Inspiring Performance…Not Managing It!
Author:
Susan Stitt,
Director/Human Resources Business Partner,
AstraZeneca Canada
Although the industrial age is long over, most organizations’ key people systems, processes and practices still have roots from that era. Traditional performance management processes are no longer relevant. In fact, they deliver the opposite of the intended performance objective and de-motivate employees (see my article “Dirty Words in the Workplace – Performance Management!”).
The critical performance question business leaders would like to address is how to unleash potential in their organization.
Here are my Five Tips to Inspire Exceptional Performance:
- Ditch your current performance management process. Chances are these processes or practices actually detract from inspiring performance. There is little value in looking back over the past year and assigning a meaningless label to someone’s previous performance because it doesn’t inspire future performance. Writing individual annual objectives at the beginning of each year; Assessing performance through performance appraisals and ratings at the end of each year and creating ties between performance management and your compensation system doesn’t work. I know… there will be resistance. Very likely you will need to re-think your compensation system, especially if your system has an annual “incentive” bonus tied to an individual performance rating. Consider eliminating the annual bonus entirely (in my experience, such bonuses become an expectation versus actually inspiring performance) and empower your managers to reward exceptional performance as soon as it happens.
- Spend timediscussing your company’s vision, strategies, goals and values. I mean, a lot of time. Create clarity and alignment about what’s important in your organization so employees know how they fit into, and contribute to the vision. People crave to be part of something bigger and they want to belong. Engaging people in this conversation is critical so they can really understand, contribute and commit. Clearly and frequently articulating your vision, strategy, goals, values, etc., helps to establish boundaries and direction so creativity and performance can flourish.
- Focus on outcomes by being flexible about how, where and when work gets done. If you focus on the various tasks to get there – like narrow job descriptions and strict requirements related to work hours and work location – you will only constrain individual creativity. These things deliver compliance, not engagement. If you’ve done the work in establishing your vision, strategies, etc., then leave the rest in the hands of your employees. Teams and individuals do amazing things when given the right conditions.
- Invest in developing GREAT people managers and leaders. The quality of your leaders can be linked directly to the quality of your business results. Your best leaders deliver double the results that your mediocre leaders deliver, and ineffective leaders actually cost you money. This is intuitively understood when you consider your people managers directly influence most of the factors that determine individual engagement. Juice Inc. defines engagement as whether or not people feel they fit, their level of clarity, how supported and valued they feel, and whether they feel inspired. Given the impact your managers and leaders have, ensure exceptional people management practices are a critical priority in your organization. Being (or having the capacity to be) a great people manager should be key criterion in talent decisions. Invest heavily in developing both management and leadership practices and seek frequent feedback from employees on the impact managers have. Provide coaching and support and be sure to recognize and reward your best leaders and managers.
- Put people first. It’s really that simple. Truly honour individuals’ whole lives and what makes them unique. Expect that your managers will really get to know their people, their strengths, their passions, their hopes and their dreams. Support your people to grow in their areas of strength and use your commitment to people as a key decision filter for everything you do in your organization.
It’s time to re-think how we work in organizations. I am passionately committed to helping organizations make significant changes for the better. What are you inspired to do?