Performance Management appears to be a perpetual bug-bear for many organisations that I work with. In fact, surveys reveal that few employers are satisfied with their performance management systems.
Despite there being an agreed and understood performance management framework and a common spoken language too many organisations struggle with the performance management process.
The outcome of these situations is often unproductive and frequently the employee suffers in some way – as a consequence of the very process that is designed to support their achievement.
If the way we normally conduct performance discussions does not create change and performance improvement then we need to change the nature of the discussion itself!
Create Meaningful Dialogue!
We all want feedback and reaction on the work that we do. However, feedback takes many forms ranging from the implied to the spontaneous; from the visible to the written.
To create meaningful feedback there needs to be meaningful dialogue but it must be timely and considered :
- Dialogue means a discussion between you. Not a “fait accompli” where the discourse is one way and the outcome is predetermined.
- Timely dialogue doesn’t mean once a year – in fact a dialogue once a year is virtually meaningless. Timely means at a time appropriate for the context and for you both.
- Considered dialogue means you’ve given time to think about the individual, the conversation you want to have with them and the way you will help them share their perspectives. Yes, your role is also to help them share feedback.
These three key elements will help you create meaning. Where there is meaning there is an opportunity to create change.
Changing the Continuum
To read more about creating meaning & change in the performance management discussion, please see our articles at :
