Performance Management

READINGS IN PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

PERFORMANCE management in general

Behn, Robert D. Performance Leadership Report. — Prof. Behn publishes a monthly newsletter and has written white papers mostly on the topic of performance measurement and management in the public sector. Most of these newsletters and reports are available through his website.

Cohen S, Verma N. Rethinking Performance Management as a Business Tool to Spark a High-Performance Culture. Hewitt White Paper, 2008. — A decidedly private sector take on how to use performance management to elicit top-notch performance.

Coon B, Wolf S. The Alchemy of Execution. DDI White Paper, 2005. — “Execution” is the business term for carrying out mission and strategy. Performance management is one of the manager’s main tools for doing it.

Davis P, Rogers RW. Getting the Most from Your Performance Management System. DDI White Paper, 2002. — Once you decide what purposes your performance management is to serve, how do you get it to serve those purposes?

Eichinger RW, Lombardo MM. The ROI on People — The 7 Vectors of Research. Lominger White Paper, 2003. — A whirlwind summary of research on human resource management practices that work.

Ittner CD, Larcker DF. Coming Up Short on Nonfinancial Performance Measurement. Harvard Business Review, Nov. 2003. — This article is about the organizational performance measures to which individual performance expectations ought to align. See article summary.

Miller K. We Don't Make Widgets: Overcoming the Myths That Keep Government from Radically Improving. Governing Books, 124 pages, 2006. — An excellent starting point for learning how to think differently about performance in the public sector.

Pfeffer J. The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First. Harvard Business School Press, 1998. — Research-based human resources management practices that enable organizations to excel, even when they are unable to attract the superstars.

Risher H, Fay CH. Managing for Better Performance: Enhancing Federal Performance Management Practices. IBM Center for the Business of Government, 2007. — This is an excellent summary and critique of the federal government's experience with performance management, along with descriptions of workable practices.

Summers L. Castaway Performance Management. Workscape White Paper, 2008. – A brief fable that illustrates the point that performance management is a naturally occurring process when a group of people share an important desired outcome.
Turning Point. Performance Management Collaborative. — A good resource on results-focused performance management. The material here is a collaborative effort of the health agencies in a number of states.

Whittaker JB. Strategy and Performance Management in the Government. Pilot Software White Paper. — Big-picture view of performance management in government. How the balanced scorecard concept can be applied in managing government performance.

Zigon J. How to Measure the Performance of Work Teams. White paper, 1995. — Using outcomes as measures of team performance. Available on the US Office of Personnel Management's web site.

COACHING and employee development

Buron RJ, McDonald-Mann D. Giving Feedback to Subordinates. Center for Creative Leadership, 1999, 30 pages (ISBN: 1882197399). — Guidelines for giving feedback so that your employees can work more effectively, build new skills, and grow professionally.

Dalton MA. Becoming a More Versatile Learner. Center for Creative Leadership, 1998, 25 pages (ISBN: 1882197380). — This concise booklet offers tips on how to be more effective at learning from experience, which is one of the key levers of individual development.

Imperato G. How to Give Good Feedback. Fast Company, August 1998, p. 144. — This is an excellent article on the realities of feedback giving in work organizations. Includes practical tips on making it meaningful.

Kirkland K, Manoogian S. Ongoing Feedback: How to Get It, How to Use It. Center for Creative Leadership, 1998, 22 pages (ISBN: 1882197364). — This booklet describes a method for getting a steady flow of useful feedback from your co-workers and colleagues.

McCauley CD, Martineau JW. Reaching Your Development Goals. Center for Creative Leadership, 1998, 28 pages (ISBN: 1882197372). — Describes three elements necessary for successful development: taking on challenging assignments, targeting specific skills for development, and making use of developmental relationships.

Peterson DB, Hicks MD — Development FIRST: Strategies for Self-Development. Personnel Decisions International, 87 pages, 1995 (ISBN: 0938529137). — A helpful guide for individuals who want to get the most out of their self-development efforts, this brief book organizes its advice around the acronym FIRST: Focus on your developmental priorities, Implement something every day that forces you to stretch, Reflect on what happens when you try out new things, Seek feedback and support, and Transfer what you have learned into next steps.

Peterson DB, Hicks MD. Leader as Coach: Strategies for Coaching and Developing Others. Personnel Decisions International, 143 pages, 1996 (ISBN: 0938529145). — The companion volume to Development FIRST, this book offers managers a practical framework in which to foster their employees' development. It advises managers to forge a developmental partnership with their employees, inspire commitment to achieve developmental goals that matter, focus on building competencies, promote persistence, and shape the environment so that learning is seen to be rewarding and barriers to individual growth are minimized.

Weitzel SR. Feedback That Works: How to Build and Deliver Your Message. Center for Creative Leadership, 2002, 30 pages (ISBN: 1882197585). — How to craft feedback messages so that they have the most beneficial effect on your employees' developmental efforts.

Zimmerman GL, Olsen CG, Bosworth MF. A “Stages of Change” Approach to Helping Patients Change Behavior." American Family Physician, (61) 5, March 1, 2000. — Development entails behavior change and changing behavior is not always easy. Sometimes it is instructive to step out of the work environment and see what is going on in other fields in which behavior change is an important matter. The "stages of change" model has been intensively researched over the past few years in medical settings where how to get patients to change long-ingrained habits is an important question. There are lessons here that can be applied to fostering development in employees ... and in oneself.

DEALING with poor performers

In North Carolina state government, handling poor performance and taking disciplinary action are tasks that are bound inextricably to policy. The following references are offered only as sources of fresh ideas "from the outside" that may help improve the quality of the interaction between supervisor and employee when dealing with performance problems. In all other regards, follow policy!

US Office of Personnel Management. Dispelling Myths About Poor Performers. OPM, 1999, 40 pages. — This study found that 3.7% of federal employees are poor performers and another 1.5% are "reformed" poor performers. It describes the methods for addressing poor performance that work, the (positive) consequences of dealing with poor performers, and recommendations, many of which can readily be embraced by managers and supervisors in state government.

Bacal R. Five Sins of Discipline. — From Mr. Bacal's summary: "Many managers believe the word discipline has to do with punishment. Actually, it doesn't. Discipline pertains to improving employee performance through a process of assisting the employee (at least at first) to learn so he or she can perform more effectively. Learn about the five common sins managers make regarding disciplining employees."

Davis P, Rogers RW. Managing the “C” Performer: An Alternative to Forced Ranking. DDI White

Williams AH. How to Discipline and Document Employee Behavior.White paper, 2002. — Written by a lawyer, this white paper covers the legal basics of discipline and discipline policy. As Williams says, "More cases are won and lost due to documentation than any other factor."

PERFORMANCE appraisals

Bacal and Associates — Many of the readings at Bacal's website challenge traditional beliefs about performance management. Especially entertaining and enlightening are Bacal's enumeration of the things supervisors can do to mess up an appraisal discussion. On the flip side, employees can also do things to make the appraisal discussion a miserable experience.

ACADEMIC sources

Check out your local university or community college for textbooks on management, human resources management, industrial psychology, and public administration. Textbooks in all four of these disciplines will have chapters devoted to different aspects of performance management, from strategic planning to managing poor performers to employee development to performance appraisals to applicable laws and court cases. Be forewarned, however, that these are textbooks and their coverage of performance management will most likely give a historical perspective on all the approaches that have been tried and will dwell on the status quo.