Is this the end for appraisals or just the start of a new performance appreciation initiative?

Performance management means very different things to different people. For some, performance management is the actual appraisal process, the forms and the ratings; for others it is a visible insight into the culture of the organisation and how it measures and develops performance.

At 3gHR we see performance management as a concept that’s at the very heart of what we believe in – and what we do.

It may be obvious to say that the performance of the people in any business will have a direct impact on the performance of the business overall; so you would think that Managers would consider performance management one of most important things a business does. Yet it often remains labelled an “HR process”. Arguably it is neither.

Performance management has become overloaded

Over time, performance management has become such a key process in the mind of HR professionals that they have grasped the opportunity to overload it. Each time another conversation or action is added it becomes a bit more complex and unwieldy. As a consequence the list of purposes for an appraisal tends to grow.

For example:

• An end-of-year review of each employee’s work (could also include assessment of competencies but not always) by their line manager so they get feedback on how they have done and can be praised for what they have done well and helped to improve what they need to do better (with a rating potentially liked to pay and maybe forced distribution and moderated)
• Setting SMART objectives for the next review period, to help individuals focus their work and lead to more objective appraisal of whether they have done a good job.
• Development actions to improve an employee’s skills (training needs analysis)
• A discussion of career aspirations (succession planning)
• An assessment of potential (talent)
• Pre-retirement planning

As a concept, the appraisal has become bureaucratic, administrative, and the spirit is often lost.

Fundamentally, performance management should focus on 3 things:

1. Objectives: aligning what people are doing with the performance of the business; understanding how what they do impacts on the performance of the organisation.
2. Feedback: having courageous honest conversations about performance, encouraging a constructive dialogue about what has happened and the impact this has had.
3. Development: whether you call it talent management or performance management, the focus is on how people can develop personally and professionally in their role.

What would happen if a business got rid of appraisal forms?

What might happen to the performance of a business if we got rid of the appraisal forms completely? If managers were competent and active in setting objectives, giving feedback and agreeing development needs in a positive and constructive way, then the short answer would be “nothing”. But this is often not the case. Furthermore, as businesses grow and become more complex, then some structure is helpful. There is justifiably a reason to be more grown up in the methodology and documentation of these conversations.

The more we think about performance management in terms of a people focused business “system”, the more we see that its effective implementation depends on the people management capability of line managers. Both in terms of their “skill” level and also their “will” level (do managers see it as part of their job?).

Organisations need to train all managers, especially newly recruited ones, in how to do performance management, and not just how to fill in the paperwork. Training should cover understanding how to align priorities and set meaningful objectives, how to give and receive feedback, how to coach, how to motivate, and how to manage poor performance.

But at the very heart of performance management is appreciating people. How do you appreciate people from a “supporting them to contribute more, and recognise their part in the business” perspective? And how do you provide opportunities that allow them to feel motivated and engaged?

If performance management is so critical to the business, why would you restrict yourselves to looking at it only once a year?

Could 3gHR’s customised approach to management training and performance management help your business?

For more information contact +44 (0)344 5432121 or [email protected] 

Julia Pearson
Director, 3gHR