As I was all gearing up to accessorize myself with a thinking hat to write my thoughts, suddenly my sister barged into my room to share her new learning-
“There are Decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen”
– Vladimir Lenin
Well inadvertently, she got me the context to set for my subject that is how Organizations today are bound to experience and explore decades of changes in weeks. Simply put- Identification is the key; organizations have to invariably navigate through the entire journey of identifying the most critical broken legs – Performance Management System.
Performance management has always managed to garner criticism because of several loopholes like biasness, forced distribution, judgments, and whatnot.
Now Given the WFH scenario, it has become an ever-growing concern for organizations to innovate ways and means to develop, appraise, and motivate employees. Therefore this has prompted me to design a 4C Framework to attempt to reimagine the ever-evolving Performance Management System.
Communication:- The greatest obstacle to employee performance is ambiguity; therefore giving clear communication regarding the set expectations to employees is not just only limited to conveying the individual objectives and Key Result Areas but also ensuring that the desired information has reached them in its true essence. This extra mile of to-and-fro communication will ensure clarity in thoughts, and in turn, will alleviate the confusion among employees.
Compassion:- It can’t be emphasized enough that being compassionate and empathetic towards employees while appraising them will go a long way. A simple conversation addressing their unique physical, mental, and emotional challenges and expressing willingness to factor- in all these parameters will ensure credibility in the PM system. It will also motivate employees to align their goals with organizational goals.
Contribution:- It is highly possible that employees are currently working at their 50-60% capacity, which is occupying almost the entire day, in turn decreasing their productivity, and affecting their performance rating. Therefore managers should leverage this opportunity to revisit the individual objectives and result areas that can be adjusted to assist the current strategic goals.
Moreover, employees are contributing beyond their deliverables in the wake of Covid-19 which demands a performance rating system to be more inclusive and robust. It should clearly define metrics to evaluate an individual’s performance in a distributed work setting.
Continuous Feedback:- Last but the most imperative approach is to keep the ball rolling. Drive the ongoing continuous feedback plan by action; address the obstacles towards the expected contribution of employees by welcoming as well as providing continuous feedback and implementing changes wherever needed to remove impediments to success.
With that time to say just one thing in the words of the great Bruce Lee – “Knowledge is not enough we must apply. Willing is not enough we must Do!”
