Photo by Maranda Vandergriff on Unsplash
When we hear the term ‘performance management’, many of us think of performance reviews which include numeric ranking scales or scorecards measuring various business measurements.
While it’s true that effective Performance Management must include metrics in order to provide substance and accountability, the real key to performance management is communication. Everyone including the business owner needs to have someone; a trusted advisor, board member or manager, to help them process the data that supports performance management.
Having performance data is just the first step. Communication is needed to interpret the results, talk about successes, identify barriers, and determine next steps. Because employees sometimes feel threatened when discussing their performance, it’s especially important to pay extra attention to how the message is being delivered and received. Keeping an on-going and consistent dialogue going related to performance, will also make the conversations easier to have and less threatening to the individual.
