Category: Performance Management

Previous posts have provided tips on overcoming the myth of the paper trail. In an effort to examine this issue from a different angle, below is a list of things that can derail your attempt to create a performance culture.

1. Save all your feedback on an employee’s performance until the annual review meeting.
2. Rate an employee higher than they deserve so that they get a bigger raise. (Future post coming on the topic of linking pay to performance).
3. Rate an employee higher than they deserve because you don’t like negative conversations or because you don’t want the employee to feel bad.
4. Make the feedback about you.
5. Only provide negative feedback.
6. Fail to acknowledge improvements in performance or positive steps toward a goal.
7. Fail to acknowledge team members who consistently meet expectations.
8. Providing only one way feedback.
9. Failing to address issues as they arise. Silence is acceptance.
10. Allowing bullying or disrespectful behavior or exhibiting it yourself.
11. Blaming corporate or HR when you provide negative or developmental feedback or consequences.
12. Failing to explain the business reasons for decisions.
13. Failing to explain how individual performance helps attain overall objectives.
14. Failing to develop high potential employees.
15. Failing to identify high potential employees.
16. Failing to remain objective even with subjective measures.

What else would you add to the list? Your ideas are always encouraged!

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For more resources, See the Human Resources library.

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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is currently employed as the Human Resource Manager at EmployeeScreenIQ, a global leader in pre-employment background screening.

The days of leaders who can raise productivity and consequently profitability just by ‘managing by walking about’, patting their staff on the back and asking after the dog, are gone.

In fact some would argue that relationship-based leadership was a fad or flash in the pan and now that businesses are in a battle to survive, ruthless tacticians are what’s needed to lead the team. Luke Johnson said in the Financial Times : “It is becoming apparent that many leaders were really just suited to the good times. During a severe recession, when growth is irrelevant and all that matters is survival, their bullish attitude and denial of reality becomes positively dangerous .”

Let ’s not be fooled into letting the pendulum swing too far however. Continue reading “New Leaders Needed”

It’s generally accepted that team based working is preferable to individuals serving a single line manager, but what evidence supports this?

Team based working gained popularity during the late 80s and 90s following initiatives such as kaizen and Total Quality Management. All too often we simply accept that the team way is the right way, but perhaps we should spend a moment testing this assumption.

Firstly, it’s worth considering different kinds of teams that can exist within an organisation; Continue reading “Do teams work?”

Research has shown that employers are unprepared strategically, unprotected legally, and underinsured with regard to tackling the growing phenomenon of stress in the workplace. Many simply do not understand its impact: they are either hoping it will just go away or paralysed with uncertainty as to how to handle it.

Meetings can take up a large portion of anyone’s working day and for many of us, demands on time in the office are already high. So in an ideal world every meeting should count, with specific objectives and results making the time invested worthwhile.

All too often though, meetings – even during and afterwards – are perceived as a waste of time by those invited. This can usually be attributed to a lack of understanding about what the meeting was for. To avoid the sense that it was all worthless, here is a list of ten reasons why meetings can fail for you to use as a checklist when planning your next meeting: Continue reading “Ten reasons why meetings fail”

We’re Tom Vaughton and Dan Collins from team performance experts Fresh Tracks, who run team building events, team development programmes and staff conferences, and we’re the co-hosts of this blog. You can read more about us next to our pictures in the sidebar. This blog will be about various aspects of team performance, team building and team development, and will focus especially on practical tips and tools, including posts from guest writers. You can learn more about this blog by clicking on the About link just under the header.

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