Dive Brief:
- Fifty-nine percent of managers and employees see little value in their organization's current performance management processes, a Betterworks survey found. Of the 1,063 managers polled, 62% admitted to not clearly understanding their organization's top priorities for the next 12 months.
- In other key findings, 43% of managers are held accountable for developing their staff, and 63% fail to hold regular development discussions with their team members.
- The survey revealed more negative perceptions about talent management from middle managers than from senior executives. Just 37% of managers said managers in their organizations are held accountable for developing their staff members, compared to 51% of senior leaders.
Dive Insight:
Josh Bersin, president of Bersin & Associates, said in the study's foreword that one of a manager's most important responsibilities is performance management. "Becoming a manager is one of the most transformational parts of your career. For most of us, the transition from 'doing the job' to 'leading and helping others to do the job' is a big change. We need to learn how to set goals, listen closely to others' needs, and gain an understanding for what makes an individual, team, and organization succeed," he said.
Bersin added, however, that managers don't always feel supported and that performance review practices can sometimes do more harm than help. Others agree; managers in a 2018 West Monroe Partners study said they feel they don't have enough training to be leaders and that they often feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities. A Deloitte report released in April found that standard performance management programs have failed workers, but noted that technology can help.
Company leadership and managers might choose to align with employees who prefer more frequent, less formal meetings with managers for real-time feedback on their performance to the traditional once-a-year appraisal.
