Managing Performance - A New Ball Game

In 2017 Chancellor Philip Hammond attributed an £84 billion productivity loss to poor performing managers.  Set this in an environment of unprecedented change, dangerously low engagement levels, and a new generation of employees prepared to jump ship regardless of the amount of change happening; and we can be certain that managing performance in 2018 will be a whole new ball game.

In fact, nowadays ‘performance management’ is a misnomer that reinforces an outmoded management propaganda that has facilitated poor engagement.  Of course, many organisations have already tried to introduce new performance management approaches but all too often these quick fixes backfire because of inhibitive organisational cultures and ineffective management behaviours that prevent real change from happening. 

So, isn’t it high time that Managers dropped the task master act and started to see themselves as performance enablers and coaches?

The Millennials are calling for higher levels of engagement, autonomy and empowerment; to respond to this we must reinvent performance management in a way that is relevant to the world they live in. Getting to grips with this trend is a critical challenge for organisations that want to beat their competitors.