Continuous Performance Management is a key to success in 2022 and beyond.
The move toward remote and hybrid work in recent years has dramatically changed the employee work experience. With many companies permanently adopting hybrid and remote work models, performance review practices need to adapt. Organizations need to understand how to get the most out of their employees, regardless of where they are getting their work done. To do this, employers must ensure their people are being effectively evaluated and supported in their performance efforts — and the traditional approach isn’t working. We need an effective approach to performance management for the 21st century.
Backward-looking Performance Reviews Cause More Harm Than Good
Employees have long had a negative opinion of backward-looking performance reviews, and that has continued with the move toward decentralized work. But regardless of where people work, the traditional model of performance reviews is ineffective and can even cause harm to employee morale and retention.
Just how ineffective and harmful are backward-looking performance reviews? Only 26% of employees strongly agree that these reviews are accurate, while only 29% strongly agree that they are fair, according to Gallup.
Performance reviews are so problematic because, in most organizations, leaders and individual employees don’t regularly discuss anything beyond task management. Managing performance is more than just a laundry list of activities — it is also about the skills and psychological needs of people performing those tasks and pursuing meaningful goals. As a result, exchanges of high-quality and helpful feedback, or timely recognition for a great performance, are rare or nonexistent in the old approach to performance management. When performance reviews do finally happen, weeks or months have passed since the performance being discussed has occurred. By the time feedback or recognition on performance is given, it’s often no longer relevant, or even worse, it is poorly received by individuals.
By utilizing a performance review system that isn’t timely or relevant, these interactions between leaders and individuals are often unproductive and leave employees feeling underappreciated and disengaged from their work. That in turn can lead to low retention and serious engagement issues in an organization.
Continuous Performance Management (CPM) Is the Solution
The value of CPM is that it aligns organizational strategy with individual and team goals. CPM then enables you to translate those goals into action through regular, high-quality conversations between individuals and leaders.
Leaders and individual employees work together to set clear objectives and key results, track progress, and then regularly collaborate in order to make progress toward goals through meaningful one-on-one conversations. These high-quality one-on-one interactions include periodic self-assessments and check-ins, and are part of an agile and engaging work process for leaders and individuals.
CPM enables a holistic approach to giving and receiving timely feedback and recognition. It also encourages high levels of engagement during the pursuit of meaningful goals, which provides meaning to employees doing the work, as well as the opportunity to develop healthier and more productive work relationships. CPM creates a culture of effective feedback, collaboration, recognition, and leadership in your organization.
Employees and Businesses Thrive With Regular Feedback and Recognition
Consistent conversations between individuals and managers are critical to organizations building community, fostering organizational and individual resilience, and ultimately increasing productivity. It’s critical for leaders to provide direction and support to individual team members pursuing common goals through effective feedback methods. And when people are performing at a high level, it’s important to recognize them for their efforts and alignment with the organization's vision and values.
Managers are critically important to business success. If managers are ineffective or fail to motivate employees, your business cannot succeed. In fact, managers are responsible “for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement” across companies, according to Gallup. Part of being a good manager means giving high-quality, timely feedback — and doing so can affect your organization’s bottom line because employees who receive regular feedback are more productive and profitable.
Engaged employees are more productive and more satisfied. We also know that engaged employees are those who receive regular, high-quality feedback from their managers, who help them feel their work is valued. Engaged employees also feel valued when their work is recognized in a way that is meaningful to them personally. CPM provides the framework to ensure regular one-to-one coaching conversations that engage employees’ core psychological needs while pursuing their goals.
Maximize Your Team’s Potential With CPM
Regardless of where they work — remote, hybrid, or in person — employees thrive when they have a clear understanding of what’s expected of them. CPM creates a space for daily, high-quality, productive interactions between managers and the individuals they work with — no matter where they’re working. With CPM, you can leave behind ineffective, backward-looking performance reviews and manage real-time performance in a way that’s built for the challenges and opportunities of business today.
To learn more about the way CPM can help your organization more effectively execute strategy, download our e-book, “Emerging Trends in Continuous Performance Management for 2022.”
