Performance Management is a Leadership Activity, Not an HR System
When I was looking online trying to research some of the latest information on performance management, I discovered that a large area related to performance management was about systems. I have worked very closely with HR professional in my past experiences and like working with all professionals, there are some that are terrific partners with their senior managers and leaders while there were others that believe everyone works in support of HR. They not only became people flavored self-licking ice cream cones, but also worshipped at the altar of Performance Management applications, software and processes.
One of my perspectives has been for years, and unless someone can persuade me otherwise, I will continue to prescribe to the concept that managers exist to manage those things that can and need to be managed. Those things include items such as budgets, inventory, schedules, time, team activities, and other things related to plan, organize, direct, and control resources to achieve specific goals. What don’t you manage? People. What do you do with people? You lead them. Leaders lead people! They coach, guide, cultivate, communicate, and discipline them. Part of that responsibility as an effective leader is to conduct performance management. It’s your sacred duty and leadership means you do this every day.
There are some necessary functions within HR systems/software that are essential and add to business and organization efficiencies. These include; Applicant Tracking System, Employee Onboarding and Offboarding, Time Off, HR Reporting, Employee Information System and Benefit Access.
What I haven’t included are so called performance management applications. Many are advertised as 360-degree feedback or goal tracking applications for the benefit of both employees and supervisors. My experiences have led me to find these performance management systems/software as burdensome. Burdensome because more often that not, I as the employee was responsible for determining my own goals or creating my own development plan, even writing up my accomplishments over the performance management reporting period. Burdensome too, because my supervisors were too busy or perhaps too removed to initiate the performance goals and objectives of their subordinates (including me) that these systems demanded. I personally never considered these supervisors to be leaders. They were indeed managers and they chose to delegate their performance management duties to others. I wasn’t blaming them, because they were in the same boat as me, their supervisors had abdicated their responsibilities for their performance management to them.
How should it be? There should be an established partnership. A partnership between employee and supervisor. This is what separates managers from leaders. Leaders and employees meet, discuss, negotiate and commit to the employee’s professional or organizational development. There is concurrence and trust established to determine the employee’s goals and objectives. An employee cannot determine on their own what goals they have for the upcoming performance management period, they need inputs from leaders and the business/organization to understand the business’s/organization’s established goals and objectives for the period. A good leader will also establish periodic and consistent opportunities for the employee and leader to provide feedback, ask questions and review goal and objective accomplishments to determine if course corrections are in order.
Back to those self-licking ice cream cones… As both an employee and as a leader, I recall the numerous email campaigns and reminders from the HR Department to enter information into the “system” and the strict timelines that everyone must adhere for HR to report that Performance Management was working. We also had strict timelines to report that mid-period and end of period reviews were completed. No one ever asked me as an employee nor as a supervisor, if the reviews were effective. There was no follow-up from HR to determine if I was satisfied with the goals and objectives that we created or if my employee development plan was realistic or workable. As a supervisor, HR never inquired about the performance management system or if my subordinates had feedback about the process or even if they felt the system added value. They only asked if they were done. And maybe, in rare instances, they asked if anyone refused to sign the review document. I’m fairly certain at times that HR’s own performance metrics superseded those of the company or organization.
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