Making Performance Management More Motivating

The Challenge 

The Director of Human Resources at a financial services firm knew that their performance management system wasn’t working. She wanted to find a better way to encourage high performance from all team members as well as identify more growth and learning opportunities for individuals across the relatively flat organization. Their performance management program, which primarily focused on past performance, was not meeting the needs of the employees or the business. This challenge was one of developing a thriving culture – thriving cultures enable improved engagement and organizational performance.

The Engagement 

Our engagement started with an assessment of the firm’s existing performance management practices and articulation of the new strategic objectives for performance management. From there, sr4 developed a comprehensive strategy for the work. The strategy was centered around creating systems, processes, and new organizational habits that allowed for forward-looking growth conversations. Separating those forward-looking conversations from the traditional backward-looking ones was critical to the program’s success as research suggests humans are not able to effectively defend past performance at the same time they are thinking of future growth opportunities. The work involved designing the multi-rater feedback tools, creating an annual calendar for performance management events, building awareness of the need for change, training people leaders to have growth conversations, and instilling the desire to increase the cadence of performance management activities.

The Result 

The changes in performance management practices created increased engagement regarding performance management across the organization. With the new system, team members have a time and place to talk about opportunities for growth with their managers. Managers know why separating past performance and future-looking growth conversations is important. Managers also know how to coach their team members to help them achieve their goals. Employees report feeling more motivated and that the organization is invested in their growth and development.

The sr4 Insight 

We believe performance management systems should be aligned with the organization’s strategic objectives. We also believe past performance feedback and future-focused coaching have to take place at separate times. A little training on growth mindset and giving and receiving feedback can go a long way to creating a culture where people get the feedback they need and are motivated to thrive.