So you want to fix performance management

I wish I would have logged the number or hours I spent dealing with Performance Management in my quarter century as an HR Leader. Only because the number would have been staggering. And it would be a great conversation starter at cocktail parties. One of those facts that elicits a gasp or a drink ejected in mid-swallow.  

I'm really not kidding when I tell you this: I've been preaching the potential benefits of ditching the dreaded annual appraisal process for years and years now. Unfortunately, it was always met with deaf ears. And most of the time there were merely scoffs of, "you must be joking."

This truly is a "I told you so" moment for me. So excuse me while I gloat...just a bit.

Yes, wise companies are ditching the tired performance appraisal process and replacing it with performance management systems that look a lot less like systems and a lot more like a way of life. They are disconnecting these systems from compensation. They are more focused on open ongoing dialog and good-old-fashioned "sit-downs." It's the way it should be. So I don't think this is a trend; rather, I think it's an evolution fit for survival. 

Here's the deal, though. You can't just slam this approach into any organization. You must have the culture to support it. You cannot pretend. It must be...I repeat, it must be...something that is truly valued in your organization and it has to be surrounded by the actions and behaviors that will make it so. 

Jamie Notter and I just scratched the surface of this during a webinar we did this week with our partner, QuestionPro. Check out the recording below...we'd love your input.