Organizational Excellence, Performance Management - A Perspective

Organizational excellence, in the face of fiercewhatsoever.
competition, is all but an accumulation of excellence inOn a continual basis, it is important to create a culture
employee performance. This is the most criticalthat is performance oriented, and so that each and
attribute of 'brand value', be it a product or serviceeveryone in the organization feels it essential to
environment... Excellent ideas and innovation, whichperform and contribute. And it is even more important
happens when an atmosphere of creativity andto create a culture that trains the people towards this -
excellence is fostered, take the organization to a levelaccomplishment of their own goals, and the overall
of performance, way above the competition.organizational goals.
While employee engagement has also much to doBesides the actual performance management
with softer niceties, performance management is anprocess, it is also important for any business leader to
extremely objective exercise and its success hingescreate a system that fosters creativity, encourages
on the employees and the team perceiving it to bethe best performers, and likens them to organizational
objective and not otherwise.heroes... In whatever way... it is impossible to avoid a
To communicate to the employees that these wouldbias towards performance; at best you can only
be the measures of performance, along with the timeprevent an overt showcasing of performance.
frame and the scale of measurement makes themIn the case of below par performers, but those who
feel that the exercise is in their and organizationalhave the potential to yet deliver the best, a rigorous
interest.program that focuses on their performance pain areas
Performance management is just not about the annualand overcoming them is needed. This has to be
hikes and appending benefits; it is about making all thesystem built, engage the manager and the leader, and
stakeholders - the performing stakeholders - realizebe a continuous and consistent program - each
where they stand vis a vis the organizational goals,milestone towards achieving the performance
and even their own individual capabilities. Another goodcorrection goal is documented as much as it can be,
nomenclature for performance appraisal can beand the same be used for any situation that can be
'employee capability matrix' - making each and everysimilar...
single member understand and appreciate where hisIn the case of those at the bottom of the pyramid of
capabilities have been, vis a vis the overallperformance, a strategy needs to be in place to
performance of the organization.explore the reasons, see if it possible to bring them to
It is paramount to communicate the goals of thethe highs of the pyramid. In case the same cannot
performance appraisal process, involve everyone inhappen - it may not be just the employee's reason, but
evaluating them on a common scale, and jointly signingan issue of larger competencies in place, and not being
off the course of action needed post the exercisein the right place to hone his or her own skills etc... -
which pegs each and every individual somewhere inThen, the option would be to communicate the same
the organizations' performance matrix. While doing this,to employees, and part ways in a manner that is
every effort has to go into making the processamicable, mutual, and in adherence to the 'brand values'
specific, measurable, and not bring in any biases,of the organization.