What are the best practices for managing performance in a highly regulated industry?

Performance management, in my opinion, is one of the most important tools that any organization can use to assess the true performance of the company, ensure that everything is running smoothly and that the company is doing well. Although it is thought that it brings a change, senior management doesn't seem to be seriously committed to it. Many companies spend their time talking about what they sell and produce, rather than setting up a system like performance management that helps the shareholders and leaders maintain sustainability. The success of performance management depends on the commitment of the senior leaders. To my knowledge, the only company that gives the right value for performance management is IE Network Solution.

I believe performance management (PM) is a strategic business process. It is aligning individual work with group and organizational priorities to drive exceptional business performance. A key component is centered on the senior leadership's position on what they believe the purpose of PM is. They must agree on the purpose and objectives. All else is aligned to that with messaging and modeling expectations. I agree with Yared Kebede's statement regarding the commitment senior leadership needs for it to work. Accountability is linked to shareowners, customers, and employees. While HR may help establish a framework for PM within a company, the process itself is owned by the client. Model, practice and reinforce each day.

Making sure your staff understands the bigger picture and the environment is key in my opinion. Staff will perform better if they understand why and how they have to do what they have to do. What I mean by "bigger picture" should really depend on the level of the staff you're dealing with. I wouldn't go into too many details about strategic goals and policies when talking with staff at the tactical level for example, you should focus more on the operational level in that case.

As per my experience employees can perform their best when there are structured guidelines of performance management however not restricted to it. Structured guidelines should be there for managers, employees to have a guideline on their daily work but higher management should give that leverage to the subordinate to use their judgement, creativity, expertise sometimes to bring the best of them and to make them feel, understand that they are also valuable member of the team. And that’s how we can ensure the optimum performance.

Managing performance in regulated industries means setting clear goals, ongoing training, meticulous record-keeping, and regular feedback. Use performance improvement plans when needed and conduct internal audits. Collaboration among HR, legal, and compliance is crucial. Encourage reporting, stay adaptable to changing regulations, and celebrate compliance successes. Building industry relationships and using tech tools can help streamline efforts. Remember, it's about fostering a culture of ethics and compliance throughout the organization.

Managers being available to staff is an excellent way to provide mentorship and guidance. Communication is key and it's a two way street. Employees who need help must ask for help. Some managers can sense when staff are struggling however staff should reach out for help too.

At some organizations PIPs can have a bad reputation. When used correctly they can be a very positive tool for individual employee growth. Ensure that PIPs are handled in a different manner than disciplinary action. They should be meant to provide some additional guidance and training for employees that just need a little extra to meet performance standards.

Celebrating when performance improves and recognising the innovations that helped it happen, can act as a catalyst for more suggestions and innovative practices. In turn driving performance further, inspiring teams and pushing the boundary of what can be achieved.

One more dimension of performance management in a highly regulated industry is redesign of existing process and only after that automation by implementing a user-friendly and easy to follow IT solution (eg SaaS solution). Banking industry is clearly one of the highly regulated industries globally. Having worked in it since 2020 we decided to modernize the existing performance management in order to synchronize the entity performance and individual one. That has become possible when we prioritized to give our employees a digital experience in people processes. Fully digitized performance management is vital to reduce to the minimum a natural bureaucracy, create transparency internally and finally make competitive compensation package.

In a tightly controlled industry making sure everyone does their best involves a mix of following rules & finding new ways to do things better. It's not just about obeying rules; it's about giving people tools & trust to figure out how to follow those rules in a smartest way. Using tech helps make things easy more accurate so there's less time spent on paperwork. And when everyone understands rules & feels responsible for following them, things tend to go more easy.Open talks with people who make rules help as it gives us a better idea of what's expected & how we can meet those expectations. So managing performance in a highly regulated industry means finding a balance b/w following rules & finding smart efficient ways to do our best work.

In a highly regulated industry, making sure everything runs smoothly involves being very careful. The best way to do this is by creating a culture where everyone follows the rules not just because they have to but because it's a natural part of how things work in the company. This means making sure that everyone knows,understands rules & follows them. Important to keep good records, follow all rules about documenting & reporting. People to be trained regularly on the rules as they change. Also good idea to talk to people who make rules to know what might change soon e.g in the pharm industry, following the strict rules from the FDA is a big part of how they do things. Doing all these things, companies can follow the rules & do business well