'Something old, something new, something borrowed...'
There are very few ideas that are truly ground breaking, although many seem revolutionary at first. What’s important is to look at what is enduring and then what needs to be changed as the environment morphs and develops; not to knee jerk a reaction. A good example of this is how Performance Management must change to meet needs of today’s environment. If you have the time and enjoy PowerPoint try 10 minutes flicking through 'How Netflix reinvented HR.' This presentation is the basis for how Netflix has tailored its Human Resource policies and processes or in many cases removed them altogether. But spend some time doing Double Loop learning and reflect on the underpinning changes, you’ll see Netflix is not conducting a revolution in Performance Management; rather it is ensuring the organisational values are being supported and role modelled within the organisation. More than that, these values have been developed to directly link to success in a unique business environment. If anything the revolution is ensuring the espoused values and observed behaviour are the same. If you don’t think this is important, can you remember the Enron scandal, the biggest bankruptcy and auditing scandal of all time? Enron had the formal values of: Integrity, Communication, Respect and Excellence, similar to many companies we all work in. Those of us who are old enough to remember the lawsuits and excuses would not recognise the behaviour of Enron from these words. If you are lucky enough not to remember Enron, think about the Banking Crisis and what values the banks stated they had.
If you are going to implement effective Performance Management you’ve got to think strategically and ensure whatever policies you implement are directly mapped against what you want to achieve as an organisation. Make sure there is no incongruence between the values, polices, procedures and the behaviour displayed across the organisation. You’ve got to make sure the behaviours are role modelled. You’re also going to need to select the right individuals to do it.
If your organisation is fast paced, change focused, and decision making is decentralised, you had better make sure your HR policies, including Performance Management support this. If you require three signatures for a hire car, the organisation is not supporting the vision of decentralised, empowered decision making. You may want caring, people focused individuals, but then how are you going to ensure your policies support and reward this? If you want teamwork and cooperation, do you want to create a ‘top third’ Performance Management structure to increase competition between individuals? Would you share knowledge with a rival if he might get the promotion not you? Remember the organisation sets the environment for the behaviour of its workforce. Performance Management is a key component of this environment. It’s got to directly support the organisational objectives.
If you want to learn more have a look at Organisational Iceberg theory. Ask yourself how far the values your organisation adopts are the ones being displayed:
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Look at your HR policies. Do they fight against culture and unwritten rules of the organisation, or do they support the delivery of the organisational objectives?
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Analyse your leaders. Are they displaying the values the organisation wants?
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Think about your coffee room conversations. How many times have you personally supported company HR policy? How much time do you spend criticising it?
