Performance management is in the hands of the line leaders and managers

“Companies that focus on their people’s performance are 4.2 times more likely to outperform their peers, realizing an average 30 percent higher revenue growth and experiencing attrition five percentage points lower.”

This valuable research from McKinsey & Company makes strong links between cause and effect in this core area of impact for HR people.

Performance management is at the heart of so many aspects of an employee’s relationship with their organisation.

I use the word ‘heart’ advisedly – the data below uses words like ‘valued’, ‘sense of belonging’, ‘caring and trusting’ team mates’.

These words speak of emotional engagement, and we know as humans that this kind of engagement enables us to do better work, think more clearly and creatively and tackle issues courageously.

This aspect of performance management is in the hands of the line leaders and managers. Can this kind of data help leaders to get fully on board and invest more authentically in leading and managing performance?

This isn’t the soft stuff. It’s the hard stuff.

It’s HR’s role to design (ideally, co-create) and follow through on making the process work. However, it can then be a fight to get leadership to commit to undertaking the right kind of conversations, and cascading that commitment.

‘It takes too much of my time‘ is the most common response. If all the leader is doing is filling in the form then, yes, it’s probably a waste of time.

If they’re having the right kind of conversation, about performance and what gets in the way, about potential and opening up options – AND building the relationship and feeling of belonging and being valued – that’s where you build business results.

We’re having a lot of conversations with HR leaders right now about the challenge of getting leaders on board with good people practice. If that resonates with you, let’s talk.