A Better Approach to Performance Management

Blanchard LeaderChat

What comes to mind when you hear the term performance management?

For many managers and their staff, the term fills them with dread. A major reason for the negative reaction comes from the typical way performance management is implemented.

Traditional performance management systems focus on evaluation. Managers set goals for direct reports at the beginning of the year, meet with them at midyear to see how they are doing and provide feedback, and meet with them again at the end of the year to assign them a grade. That grade is used to calculate pay increases and bonuses, and often to determine who to let go if there are layoffs. This process treats employees like cogs in a machine to be tweaked, oiled, and fixed if needed.

A different approach to performance management requires a different mindset—for organizations, managers, and employees. Ken Blanchard and WD-40 Company CEO Garry Ridge discuss…

View original post 421 more words