New Trends in Performance Management

New Trends in Performance Management

The world of Performance Management and Appraisals is changing very quickly. This whitepaper outlines the major trends in Performance Management that are taking place globally.

TREND 1

Objectives & Key Results (OKR)

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a popular technique for setting and communicating goals and results in organisations. The main goal with OKRs is to connect your company, team and personal objectives to measurable results, which ensures that your people are moving together in right direction. A large part of OKRs is making sure each individual knows and understands what's expected of them at work. OKRs are designed to be public, so that teams can all move in one direction and know what others are focusing on.

The OKR structure is very simple:

Objectives: You start by defining 3-5 key objectives on company, team or personal levels. Objectives should be ambitious, qualitative, time bound and actionable by the person or team.

Results: Under each objective, define 3-4 measurable results, not more. Key results should be quantifiable, achievable, lead to objective grading and be difficult, but not impossible. OKR results can be based on growth, performance, revenue or engagement. Often they are numerical, but they can also show if something is done or undone, so a binary 0 or 1.

TREND 2

Performance Management Redefined – Now a Valuable Line Management Tool that is used to drive Strategic Execution and Operational outcomes

In the last 30 years, Performance Management has remained a static process that consisted primarily of an annual appraisal. Managers completed the process as they were required to complete it by HR. HR used the process as an input to other processes such as Pay raises, Succession Planning or Learning and Development. When you asked line managers how it helped them drive business or organizational outcomes, very few could describe how it helped them but most said “we do it because we have to.”

A LARGE PART IS MAKING SURE EACH INDIVIDUAL UNDERSTANDS WHAT'S EXPECTED OF THEM AT WORK.

Today, Performance Management is one of the principle tools executives, line managers, and employees use to achieve their collective goals. The change in use of Performance Management has been enabled by software that provides management with a way to achieve its operational and strategic goals.

This is achieved through:

1. Cascading Strategic and Operational Objectives down to ensure every person knows their part of the plan and executes their part of the plan. This was virtually impossible using manual systems. There was little or no capability to cascade objectives, managers could not visually see how their strategies were cascaded, there was no reporting on strategic execution.
   
   
2. Developing the entire organisation by setting specific Development Objectives for each individual. Again, keeping track of hundreds or thousands of Development plans was near impossible with manual systems. This resulted in fragmented development of individuals and fragmented development plans that did not necessarily address competency gaps.
   
   
3. Providing managers with visibility of their team members and how they are progressing towards completion of their objectives. Manual systems offered no way for managers to quickly drill down to ensure that objectives set for employees were able to properly address the Strategic and Operational plans of the organization. Due to the paperwork involved, this was near impossible to achieve in any meaningful way, with manual appraisal systems.

TREND 3...