in methodology based in the early 1900s for a workforce that had binary, repeatable tasks and the measure of effectiveness was making more widgets. Now we have a knowledge-based workforce requiring complex skills, fluid roles, and innovation. The definition of effective performance is constantly evolving. And yet, we keep heaping on layers of process to a fundamentally outdated idea apparently hoping for a time warp.

 

The logic is there: we want to link employee performance to organizational performance, have a yardstick to measure performance across disparate groups, help employees grow and develop, and have a basis for distributing rewards fairly. The problem is, today’s Performance Management Process is doing none of these.

 

This week, Kristi Erickson and I gave a web chat where we looked at the case for Performance Management (the objectives listed above) and scientific research that shows Performance Management failing miserably at each. But what to do? We still need to accomplish all of those things in the objectives, don’t we?

 

Use the link above to join in the conversation and explore some ideas of how to meet these objectives and yield a better return on your investment of money, resources, and time. Oh, and did I mention make your life easier and employees/managers happier?