Top Leadership Perspectives on Performance Management
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How important is your leadership team's support of the
performance management system in your organization? Sibson Consulting's
2010 study into the attitudes of human resources professionals towards
their appraisal systems sheds some interesting light on the value of
top level endorsement.
Sibson Consulting teamed up with WorldatWork, an association
of human resources people, in mid-2010 to survey HR staffs on
performance management practices and the challenges they were facing in
their organizations. The survey was conducted in a number of countries
and with organizations ranging from just a few employees to large
multinationals. From the 750 people that responded, we can draw a
picture of the current state of performance management in organizations
today.
To begin with, what are the key messages from the report? One
maybe not surprising finding that shone through was the low confidence
that human resources professionals had in the efficacy of their
performance management processes. Although 91% of respondents reported
that their organization had a performance management system in place,
over one quarter (28%) said that their managers regarded the appraisal
process as an administrative burden only.
Alarmingly, not even half of those surveyed (47%) saw their
performance management system as helping their organization achieve its
strategic objectives. In addition, less than one third (30%) reported
their employees as trusting the system. Overall, less than half of all
respondents (43%) regarded their performance management system as
effective.
HR professionals reported three key challenges to making their
systems more beneficial to their organization. They said that
appraising managers lacked the courage to have difficult performance
conversations with employees (63%). Secondly, they lamented that
managers viewed performance management as a HR process not critical to
business success (47%). Thirdly, they observed the poor goal setting
skills of managers at the start of each employee appraisal cycle (36%).
In effect, only a little over one third of HR professionals
thought that managers complete thorough performance assessments.
Another one third of respondents openly disagreed. Not even half (46%)
thought the system worthwhile considering the amount time expended in
conducting and reporting the evaluations.
With such a dismal picture painted, what role is the executive
currently playing in supporting the performance management system in
their organization? The good news is that nearly three quarters of all
survey respondents (74%) felt the support of senior managers for the
system. Soberingly, that still leaves one in four organizations
struggling with displaying confidence in their appraisal process at the
top level.
With such widespread support from top management, why are
organizations struggling with their performance management processes?
Perhaps the answer lies in how the leadership team views the importance
of their performance management system. According to the HR
professionals surveyed, in only one third of organizations do the
executive strongly or mostly consider the appraisal system
business-critical. According to the respondents, the same number of
executive teams consider the process a mostly pencil pushing exercise.
And perhaps it is this attitude to the system that prevents
top managers' supporting words from being translated into real action.
Only 40% of survey respondents reported seeing their leaders model the
right behaviors. As a case in point, in only 65% of organizations did
senior management require completed employee evaluations for all
employees.
How important then is senior management's support for the
performance management system in driving business results? The survey
designers tackled this question by separating companies into quartiles
according to shareholder value over a three year period. The survey
authors found 87% of respondents working in the top quartile of
companies feel their senior managers publicly support the performance
management process. This contrasts with 66% of respondents working in
the bottom quartile of companies feeling likewise. The margin between
the top and bottom performers is not huge, but it is significant.
Of more significance is the difference in number that felt
that their senior management team did not support the process. Here,
only 3% of respondents in the top quartile reported the lack of top
management support. Contrast this response with the 14% working in the
bottom quartile companies. The implications are clear. Top leadership
support is an important factor in the success of any performance
management system. As this survey shows, HR professionals by and large
enjoy that support. The next challenge for HR managers is to translate
verbal support for the system into modeled behaviors.
References:
Copyright � Leslie Allan
About the Author
Leslie Allan is Managing Director of
Business Performance Pty Ltd; a management consulting firm specializing
in people and process capability. He has been assisting organizations
for over 20 years, contributing in various roles as project manager,
consultant and trainer for organizations large and small. Mr. Allan is
a prolific writer on business issues, with many journal and web
articles to his credit. He is also the author of five books on employee
capability, training and change management. His company's web site is a
rich source of information, advice and tools in a variety of business
and management areas. Visit Mr. Allan's Business Performance
web site to download trial versions of products, free
templates and introductory chapters.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2013-07-19 09:09:15 in Employee Articles
