Welcome to Performance Management Week!!

I absolutely love the topic of performance management. To me, it is one of the broadest yet most critical elements of leadership. Being able to create a highly motivated, top performing work team requires you to create an environment that consists of timely and honest feedback, given on a regular basis. Effective performance management requires that you stay in tune with your employees and understand what is needed to motivate them to get the job done in a timely and accurate manner. It requires you to be proactive as well as strategic when it comes to assigning the right resources to the right functions. Piece of cake…right?? Not so much!

In a performance management class I frequently taught, I would ask the participants what they thought performance management meant. The most common response was writing a good performance review. Unfortunately, I think this is a common misconception of many new leaders. An employee’s performance review is only one small element within a much larger process.

This week will explore the various elements of what I consider to be the performance management process. Today will be reviewing the first key element- Understanding your company’s REAL commitment to employee development and performance management.

Assessing Your Company’s “Attitude” Regarding Performance Management

Understanding the culture of your organization specific to performance management is a critical step in being able to effectively manage it. While some organizations tout their commitment to employee development and performance management, the culture they have either created or allowed is unfortunately a living contradiction to their beloved mission statement.

Living in the Utopian Work World

Organizations that are truly committed to employee development and performance management spend time developing their leaders to ensure their vision permeates throughout the organization. The senior leadership in these types of organizations put their money where their mouths are...literally! I worked in the financial services industry for a number of years. The employees in the areas I managed often had significant financial responsibilities; any errors in their work could lead to serious financial exposure. Now let’s face it, we are all human and people make mistakes. On several occasions, errors caused us to have to write off fairly significant losses. When this occurred…

• Did my manager yell at me because of the mistake made by the employee? NO
• Did I yell at the manager directly responsible for supervising the employee? NO
• Did the senior management team call for the termination of the employee who made the error? NO
• Was the employee disciplined for demoted for the error? NO

The culture of these organizations was truly centered on employee development. Now don’t get me wrong, we didn’t sweep the error under the rug or act as if it wasn’t a significant concern. What we did do is immediately begin researching the issue to get to the root cause. We involved the employee in the process so they could learn from their mistake. We kept the lines of communication open with the senior management team and documented the details behind what contributed to the mistake. We also modified existing procedures and implemented safeguards to mitigate future risk. Finally, we created documentation for the employee’s file regarding the error and any retraining that took place.

There was no flogging, no firing, no public humiliation needed. It was looked at as an opportunity for everyone to learn from the issue. The front line employee improved his knowledge and typically became even more dedicated to the organization because of how the situation was handled. As leaders, we learned how to effectively deal with performance issues while creating tighter operational controls to ensure increased profitability. As a leader, it was incredibly rewarding to be part of an organization that really took care of the employees.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

Now let's talk about the organizations that just spew hot air when it comes to employee development and performance management. I have also spent time working in this type of organization. Truth be known, I found it fascinating and extremely challenging because every day I had to cling to my core leadership beliefs. I used the barrage of negative experiences as a reinforcement of what NOT to do in the workplace; thus proving that even the worst of experiences can hold valuable lessons for each of us.

The senior leaders of these organizations are living in their own idealistic world which has nothing to do with what their employees experience each and every day in the trenches. These senior managers are easily wowed by flashy proposals from various corporate business units, promising extraordinary results from the newest and greatest company roll-out. They are wrapped up in the flash and pizzazz of all the fancy new flow charts and forms, and seem to spend all of their energies rolling out these programs from their 50,000 ft ivory tower. They are in complete denial of the fact that their management ranks are largely comprised of managers who are suffering from one of the following impediments:

• Knows it’s just another flash in the pan program that will only be around for a few months before some rocket scientist comes up with the next program that will revolutionize the organization
• Are too busy to care about anything other than what is right in front of them
• Are disinterested in the process because they don’t see the value
• Are so caught up leading through their ego they can’t see straight. These gems also rarely see value in anything they didn’t create
• Are flat out clueless about the critical nature of effective performance management.

A lack of focus on intensive and progressive leadership development, coupled with a failure to hold managers accountable for their leadership performance, is a recipe for long term disaster. These organizations often unknowingly allow for the creation of punitive work environments where employees live in constant fear of making a mistake. While some managers take personal joy from whacking their employees with the 'poor performance stick' others take extreme punitive action against employees as a means for covering their own butts with their managers. Once this type of leadership behavior takes hold in a work environment, it is very difficult to change it. Punitive work environments lead to high stress levels, extreme job dissatisfaction and ultimately, a high degree of turnover. Sounds like a fun place to work…huh?

So What Do I Do If I Work In a Punitive Work Environment?

You first need to determine whether it is the culture of the entire organization, or just the division, building, district you work in. If it is a culture that permeates the entire organization, you might as well take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself if that is the environment you want to work in over the long haul.

If the culture primarily exists in your work area, then you may have some ability to influence this with your own team. Try to stay neutral and unemotional as performance issues are brought to your attention. Follow the guidelines above to determine the elements and root causes of the error so you are in a better position to educate your manager about the problem. Often times when it is communicated in a nice neat package, along with a recommendation, the boss is less likely to wig out and call for an immediate beheading. Be sure to consistently document performance issues in your employees’ personnel files. Documentation is critical for ensuring a fair and consistent work environment and will be needed if an employee continues to demonstrate poor performance. Also, try to use performance issues as learning opportunities for the team so they can all grow in their knowledge and skill base.

Summing it All Up

Being in tune with the culture of your organization is critical to your success and happiness at work. Once you understand what is expected of you, adapting to the culture becomes a lot easier. One word of caution- If you are new to a leadership role, and are working in a punitive work environment, it is important for you to seek out information on more progressive organizations. A significant corporate focus on employee development and effective performance management can truly be a transformative experience for most employees who are fortunate enough to experience it!

That’s it for today. Tomorrow we will explore the keys to creating a solid foundation for effective performance, as well as how to establish clear and concise expectations with your employees.