‘Performance management is the root cause of all evil’.

Whilst working in a large legacy organisation, a colleague of mine told me that performance management was ‘the root cause of all evil’.

I thought that was a bit strong, surely it’s the lack of good coffee and table tennis tables? Seriously though, isn’t performance management (PM) there to help people improve and achieve more each year? I thought so, but then I started to see how it was used, and ultimately abused. 

Over a year ago I attended a ‘Values’ session - be open, challenge, drive for simplicity etc. the usual stuff the big orgs like. One seasoned individual put their hand up and said ‘Challenge? The last time I challenged I got marked down, lost my bonus and it took me 3 years to get back to where I was. I won’t be challenging anything again’. The room of 26 then erupted as people recounted similar stories, much to the dismay of the poor facilitator trying to sell the value of Values! 

In another organisation a situation arose where something needed to be called out. An error had been made by an individual, one that would be very costly to the organisation. Said individual refused to raise the issue, choosing to rather let it roll than take accountability. Why? The response when challenged ‘I can’t, if I do I won’t get my bonus and that pays my mortgage’. 

This behaviour is called Mortgage Driven Development - MDD. The 800lb agile gorilla did a great vlog on this recently. How often are you seeing PMDD - Performance Management Driven Development?

So here are two clear angles on how performance management can be used and abused: 

1. As a cosh by management to ensure people are manipulated as they deem necessary. 
2. As an excessive reward that creates immoral behaviours by those who treat it as a dependency. 

The fear factor runs high in many organisations, driven by some execs who continue to believe the leader-follower model is what’s needed. How often do you hear ‘Exec Bob wants, Bob said, Bob thinks...’ then how quick do the bonus hunters jump on Bob’s bandwagon quoting ‘but Bob said...’ and cue the made-up metrics of awesomeness to make that balanced scorecard shine. Don’t be like Bob. 

What’s needed is a leader-leader model. A model that inspires and engages people at all levels, that let’s them take responsibility for their own actions and outputs, trains them where needed and supports them in self-empowering. Good leaders create environments to foster the growth of more leaders, not see them as a threat. Good leadership means giving control, not taking control. 

Leaders who stand up and say ‘I’ve empowered my people’ are simply quoting buzzwords and missing the point. Think about it - I’ve used my power to tell you I’m empowering you - No wonder most people don’t actually feel empowered or behave in such a manner, that’s because you’re not, your boss just thinks you are because they said it; the irony is Dilbert worthy. 

So what’s the fix? We need to eradicate MDD/PMDD and identify the Bobs of the world. We need to fully review and change the way PM is done, don't do minor tweaks and make out that your HR has been transformational - you're just putting lipstick on a pig. Remove bonuses for a start - 'Heresy!' I hear you cry. Pay people a good salary and inspire them to take ownership and drive their own journey. Give rewards on tangible team outcomes, not BS targets that can be gamed. And if you’re doing transformation, then that includes the exec leaders too. But what if your leaders can’t/won’t change? Then the organisation needs to change its leaders. Elementary, right?