Any tool is only as good as its user!
Many organizations in Zimbabwe do have in place formal mechanisms of managing employee performance. These mechanisms are in the form of one performance management system or another. Our experience with many organizations here in Zimbabwehas also shown that there is a mixture of both structured and semi-structured systems of managing employee performance.Many managers and executives have expressed their frustration with “non-delivery” from these formal performance management systems – arguing that the performance management systems are not really helping them achieve the level of business performance they desire. Elsewhere research has been carried out to ascertain the impact of adopting a formal performance management systems on the actual performance of the business.
The primary objective of any performance management system is to help organizations to:
- build performance – where there is no performance
- improve performance – where performance is not meeting the required standard
- sustain – where performance has been achieved
Improvement of an employee’s performance means the contribution of the employee to the organization is also improving – the collective improvement of employees’ performance means that the organization is achieving effectiveness in terms of driving towards the realization of its mission. Performance is managed within the framework of performance management systems. Many of these performance management systems have been developed and refined over time – ensuring that companies are able to set targets, monitor and review performance within a given performance period. These performance management systems are the tools that are used in managing employee performance and thus should be taken as such – tools! It is a well-known fact that the manner in any tool is used determines the effectiveness of that tool.
Our consulting experience with many Zimbabwean organizations and beyond has shown that there are some fundamental errors committed by organizations in implementing performance management. Most performance management systems have been designed properly and can be customized to suit the specific needs of any organization. However the telling difference in the success or failure of any tool is in its application – how well these systems are being utilized in various organizational contexts.
The major challenges as observed are as follows:
Focus:System vs. Actual Performance on the ground
A performance management system is only a tool that helps us to target, monitor and review performance in a structured manner. It is important that people in the organization understand how the tool works – but it should end there. The real obsession should be with actual performance on the ground than the process of completing forms, computing scores and ratings. Speaking to many managers and executives, the impression is that when they talk of performance management, focus is more on the tool than the performance on the ground. This misdirected focus obviously impacts on the initiatives to be put in place to improve performance.In many organizations people get more worried about completing forms, scoring, etc. without actually focusing on the actual performance that will be scored or rated. The tool should help organizations to document and consolidate performance issues and outcomes, and not to create overbearing work to the users.
Performance Management Skills
The focus on the system has also contributed in a major way to this next challenge – a lack of focus on the actual skills required to build, improve or sustain performance. Performance management deals with people and their shortcomings in meeting the expectations of the organizations – this is a sensitive subject that requires effective skills to deal with. There is a general misconception that all supervisory staff can naturally manage the performance of their subordinates without a problem whatsoever. On the contrary, many managers have actually confessed that they lack the skills required to effectively manage employee performance. Most of the training they get is about how the performance management system work, and not skills on how to effectively manage performance. Skills in setting individual employee targets, continuous assessment of execution of those targets, giving feedback, dealing with performance challenges, dealing with issues in real-time, coaching, conducting formal and informal performance reviews as well as conducting effective appraisals are critical in enhancing the effectiveness of the performance management tools. Organizations have a bias towards the setting of objectives as well as on conducting appraisals. The lack of skills in managing what happens between target setting and appraisals has led to the crumbling of many performance management systems.
Emphasis should be placed more on equipping supervisory staff with the above-mentioned skills that actually influence performance improvement. Possession of the skills mentioned above will directly impact on actual performance.
Performance management training should focus more on building the skills on managing performance than on explaining the tools and the process. If a disproportionate amount of time is spend on discussing the tools & the process and not actual performance then the tool won’t yield the desired results.
Process vs.Event
The lack of proper focus in performance management as well as the lack of the appropriate competencies lead to another challenge where, in many organizations, performance management is still largely about appraisals. The focus from the onset is not about building, improving or sustaining performance but about appraising/rating an employee at the end of the performance cycle. Because managers lack skills in the impact areas highlighted above they then rush to focus on scoring performance. There is actually a lot that goes on before appraisal time that when done properly, appraisals will simply be a consolidation of what has been observed and dealt with on an ongoing basis. This then completes the process, connecting target setting to appraisals in a logical and progressive manner that makes appraisals a mere academic process of consolidation and rating.
Evidence-based Performance Management
Another major challenge with how performance management systems are being applied is that managers do not collect evidence throughout the performance period to support decisions made. If appraisals are to be done correctly, ratings should be supported by a portfolio of evidence so that subsequent decisions made are based on facts and they result in the improvement of performance. Collecting evidence throughout the performance period will also ensure that appraisals are less-emotive as ratings are backed by facts.
Motives
Some managers are also guilty of misusing the tools for managing performance to achieve certain ends. Performance management systems have been misused for promotions, salary increases and well as employment termination. This creates the wrong culture in the organization which rapidly diminishes the effectiveness of performance management system.
Ultimately what managers and executives need to know is that the focus should be on building, improving or sustaining performance – not on being experts in the design of the performance management system. Correct application of any tool requires skills in how to get optimum performance of the tool.
Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at