Is it really possible to “manage” performance?

By William Seidman I doubt  that it is really possible to “manage” performance — which hasn’t stopped people from trying! With the caveat that the real reason for performance management is salary administration, not improving performance, I think the entire idea of using performance management as a motivator and guide to performance improvement should be thrown out. Instead, we should substitute the idea of performance leadership. The focus in performance leadership is to ask of the manager: • What did you do to improve performance of the organization and each person within the organization? • Do you consistently and systematically act with authenticity and meaningful values? • Do you inspire your group’s passionate commitment to achieving a compelling purpose? Do you develop mastery in each of your people? A manager who can answer “yes” to each of these is going to have a high performing group that does NOT need performance management to be successful. Let’s stop blaming the worker for poor performance and toss out performance management. Let’s spend our precious time and resources developing managers into great performance leaders and organizational cultures into great places to work where everyone is a star.  ]]>