Performance Management

According to Simon Caulkin, "You could be a genius - if only you had a good system."

The "system" Simon refers to is that of performance management.

"Performance management is one of those many management issues (leadership is another) that becomes more puzzling the more you look at it. At first sight it seems evident that teams and individuals should be managed to produce good performance. But that doesn't make it effective or easy. A recent report by the Work Foundation notes that despite intensive attention from academics and practitioners over the last two decades, for many organizations performance management remains a vexed subject with a 'grail-type quality' always out of reach."

BOTTOMLINE: 'Bad systems do far more damage than bad people, and a bad system can make a genius look like an idiot. Try redesigning systems and jobs before you decide that a person is "crappy",' they advise.


(Tip of the hat to Dave Sovde, over at Frontline Team Achievement)