Performance Management Report 2021: A year that’s transformed Performance Management thinking

Over the past year, as you all know, the world of work has dras­ti­cal­ly changed. And as a result, so has per­for­mance man­age­ment think­ing. Our lat­est report cap­tures the views of HR lead­ers, man­agers and employ­ees on per­for­mance management. 

What this report reveals is how orga­ni­za­tions have adapt­ed their approach towards devel­op­ing per­for­mance in light of the pan­dem­ic and the shift towards remote work­ing. In 2019 we pub­lished our first piece of research on per­for­mance man­age­ment. This year’s report how­ev­er takes a more in-depth look at how well orga­ni­za­tions have adapt­ed to the pan­dem­ic, how HR lead­ers are sup­port­ing their peo­ple, and where the focus of per­for­mance man­age­ment has shift­ed towards. We were delight­ed to have thought lead­ers and HR experts con­tribute to our report and give their view on the find­ings as well as what changes they have made to sup­port and devel­op their people. 

The research in this report is made up of answers col­lect­ed through a mix­ture of tele­phone and online sur­veys. We sur­veyed 221 par­tic­i­pants; 121 of those HR Direc­tors and 100 man­agers and employ­ees. They are from a cross-sec­tion of indus­tries, includ­ing both pri­vate and pub­lic sec­tor orga­ni­za­tions, as well as from orga­ni­za­tions of all sizes. We also have con­tri­bu­tions from Ker­ry Weke­lo, Chief Oper­at­ing Offi­cer at Actu­al­ize Con­sult­ing. In her lead­er­ship, Ker­ry blends her expe­ri­ences as a con­sul­tant, exec­u­tive coach, award-win­ning author, mind­ful­ness expert, and entre­pre­neur. Ker­ry explains in the report, how a sup­port­ive cul­ture, where holis­tic well­be­ing is pri­ori­tised is key for a cul­ture where indi­vid­ual achieve­ment is recog­nised and encouraged.

HR lead­ers also share how they have adapt­ed their approach to per­for­mance man­age­ment, to sup­port and devel­op the peo­ple in their orga­ni­za­tion. We hear from Fran­cis Lake, Head of Organ­i­sa­tion­al Devel­op­ment at Vir­gin Mon­ey, Dave Don­ald­son, Per­for­mance and Devel­op­ment Man­ag­er at Ishi­da Europe, and Jamie Allam, CEO of Amthal Fire and Secu­ri­ty. Some of the key themes they dis­cuss is how data has helped inform deci­sion mak­ing to sup­port their peo­ple, how they have sup­port­ed their man­agers to have reg­u­lar devel­op­ment con­ver­sa­tions, and how their approach to per­for­mance man­age­ment has helped their organ­i­sa­tions to quick­ly adapt to a remote working/​hybrid environment.

Through­out the report, there are some sur­pris­ing find­ings. Although we see an appetite for more devel­op­ment con­ver­sa­tions, and a focus on improv­ing pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and engage­ment, there is still much to be done about get­ting the right data to sup­port per­for­mance devel­op­ment. Many man­agers are still lack­ing effec­tive tools for man­ag­ing per­for­mance, and a large num­ber of HR lead­ers don’t have the data to make links between per­for­mance and productivity. 

What’s most eye-open­ing about this report, is that it reveals some of the atti­tudes HR lead­ers have towards peo­ples’ per­for­mance when work­ing from home. Although many HR lead­ers believe per­for­mance man­age­ment is more impor­tant whilst work­ing remote­ly, the rea­sons behind it are sur­pris­ing. Only 3% of HR lead­ers had pos­i­tive sen­ti­ments about work­ing from home. The rest?

All will be revealed in the report! 

Down­load the report now to find out more about how per­for­mance man­age­ment think­ing is chang­ing and what chal­lenges it brings as the world of work changes. Learn from HR lead­ers and experts as they share their insight on how they are sup­port­ing their peo­ple, and where their focus is for the future.