Bjarte Bogsnes, Vice President – Performance Management Development på Statoil, har tidigare skrivit det utmärka inlägget The end of performance management (as we know it), som handlar om företagets övergång från en kontrollerande till självreglerande organisation. Just nu är han aktuell som ledare för ett s.k. hackathon på Management Innovation eXchange om nästa generations syns på prestation.
In a recent hack on the MIX entitled The end of performance management (as we know it), I challenged not only performance management practices, but also the label itself.
Whether or not it is by design, I believe the phrase performance management sends a negative message. What do employees hear in this phrase?
“If we want good performance, we must manage you.”
Competent and intelligent employees want to be led, not managed. The job of managers should be to create the conditions that allow great performance to take place. This usually means they should lead more, and manage less.
While this is one reason to reconsider the performance management label and the thinking behind it, another reason is our decreasing ability to effectively manage performance in an unpredictable and rapidly changing business world.
When I started my budget and planning career at Statoil in the early eighties, a few dollars of oil price uncertainty was almost unbearable. Now, in a world with increasing geo-political and financial instability and businesses opportunities that appear and disappear at Internet speed, there often isn’t time to wait for traditional management to tell us what to do. Even if people were machines, the future would still be less manageable than ever.
I believe language is important. If we can find a better label for performance management, it might help us find better practices. It is harder to change old ways if we keep the old name.
Now I’d love to hear what you think. What is your proposal for how we can get great performance without performance management?
Hackathonet är uppbyggt i två sprintar…
1. Redefine Performance Management (21 sep – 7 okt)
2. Read, Rate, and Discuss Definitions (8 okt – 14 okt)
…och avslutas med en sammanfattande del 15-22 okt.
Galet intressant, och något jag kommer följa på nära håll.
Tips. Läs mer av Bjartes tankar om performance management och budgetlös styrning i den kostnadsfria versionen av LESS!
