Reimagining the Performance Model - Employee Engaged

Related Fun Fact of the Week:

The Subaru Legacy was first built in 1989, and over 4 million have been built to date and is Subaru’s flagship car.

And while this car has remained stedfast in the market, it has had many changes done to it. Just like how our performance management legacy should be viewed as well, a great legacy but changes are always needed.

In traditional performance management models, much of the role and responsibility for ensuring performance results, conducting performance feedback, developing accountability and providing effective change management resides with formal people leaders in the organization.  In addition, training focused on developing core leadership skills, activities and behaviors is generally reserved for these formal leaders.

This legacy performance model unfortunately limits true performance ownership, and by reserving leadership skill development for a select few, we limit the immense potential and impact of having everyone no matter what their title or position lead from where they are. 

Employee-Engaged performance is the key to shifting performance results from management driven to employee owned, supported by formal leaders and enabled by the organization.  As a foundation, it is important for an organization to create a baseline of expected leadership skills, activities and behaviors that everyone from senior leadership to entry level individual contributors understand, value, exhibit and are held accountable to.  This creates a foundation of common leadership expectations and a “language” of leadership that defines your organization.

Of course, roles and responsibilities are different, and the level of leadership impact will change as you move up the organization, but developing a core set of leadership competencies in everyone is critical to tapping into, and leveraging the value of every employee leading where they are.

Where to Start –

• Create awareness and set an expectation that everyone is a leader

• Provide baseline leadership development, starting with 4-5 core leadership competencies that provide a competitive differentiation for your organization

• Support developing the leader in everyone with coaching and training

• Reward and recognize employee-led success

• Continue to add to and build upon the core leadership competencies.

Expect everyone to lead, give them the tools and training to lead, support them like leaders, and they will lead!

Next week – Leader Support – Evolving the leadership model to meet the leadership challenges of the future.