Performance Management
Setting expectations, reviewing delivery and acting on the outcome.
Workflow
- 01Goal Setting
- 02Check-ins
- 03Review
- 04Calibration
- 05Outcome and Development Plan
If you change this
It implies 10 topics across 2 modules, including Security & Identity which you might not expect.
See the path ahead →Why it matters
The system's value is continuity: a record of expectations and outcomes that survives a change of manager, and feeds decisions about pay, development and succession with something other than recollection.
- It supports pay decisions: Where remuneration is linked to performance, the record has to be defensible.
- It is evidence: In a dispute, the contemporaneous record is what counts.
- It reveals capability gaps: Aggregated, it shows where the organisation is thin.
The workflow
- 01
Objective setting
Expectations agreed and recorded, aligned to team and organisational goals.
- 02
Check-ins
Progress discussed and noted through the period, not only at the end.
- 03
Assessment
Performance assessed against the objectives that were actually set.
- 04
Calibration
Ratings reviewed across managers for consistency.
- 05
Outcome
Remuneration, development or management action follows.
- 06
Development plan
Capability gaps become a plan with dates.
Calibration is the step organisations skip and then regret. Without it, a rating means something different under every manager, and any pay decision resting on ratings is indefensible.
What you need in place
- Objectives recorded at the start: Assessing against objectives set retrospectively is not assessment.
- Manager visibility on history: Including under previous managers.
- Calibration support: Distribution visible across an area.
- Link to remuneration rules: If pay follows performance, the rule should be explicit.
- Underperformance path: Separate, documented, and legally careful.
Questions to ask
01Objectives
Are they set before the period, or written to match the outcome?
The latter is common and worthless.
02Calibration
Do ratings mean the same thing across managers?
Check the distribution by manager before trusting any of it.
03History
Can a new manager see prior periods?
Otherwise every manager change resets the record.
04Underperformance
Is there a documented path, used consistently?
This is the part that ends up in front of a tribunal.
05Pay link
Is the relationship between rating and pay explicit?
Implicit links create a perception problem either way.
Metrics and KPIs to track
Objective completion
Employees with objectives recorded before the period starts.
Review completion rate
Reviews completed within the cycle.
Rating distribution
By manager and area, as a calibration check.
Development plan follow-through
Plans with completed actions.
Alongside this