Performance Management Systems

In many organisations everyone is rated "good" every year. The forms are filed in December, nothing changes in January, and the people who carried their department see no difference between themselves and colleagues who did not. When a poor performer finally has to be dismissed, the personnel file shows years of satisfactory ratings.

A workable system is simpler than most people expect. Each person needs a few clear objectives, a manager who talks to them about progress during the year, and an honest rating at the end.

What We Set Up

• Objectives that run from the organisation's plan down to departments and individuals
• A small number of measures for each role, agreed with the people who will be measured
• An appraisal form and an annual calendar, including a mid-year review
• A fair process for handling poor performance that fits your disciplinary procedure
• Links to training, promotion and, if you want them, pay
• Training for managers on setting objectives and giving feedback

Pilot First

We run the new system in one or two departments for a review cycle, collect feedback from managers and staff, and adjust it before it goes to the whole organisation. A system designed in a meeting room nearly always needs changes once managers start using it.

Linking Company Targets to Individual Objectives

If your company reports targets to a board, a shareholder or a parent ministry, we connect those targets to department plans and individual objectives. The measures the board reports and the measures staff are assessed on then point the same way, and a shortfall at company level can be traced to where it happened.