D
Dexterity | Catalyst
Give managers permission to focus
on developing their people
L
et’s move the emphasis
from performance
management to
performance development
to prioritise people, argues
Stuart Hearn, CEO and
founder of Clear Review.
If the majority of HR leaders (93%),
managers (81%) and employees
(76%) believe that more frequent
performance conversations would
benefit their organisation, why are
these not taking place?
This was a question we wanted to
explore, following the results of our
2019 UK Performance Management
Report, which comprised anonymous
interviews with 300 HR professionals
of senior manager or director level,
500 other managers or directors not
working in HR, and 1,000 professionals
working in a non-managerial role.
Capability problem
More than a third of total respondents
(40%) said managers at their
organisation didn’t have the skills
they needed to provide more frequent
reviews, implying that some investment
in training might remedy the issue.
However, further investigation revealed
that 83% of HR leaders are already
offering relevant training. Despite this,
the capability problem remains.
Looking again at the results, we noted
that top of the list of barriers referenced
by survey participants was ‘manager
availability’. Managers have a lot on
their plates: they are subject experts,
aspiring board members, helping to
drive profitability and enterprise. They
lead projects and have talented people
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“It needn’t be a case
of sifting through
12-month-old
documents to
remember what was
agreed last April”
Stuart Hearn
reporting to them. Investing time in
coaching team members to be more
effective does not always make it into
their busy schedule.
There appears to be a cognitive
barrier as well. With 70% of HR leaders
still using annual appraisals as the
main tool for managing performance,
the process is perceived to be long-
winded and unwieldy. More than half of
managers (58%) are still using standard
office technology (such as Word,
Excel, Google Docs and OneNote) to
undertake reviews. It’s no wonder, then,
that performance management is only
conducted on an annual basis, rather
than quarterly or monthly.
Reducing time constraints
Effective tech can make a difference
here. Tools exist that capture the
salient points from performance
conversations, track objectives against
goals and show the frequency and
quality of feedback. It needn’t be a
case of sifting through 12-month-
old documents to remember what
was agreed last April.
So, if time constraints are reduced,
what do managers still need to
support them in providing continuous
performance management? What they
need is permission to invest in the
development of their team members –
and to be made accountable for doing
so, so that it becomes a priority.
They need the board to tell them
that performance management
should be performance development:
a commitment to coach, manage and
calibrate the progress of their teams.
They need the chance to be managers
of people rather than senior experts
trying to minimise the messy human
side of their role while keeping on top of
their overflowing virtual in-trays.
Great managers know where their
priorities lie. Let’s prioritise our
people. Let’s show employees that the
business is invested in their growth.
Performance management should
be for everyone.