"My aim is to help you understand how performance management really is killing performance, but more important, to show you exactly what you can do about it" - M. Tamra Chandler
I’ve managed people for over 20 years and there have been a
lot of positive changes since my newbie banker days. I have a passion for
discovering the strengths and uniqueness that each individual brings to the
table. After unearthing the special traits that we all have, I love unlocking
the magic and bringing out the best in people. Growing people’s strengths and
watching them excel is like mothering a garden into full bloom and stepping
back to enjoy the beauty. What I hate about management? Performance reviews!
There is no worse experience out there for an employee or a manager. They are like a dreaded once a year reunion
with the side of the family that no one wants to see. We do it because we have
to and move on.
Technology and innovation have thrust us all into a fast
changing and tumultuous world. Change is an everyday experience. Performance
management has remained the same old agenda with newer, fresher names and warm
fuzzies. In short, they demotivate rather than uplift and motivate people. M.
Tamra Chandler isn’t content in keeping with the past. Her book How Performance Management is Killing
Performance – and What to Do about it kicks performance reviews to the curb
and offers hope for leaders to change the performance management process to
truly coach, give relevant feedback, motivate, and engage, and grow people.
The first step that we need to take is to reboot the
performance management (PM) process. Leaders need to rethink what they know and
believe. The process of mid-year and annual reviews with assessments sprinkled
in doesn’t cut it anymore. It just isn’t working and employees only become
discouraged and far from motivated. Next, we need to redesign what we do.
Rebooting the process means that leaders need to trust their people and be
willing to customize the PM process because no two organizations are the same. We
need change with the entire performance management process.
Ultimately all leaders want to develop people, reward them
equitably, and really drive organizational performance. It’s a simple process
but so much can go wrong. Ms.
Chandler eagerly shows us eight flaws to the process and eight fundamental
shifts.
8 Flaws of Performance management
1.
A Theory
without evidence is just a bad theory.
There’s just no evidence that traditional performance appraisals do
anything to actually help people perform.
2.
Nobody
opens up to the person who pokes them in the eye. The ways we measure performance
today hinder feedback and limit honesty.
3.
Nobody
remembers the good work. Amen! Did you ever notice that the tiny thing you
did wrong morphs into a monster during review time?
4.
No man or
woman is an island. We focus way too much on the individual even though it
takes a tribe to bring change and innovation. Let not just focus on the island.
5.
We are not
machines. Some may act like it
however….
6.
We are not
machines – redux. Reviews are judgments and fairness and standardization
are thrown out the window folks. Put the people back in the process.
7.
Let me
introduce you to your competition – now play nice together. Comparing
people is a bad idea. It breeds competition especially when companies use a
ranking system and pits them against one another.
8.
We are not
Pavlov’s dog. Let’s face it. Most people want more than money and it just
won’t buy happiness. We want personal rewards and to feel valued like we are
really making a difference.
At this point I am sure that you are vigorously shaking your
head up and down in agreement. We’ve all been dropped into the performance
appraisal chair on both sides of the desk. I hate giving reviews and I really dread
receiving them. Both chairs feel more like its judgment day than an enriching
growth process that benefits the individual or teams. To make change, we need
to shift how we look at the PM process and think differently.
8 Fundamental shifts that can impact the performance management process
1.
Open the
door. If there is no transparency there will not be any trust. Ms. Chandler
urges us to stop the secrets and let people know where they stand.
2.
Give the
steering wheel to your employees. Shift from management driven thinking to
employee driven action.
3.
Change
your focus. Don’t beat people up for past performance. Shift to focus on
future capabilities and on the “performance preview” for each person. Look at
how people can work together.
4.
Abandon
uniformity. Quit relying on structure and a one size fits all approach.
Bring more customization and new ideas to the process.
5.
Welcome
more voices to the conversation. Most organizations have a set and concise
PM system. It’s bland and singular. Instead we need to look at employee
differences, cultural backgrounds, and a more customized approach.
6.
Stop
policing, start empowering. Managers need to stop controlling and granting
too much oversight. Become more flexible and step in when there are issues that
need addressing and then step back.
7.
Incent
collaboration. Pull away from individual metrics and become more
collaborative. It offers more ideas and opportunities to everyone.
8.
Get real
with rewards. We need to get away from just paying for performance. Let’s
get back to paying for capabilities and really rewarding contributions. Link
pay to market value, experience. And capabilities.
Once
we learn what is wrong with the whole PM process and start to look at it in new
ways with fresh eyes we are given some meat on how to redesign the performance
management process. How Performance Management is Killing
Performance – and What to Do About it introduces five phases to redesign
your process, people, and organization. M. Tamra Chandler offers some key tools
and techniques to lead us through redesigning what isn’t working for
organizations today. Here are the five
phases:
1.
Mobilize. Plan properly, invite people, and get
started.
2.
Sketch. Verify that your team is aligned and
understands the facts and where they are going. Sketch your frames against your
goals.
3.
Configure. After you plan and have a blueprint
on where you are going it’s time to pick your practices, options, then test and
validate solutions.
4.
Build solutions. This can be tough. You need to
be aware of dependencies and variations as you build.
5.
Implement.
Ms. Chandler offers in-depth intricate tools and techniques
that will enable teams to dig deep and bring up some fresh ideas and solutions.
There is an entire tool box chapter that is worth spending time on. We are
introduced to design principal questions, sample statements, sketch pads and
many others. The tool box is designed for real hands on use and paired with
real stories in real organizations that set about making changes to their
systems. The knowledge and tools are priceless! The examples that M. Tamra
Chandler shares bring all the ideas in the book together and show how the tools
put forth work in action.
Whenever we spend time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears on
making change and positively impacting others we want it to last and build.
Look at all the projects or changes you have either worked on or seen crumble.
It hurts, it’s discouraging, and it can deflate your confidence. In short, any
changes you make need to stick. They need to remain steady yet become a life of
their own. Here’s what you need to do to for lasting change:
1.
Lead the change.
2.
Make the case and sell it.
3.
Plan the change but don’t shove it down people’s
throats.
4.
Create your change plan.
5.
Gather change champions.
6.
Expect resistance.
7.
Defend against naysayers.
8.
Build your courage
How
Performance Management is Killing Performance – and What to Do about it is
a book that I would love to drop into every leader’s lap that touches any piece
of a performance review. Too many organizations try to plot people into boxes
or graphs and never go any further to find new ways to truly engage people
during this process to bring empowerment and increased engagement. Why do we
still stick with a process that we can prove has no impact on performance? Why
do we stack rate people and pit them against their coworkers like animals?
Organizations have come so far
the last ten years in finding innovative ways to allow people to work remotely with
technology or connect and lead projects across countries. We are better at identifying
and offering solutions in more than half the time it took us years ago. Yet we
still can’t solve for the most important part of our organizations – PEOPLE. Pick
up Chandler’s book today and become part of the movement to bring needed impactful
change in your company and for your people.
