Looking forward to 2012
Pondering about 25 years of business is good as it forces you to re-evaluate accepted practice. We will be looking to share some of our innovative ideas with our existing clients and new clients.
So back in 1986 appraisals were an accepted part of management behaviour. The introduction of Investors in People in 1991 promoted the link to business objectives - an ideal that all people in an enterprise would see how their work impacted on the performance of the organisation. We saw a link between business goals and objectives to individuals' objectives.
Performance management and the 360 degree approach came in. These days there is a reliance on computer based performance management systems. Despite all these advances we still hear about managers who do not have the skills or inclination to review performance with their people.
So what should HR professionals do about this? If we accept that the performance of the people in an enterprise makes the difference then HR must act. Our view is that the paperwork or software around performance reviews should be stripped back to a minimum and that the focus should be on the quality of the conversation between the manager and individual.
We should be using technology to record those conversations and then to review them with the managers in a coaching session. So HR should be monitoring not the quantity of reviews carried out but the quality of those reviews. This will enable the managers to improve how they review performance and encourage and reward effective behaviours that add value to the business.
This is just one of our ideas for the future - we will be sharing more with you in 2012!
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