LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

LEARNING

Acquiring a complex set of sophisticated skills is a result of change that comes from learning. An
understanding of how people learn is very important because it will help people explain and predict
behavior.

Knowledge about learning is very useful to someone who cares about the behavior of people.

WHAT IS LEARNING?

Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge due to experience. When a

person behaves differently from what he previously did, it can be said that there is change in the
persons behavior. With change there is learning.

Change in behavior may be due to learning or other causes like drugs, injury disease, maturation
and many others. A change behavior is manifested by outward actions like frequent yawning.

Behavioral change starts with the mind when it accepts new knowledge. Sometimes the mind
orders the body to show some signs of behavior that is different from the previous one.

THEORIES OF LEARNING

There are theories of learning that help explain the learning process. They are:
1. Classical Conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning
3. Social Learning

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a
response that was originally evoked by another stimulus.

Classical conditioning is a learning process first discovered by the Russian physiologist Ivan
Petrovich Pavlov in the early 1900s. The discovery was accidental and happened while he was
conducting experiments on digestion in dogs. His whole experiment dealt with his experiment on
his dog Circa. He went on to dedicate his whole life to find out the underlying principles of
Classical Conditioning and also went on to win Nobel Prize for his contribution in the field of
psychology.

Classical Conditioning is a form of associative learning which deals with learning of a new
behavior via associating various stimuli. Classical Conditioning theory deals with the concept of
pairing two or more stimulus and then relating the output response with different stimuli.
Simply put, an organism is conditioned in such an environment that it produces the conditioned
response from the conditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus is neutral prior to the
experiment. The repetitive trial of pairing the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus
leads to the neutral or conditioned stimulus causing the organism to produce the conditioned
response.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant Conditioning may be defined as a type of learning where people learn to repeat behaviors
that bring them pleasurable outcomes and to avoid behaviors that lead to uncomfortable outcomes.

Operant conditioning can be described as a process that attempts to modify behavior through the
use of positive and negative reinforcement. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an
association between a particular behavior and a consequence.

Example 1: Parents rewarding a childs excellent grades with candy or some other prize.
Example 2: A schoolteacher awards points to those students who are the most calm and well-
behaved. Students eventually realize that when they voluntarily become quieter and better
behaved, that they earn more points.
Example 3: A form of reinforcement (such as food) is given to an animal every time the animal
(for example, a hungry lion) presses a lever.

The term operant conditioning originated by the behaviorist B. F. Skinner, who believed that
one should focus on the external, observable causes of behavior (rather than try to unpack the
internal thoughts and motivations)

Reinforcement comes in two forms: positive and negative.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE REINFORCERS

Positive reinforcers are favorable events or outcomes that are given to the individual after the
desired behavior. This may come in the form of praise, rewards, etc.

Negative reinforcers typically are characterized by the removal of an undesired or unpleasant

outcome after the desired behavior. A response is strengthened as something considered negative
is removed.

The goal in both of these cases of reinforcement is for the behavior to increase.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT

Punishment, in contrast, is when the increase of something undesirable attempts to cause a

decrease in the behavior that follows.

Positive punishment is when unfavorable events or outcomes are given in order to weaken the
response that follows.
Negative punishment is characterized by when unfavorable event or outcome is removed after a
undesired behavior occurs.
The goal in both of these cases of punishment is for a behavior to decrease.

SOCIAL LEARNING

Social Learning may be defined as the process of observing the behavior of others, recognizing its
consequences, and altering behavior as a result. One of the ways by which people learn is through
social contacts with other people. For instance, an employee pays much attention to his boss, a
highly successful person, whenever he speaks or just plain moving around the office. The brief
encounters with the boss gave the employee the opportunity to understand and apply some ideas
shared by the superior. An example is watching boss perform the right way to communicate with
customers.

One of the most influential learning theories, the Social Learning Theory (SLT), was formulated
by Albert Bandura. It encompasses concepts of traditional or classical learning theory and the
operant conditioning of B.F. Skinner.

However, the theory strongly implies that there are types of learning wherein direct reinforcement
is not the causal mechanism; rather, the so called social element can result to the development of
new learning among individuals. Social Learning Theory has been useful in explaining how people
can learn new things and develop new behaviors by observing other people. It is to assume,
therefore, that Social Learning Theory is concerned on observational learning process among
people.

HOW SOCIAL LEARNING IS ACHIEVED

Social learning may be done in three ways namely:

1. By observing what happens to other people;
2. By being told about something; and
3. Through direct experience.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

It is the best interest of organizations that the performance of their members are well managed. To
improve employee output and performance, there are available systems and procedures that can
be used. The task of management is to make sure that every member is doing what is expected of
them. How management will go about doing this task is the aim of performance management.

What is Performance Management?

Performance Management refers to the procedures and systems designed to improve employee
outputs and performance, often through the use of economic incentive systems.

Apart from economic incentives, the other means used to improve employee performance are:
 1. Goal Setting
2. Streamlined Organizational Structure
3. Better Technology
4. New Arrangements of Working Schedules
5. High Involvement of Employees
6. Better Motivation of Employees

Performance management is a means of getting better results from the organization, teams and
individuals by understanding and managing their performance within a framework of planned
goals, standards and competence requirements.

An effective performance management process considers human resource (HR) strategic planning
as a basic requirement. HR strategic planning is the process of providing capable and motivated
people to carry out the organizations mission and strategy.

What is the Performance Management Process?

Performance management is a management style that has grown increasingly popular. It involves
a process in which a company, organization, or institution creates a work environment that
empowers employees to work to the best of their abilities. The process that an employer uses to
accomplish this often varies from one business to the next. Despite these variations, the
performance management process generally involves some form of goal setting, evaluation and
reward. In addition, coaching is often offered throughout the process.

Planning
The planning stage of the performance management process is meant to set achievement goals for
the employee and discuss the expected level of performance for the job. The expectations for any
given employee will typically depend on the work they are doing or the department they are in. At
the end of the planning stage both the employee and management must be in agreement in terms
of what is expected. In addition, the goals that are set are ones that should be achieved within the
course of one year.

Assessment
The assessment is an annual evaluation of the employees' performance. This often takes feedback
from co-workers and clients into consideration, in addition to observations by management.
Assessments also include a review of the previous years' evaluation and an assessment of skills.
Some employers may have an employee complete an evaluation of their own performance that is
then discussed during the evaluation and compared to the official evaluation.

Recognition
This portion of the process is about recognizing the employee's accomplishments as well as any
areas that need improvement. During this process the manager/employer and the employee should
discuss ways to make improvements. Management should also be open to things that they can do
differently in efforts to help the employee. In terms of accomplishments, employees may be given
recognition verbally and/or in the form of bonuses or promotions.
Career Development
This phase of the process is to promote and encourage future improvement and development of
the employee. It should meet the needs of the business or organization, enhance the strengths of
the employee and work to eliminate areas of weakness. This may involve training on site as well
as sending the individual to off-site training. As with other phases or stages of the process,
communication between management and the employee is important.

Performance management can be defined as a systematic process to improve organizational

performance by developing the performance of individuals and teams working with an
organization. It is a means of getting better results from the organization, teams and individuals by
understanding and managing their performance within a framework of planned goals, standards
and competence requirements. In other words, performance management is the process of
managing an organizations

Organizations establish performance management systems to meet three purposes:

Strategic-. It does this by helping to link employees behavior with the organizations goals.
Performance management starts with defining what the organization expects from each employee.
It measures each employees performance to identify where those expectations are and are not
being met. This enables the organization to take corrective action, such as training, incentives, or
discipline. Performance management can achieve its strategic purpose only when measurements
are truly linked to the organizations goals and when the goals and feedback about performance
are communicated to employees

Administrative- Performance management can also support decision making related to employee
retention, termination for poor behavior, and hiring or layoffs. Because performance management
supports these administrative decisions, the information in a performance appraisal can have a
great impact on the future of individual employees.

Developmental- Even employees who are meeting expectations can become more valuable when
they hear and discuss performance feedback. Effective performance feedback makes employees
aware of their strengths and of the areas in which they can improve. Discussing areas in which
employees fall short can help the employees and their manager uncover the source of problems
and identify steps for improvement. Although discussing weaknesses may feel uncomfortable, it
is necessary when performance management has a developmental purpose.

For performance management to achieve its goals, its methods for measuring performance must
be good. Selecting these measures is a critical part of planning a performance manage system.

Several criteria determine the effectiveness of performance measures:

Fit with strategy
Validity
Reliability
Acceptability
Specific feedback

Purposes of Performance Management

The purposes of performance management systems are of three kinds: strategic, administrative,
and developmental.

STRATEGIC PURPOSE
First and foremost, a performance management system should link employee activities with the
organizations goals. One of the primary ways strategies are implemented is through defining the
results, behaviors, and, to some extent, employee characteristics that are necessary for carrying out
those strategies, and then developing measurement and feedback systems that will maximize the
extent to which employees exhibit the characteristics, engage in the behaviors, and produce the
results.
Performance management is critical for companies to execute their talent management strategy,
that is, to identify employees strengths and weaknesses, link employees to appropriate training
and development activity, and reward good performance with pay and other incentives.

ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSE
Organizations use performance management information (performance appraisals, in particular)
in many administrative decisions: salary administration (pay raises), promotions, retention
termination, layoffs, and recognition of individual performance. Despite the importance of these
decisions, however, many managers, who are the source of the information, see the performance
appraisal process only as a necessary evil they must go through to fulfill their job requirements.
They feel uncomfortable evaluating others and feeding those evaluations back to the employees.
Thus, they tend to rate everyone high or at least rate them the same, making the performance
appraisal information relatively useless.

DEVELOPMENTAL PURPOSE
A third purpose of performance management is to develop employees who are effective at their
jobs. When employees are not performing as well as they should, performance management seeks
to improve their performance. The feedback given during a performance evaluation process often
pinpoints the employees weaknesses. Ideally, however, the performance management system
identifies not only any deficient aspects of the employees performance but also the causes of these
deficienciesfor example, a skill deficiency, a motivational problem, or some obstacle holding
the employee back.

Managers are often uncomfortable confronting employees with their performance weaknesses.
Such confrontations, although necessary to the effectiveness of the work group, often strain
everyday working relationships. Giving high ratings to all employees enables a manager to
minimize such conflicts, but then the developmental purpose of the performance management
system is not fully achieved. An important step in performance management is to develop the
measures by which performance will be evaluated.
SOCIAL LEARNING
There are many ways in which human beings learn. One of the most effective ways is by watching,
observing and modeling others and this is known as social learning theory.
The Bobo Doll Experiment
Human beings have the ability to learn in a number of ways. In the field of psychology, many
different theories have been developed that have focused on learning and how learning can allow
a person to develop new skills and behaviors. A psychologist named Albert Bandura developed
one of the most widely accepted theories, called Bandura's social learning theory.

In the early 1960s, Albert Bandura conducted a famous experiment called the Bobo doll
experiment. In the experiment, he had children observe a video of an adult aggressively playing
with toys, including a Bobo doll. A Bobo doll is basically a large blow-up doll that looks like a
clown. The adult hit the Bobo doll, knocked it down and even jumped on it while yelling words
like 'pow!' and 'kick him!' The children were then allowed to play with a variety of toys, including
the Bobo doll, and results indicated that more than half of the children modeled the adult and
engaged in the same aggressive behaviors with the Bobo doll. This modeling was called Bandura's
social learning theory.

Processes Involved in Social Learning Theory

In order for social learning theory to be most effective, four processes need to occur. The four
processes are attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.

Classical conditioning is one of those introductory psychology terms that gets thrown around.
Many people have a general idea that it is one of the most basic forms of associative learning, and
people often know that Ivan Pavlov's 1927 experiment with dogs has something to do with it, but
that is often where it ends.

Classical Conditioning, Explained

The most important thing to remember is that classical conditioning involves automatic or
reflexive responses, and not voluntary behavior (that's operant conditioning, and that is a different
post). What does this mean? For one thing, that means that the only responses that can be elicited
out of a classical conditioning paradigm are ones that rely on responses that are naturally made by
the animal (or human) that is being trained. Also, it means that the response you hope to elicit must
occur below the level of conscious awareness - for example, salivation, nausea, increased or
decreased heartrate, pupil dilation or constriction, or even a reflexive motor response (such as
recoiling from a painful stimulus). In other words, these sorts of responses are involuntary.
The basic classical conditioning procedure goes like this: a neutral stimulus is paired with an
unconditional stimulus (UCS). The neutral stimulus can be anything, as long as it does not provoke
any sort of response in the organism. On the other hand, the unconditional stimulus is something
that reliably results in a natural response. For example, if you shine a light into a human eye, the
pupil will automatically constrict (you can actually see this happen if you watch your eyes in a
mirror as you turn on and off a light). Pavlov called this the "unconditional response." (UCR)
As soon as the neutral stimulus is presented with the UCS, it becomes a conditional stimulus (CS).
If the CS and UCS always occur together, then the two stimuli would become associated over time.
The response that was initially produced in response to the UCS would also be produced in
response to the CS, even if it was presented alone. Pavlov called this the "conditional response."
(CR)
To make this a bit more concrete, we'll use Pavlov's dogs as an example. Before learning took
place, the dogs would reliably salivate (UCR) when given meat powder (UCS), but they gave no
response to the ringing of a bell (neutral). Then Pavlov would always ring a bell just before he
would present the dogs with some meat powder. Pretty soon, the dogs began to associate the sound
of the bell with the impending presence of meat powder. As a result, they would begin to salivate
(CR) as soon as they heard the bell (CS), even if it was not immediately followed by the meat
powder (UCS). In other words, they learned that the bell was a reliable predictor of meat powder.
In this way, Pavlov was able to elicit an involuntary, automatic, reflexive response to a previously
neutral stimulus.
Note that most English-language textbooks use the terms "unconditioned stimulus,"
"unconditioned response," and so on. This is due to a translation error from Pavlov's Russian to
English. The better translation would be "conditional."
Real-world Examples of Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning can help us understand how some forms of addiction, or drug dependence,
work. For example, the repeated use of a drug could cause the body to compensate for it, in an
effort to counterbalance the effects of the drug. This causes the user to require more of the
substance in order to get the equivalent effect (this is called tolerance). However, the development
of tolerance also takes into account other environmental variables (the conditional variables) - this
is called the situational specificity of tolerance. For example, alcohol tends to taste a certain way,
and when alcohol is consumed in the usual way, the body responds in an effort to counteract the
effect. But, if the alcohol is delivered in a novel way (such as in Four Loko), the individual could
overdose. This effect has also been observed among those who have become tolerant to otherwise
lethal amounts of opiates: they may experience an overdose if they take their typical dose in an
atypical setting. These results have been found in species ranging from rats and mice to humans.
In these examples, it's the environmental context (conditional stimuli) that prompts the body to
prepare for the drug (the conditional response). But if the conditional stimuli are absent, the body
is not able to adequately prepare itself for the drug, and bad things could happen.
Another example of classical conditioning is known as the appetizer effect. If there are otherwise
neutral stimuli that consistently predict a meal, they could cause people to become hungry, because
those stimuli induce involuntary changes in the body, as a preparation for digestion. There's a
reason it's called the "dinner bell," after all.
Classical conditioning is also being used in wildlife conservation efforts! At Extinction
Countdown, John Platt pointed out last month that taste aversion, which is a form of classical
conditioning, is being used to keep lions from preying on cattle. This should, in turn, prevent
farmers from killing the lions.
Given and his team of researchers gave eight of the cats meals of beef treated with the deworming
agent thiabendazole in doses large enough to make them temporarily sick to their stomachs. It
basically causes a bad case of indigestion, WildiZe founder Eli Weiss told The Aspen Times.
After a few meals of treated beef, the lions were once again offered untreated meat. Seven of the
eight refused to eat it, while an eighth actually refused to eat at all for a short period.
In this example, the meat is actually the neutral stimulus, when paired with the deworming agent
(UCS). The unconditional response is the feeling of being sick. Thus, the feeling of being sick
(CR) was associated with the beef (CS), resulting in aversion to beef.
What is operant conditioning?
While classical conditioning is a form of learning that binds external stimuli to reflexive,
involuntary responses, operant conditioning involves voluntary behaviors, and is maintained over
time by the consequences that follow those behaviors. In one experiment, Skinner placed pigeons
individually into experimental chambers (sometimes referred to as "Skinner boxes") that were
designed to deliver food rewards at systematic intervals. He found that by rewarding a bird after it
displayed a desired behavior, he could motivate the bird to increase the frequency of that particular
behavior.
The tools used in operant conditioning are known as positive and negative reinforcement and
positive and negative punishment.
So, what's the difference between positive reinforcement and negative punishment? Negative
reinforcement? Positive punishment? HELP!
More than one introductory psychology student has been confused by the differences between
positive and negative, between reinforcement and punishment. Here are the three (and a half)
things you need to know:
1. Reinforcement is used to maintain or increase a desired behavior, while punishment is used to
reduce or eliminate a behavior. (Skinner argued that reinforcement is more effective than
punishment in modifying behavior.)
2. Positive involves introducing or adding a stimulus to the situation. Negative, then, means that a
stimulus is withdrawn or removed.
3. If a stimulus is pleasing or rewarding, your psych textbooks might refer to them as "appetitive."
If the stimulus is unrewarding or unwanted, they might be referred to as "aversive."
3a. Positive reinforcement and negative punishment involve appetitive stimuli. Positive
punishment and negative reinforcement involved aversive stimuli.
Many students think of the stimuli themselves as positive or negative, and this is where things get
muddled. Say it with me: positive and negative refer to the addition or removal of a stimulus, not
to the stimulus itself.
Positive reinforcement might involve rewarding a child with candy in order to encourage his
playing nicely with his brother. Candy is an appetitive stimulus that is used to increase or maintain
the desired behavior.
If a child misbehaves, they might have their television privileges revoked. This is negative
punishment, because you've removed an appetitive stimulus (TV) in order to eliminate an
unwanted behavior.
If the child continues to misbehave, a parent might yell at him or her; this would constitute positive
punishment. It involves the application of an aversive stimulus (yelling), in order to eliminate the
unwanted behavior.
Finally, the frustrated parent might negotiate with their misbehaving child by offering to reduce
the chores that he or she must complete that week in exchange for the desired behavior. This is a
form of negative reinforcement, since an aversive stimulus (chores) is removed in the service of
increasing good behavior.
But wait, there's more
When it comes to training animals (or sometimes, humans), reinforcement is delivered according
to a predefined schedule. If a stimulus is delivered after a set number of responses, it is considered
a fixed ratio schedule. For example, a pigeon might be given a food reward after every tenth time
that it pecks a button. The pigeon would learn that ten button presses are required in order to
receive a reward.
If the number of responses required to receive a stimulus varies, then you are using a variable ratio
schedule. The best example for this is a slot machine, which has a fixed probability of delivering
a reward over time, but a variable number of pulls between rewards. It is no wonder that variable
ratio reinforcement schedules are the most effective for quickly establishing and maintaining a
desired behavior.
If a stimulus is given after a fixed amount of time, regardless of the number of responses, then
you've got a fixed interval schedule. No matter how many times the pigeon pecks the button, it
only receives one reward every ten minutes. This is the least effective reinforcement schedule.
Finally, if a stimulus is given after a variable amount of time, you've got a variable interval
schedule. A stimulus might be applied every week on average, which means sometimes it occurs
more often than once per week week, and sometimes less often. Pop quizzes are the best known
example of variable interval reinforcement schedules, since the precise time at which they occur
is unpredictable. The desired response in this case is studying.
In general, ratio schedules are more effective at modifying behavior than interval schedules, and
variable schedules are more effective than fixed schedules.
Putting it all together
Skinner took the lessons he learned from his early pigeon experiments and went on to develop
methods for eliciting more complex behaviors by dividing them into segments, each of which
could then be individually conditioned. This is called chaining, and forms the basis for training
dogs to drive cars. The behaviorists who worked with the driving dogs first trained them to operate
a lever, then to use a steering wheel to adjust the direction of a moving cart, then to press or depress
a pedal to speed up or slow down the cart. As each dog mastered each step, an additional segment
was added until they learned the entire target behavior. Unlike pigeons, for whom food is the best
reward, the domestication process has meant that dogs can be rewarded with verbal praise alone
(though food definitely helps).

What is performance management?

Performance management is a process that provides feedback, accountability, and documentation
for performance outcomes. It helps employees to channel their talents toward organizational goals.

Thats a fairly straightforward explanation, and youve likely heard it phrased in a few different
ways covering essentially the same material.

However in defining terms like this, what isnt always brought to light is ownership and
responsibility for the program. So lets talk about that for a moment.

Who owns the performance management process and its success or failure?

Hint: It isnt just the responsibility of the HR department or people managers. Your entire
organization is accountable.

And, organizational culture affects how performance is managed. If your companys culture
doesnt reflect that cross-organizational accountability, then performance management will fail.

Good HR leaders who have their fingers on the pulse of their organizations will intuitively know
which areas of performance must be addressed. But even the best talent programs wont work if
your people managers and your employees arent held accountable for participation.

Why is participation so important? Because investing the right amount of time, effort, and
resources in performance management can yield results:

22% higher shareholder returns (McKinsey)

30% increase in company value (Watson Wyatt)
19% increase in operating income (Towers Watson)
What can HR do to drive high performance in your organization?
Set clear goals and expectations Ensure personal goals in some way contribute to the
achievement of the organizations high level goals. Give your managers and employees (since they
should participate in writing their own goals) annual training on how to write effective goals. Its
not an easy skill to master, and we easily forget how to do it well. And make it a priority in you
organization to regularly communicate the progress and status for high level organizational goals.

Tip: Provide a sample of an effectively written goal (aka SMART goal) on your review form.

In terms of setting expectations, make sure managers and employees review goals set for the year.
Use organizational and job-specific competencies to clarify expectations and help describe what it
takes to be successful in a role.

Provide regular feedback Think of feedback and recognition as an investment in future

performance. Have managers provide both formal and informal feedback and recognition.
Managers should clearly tell employees what they are doing well, and why the behavior is valued
(impact on team, organization, customer, etc.).

Feedback should clearly tell what behavior needs to change/improve and why (impact on team,
organization, customer, etc.). Feedback should include a specific example of when the behavior in
question was demonstrated (no generalizations!).

Support employee development and success Building organizational bench strength is just good
business. By investing in your employees development, you ensure your organization has the
built-in knowledge skills and experience it needs to succeed, both today and tomorrow. Its also a
critical way to drive up employee retention.

Remember, development can take many forms: mentoring, job shadowing, volunteer work, lunch
and learn sessions, reading books/journals/blogs, coaching, cross-functional team assignments,
webinars, podcasts, etc. Managers (and HR) should engage employees to identify the learning
activities most appropriate to their needs.

Train your managers to be better leaders

To be successful at performance management, your organization needs people managers who can
coach. If the role of the manager is to accomplish or facilitate work through others, then managers
need to effectively direct and develop their employees.

As an HR leader you should be ensuring managers are trained on basic supervision skills and
trained in coaching and giving performance feedback. Your managers should also be trained on
using your organizations performance management system well.

It cant be stressed enough: the manager-employee relationship is critical to employee engagement

and retention of top performers. As a result, managers should be working hard to build trusting
relationships with each employee they supervise.

Hold employees accountable

This point reinforces the importance of organizational alignment and giving employees a role in
the goal-setting process. When employees help to set their own goals, it not only ensures they are
more engaged in the goal-setting process itself, it also holds them accountable to those goals.
Another way to ensure accountability is to include some sort of self-assessment in your
performance management process. This self-assessment has many benefits, the first being that it
gives employees a voice in how their performance is assessed and rated. As a result they become
an active, rather than passive participant during performance discussions.

Second, it also helps to identify how a manager and employee may perceive performance outcomes
differently. The information revealed in a self-assessment can be used to help prepare for a more
meaningful discussion about performance as a result.

Ensure CXOs understand the value of good talent management practices

Good talent practices yield better business results:

McKinseys ground breaking War for Talent studies determined that companies with strong talent
practices outperformed their peer group, earning 22% higher shareholder returns.

Watson Wyatt, using its human capital index, found that good people practices can increase a
companys value by as much as 30%.
Russell Investments reports that firms on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for list
outperform the S&P 500 and the Russell 3000 by as much as 10%.
Stanford professors OReilly and Pfeffer found that a change of one standard deviation in an index
of human resource management practices produced increases of $20 000 to $40 000 in stock
market value per employee.
A strong performance management process helps senior leaders know who your top and low
performers are. It also helps to identify your organizational core strengths and areas of weakness.

This data can be used to put strategies into place to address performance gaps, and to understand
exactly who has the specialized knowledge/skills/experience you need to succeed now and in
future.

The definition of GREAT performance management? Its an engaged workforce that is fully
aligned with your core business strategies. Do you agree? Whats your definition of great
performance management? Wed love to know.

For more information on how to align your workforce and drive employee performance read how
to engage your managers and employees in your performance management process.