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Sibson Consulting in conjunction with WorldAtWork publish reports on the global state of Performance Management. We have developed our approach based on what works in one of the most complex environments – schools – and the strengths of our approach match exactly what are regarded as the top three challenges in this area, and that have stayed the top challenges over the last four years.
By the way, schools are complex because although teachers only count in the hundreds or less there are an order of magnitude more children involved and in getting them to perform at their best when they do not yet have an adult’s ability to make choices about what is best for them (e.g. they have to go to school whether they like it or not), can easily lead to them performing below their best.
The top three challenges in both 2007 and 2010 were identified by respondents as:
| Top three challenges | 2007* | 2010* |
| Managers lack courage to have difficult performance discussions | 71 | 69 |
| Performance Management is viewed as HR process (instead of a business critical process) | 45 | 47 |
| Poor goal setting | 36 | 36 |
| * % of respondents who rated these as their top issues |
In terms of goal setting the same surveys reported alignment of goals of senior managers, middle managers and non-managers to corporate goals as follows:
| Alignment of Goals (to corporate goals) | 2007* | 2010* |
| Senior Managers | 73 | 70 |
| Middle managers | 48 | 45 |
| Non-managers | 26 | 17 |
| * % of respondents who rated completely aligned or aligned to a great extent |
In the 2007 report 51% of respondents saw their Performance Management system as being effective or extremely effective in achieving desired results, this had declined to 43% by 2010.
This suggests, what experience tells us, that performance management is not hitting the nail and, if anything is becoming less effective. Our work in schools has made it clear that performance management is THE business critical process if a school is going to change to match children’s and society’s changed and changing needs. Thus we have built our approach around that.
Similarly, the core of our work is based around getting teachers to learn in the classroom (i.e. model learning to children and, well, get better at what the teachers themselves do) and because teaching is a complex profession each teacher needs clear goals to which they are committed to make that learning happen.
Finally, teachers need managers who can have the difficult performance discussions with them – but in a coach-like way – so that growth in capability and in outcomes can continue to develop. This modelling of coach-like behaviour to teachers gradually causes teachers to adopt the same behaviours so that they not only model learning to students but also the behaviours that allow children to work through difficult or challenging issues. Both of these are essential for students to learn at an optimal rate – and adults too.
