Organizations today face an unusual confluence of challenges: a slow recovery from a deep recession, the rise of a younger generation that expects more coaching and development, and the globalization of the workforce.
To address these challenges, the majority of organizations are transitioning toward a coaching and development model of performance management. Such an approach empowers organizations to provide support when they cannot offer more compensation. It also facilitates the development of younger workers and helps retain employees in competitive, emerging markets.
These are some of the key findings from a recent study by Bersin & Associates, High-Impact Performance Management: Part 1, Designing a Strategy for Effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to help organizations create or develop a new performance management strategy. This research—based on a year-long analysis of performance management that involved more than 500 HR leaders from a range of industries, geographies and organization sizes—produces another startling finding: Senior leaders who coach, develop and hold others accountable for coaching and development are three times more effective at producing improved business and talent results.
Unfortunately, the study also establishes that most senior leaders do not seem to understand the impact they can have by supporting performance management at their organizations. It turns out that only 11 percent of senior leaders “very frequently” coach their employees, while 15 percent of leaders discuss the importance of coaching and development with employees “very frequently.”
The lack of senior leader focus on performance management—and specifically coaching and development planning—is alarming for two reasons. First, most organizations (70%) claim they have a coaching and development performance management philosophy, but very few leaders actually model this behavior. Secondly, managers’ inability to effectively coach their employees is the No. 1 challenge to performance management. This is especially problematic since senior leaders are not showing lower-level managers how to effectively coach and develop employees.
At the same time, the research clearly demonstrates that performance management, when done well, can deliver immense business impact. In fact, a key finding is that the coaching element is much more important than organizations previously believed.
In a time of wage and hiring freezes, layoffs, and economic turmoil, your workers (or you) may be feeling overworked, underpaid and underappreciated. The morale in the business community is low, and energizing your workforce is more challenging than ever. On October 19th, AAIM Employers’ Association will present the Strategic Directions Conference 2011. Kim Lamoureux of Bersin & Associates will kick off the conference by sharing the top 10 findings from the aforementioned study, while keynote speaker Tony Schwartz, author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, will discuss four key needs you must meet in order to perform at your best.
Additional topics include:
- Innovation: Finding New Answers to Old Questions. How can a business look into the future? It is not always easy. All too often, we are constrained by what we believe are the absolutes in our industries. Learn four solid techniques to go beyond the obvious to create a vision for tomorrow.
- The Great Game of Business—Unlocking the Keys to Success Case Study. Federal Companies has practiced The Great Game of Business’ Open Book Management system and realized impressive results, including increased sales and a highly engaged workforce.
- The Seven Unstoppable Trends in Total Rewards. Anyone tasked with—or who cares deeply about—attracting, motivating and retaining a competitive workforce will come away with a more strategic view of their organization and human capital strategy, including tactical ideas that can be implemented immediately.
- Innovation in Healthcare Strategy: The Doctor in the Workplace. Follow the journey of two organizations that are pursuing an innovative strategy to bend the healthcare cost curve and engage employees in their own health by becoming healthcare providers for their employees.
- 1+1=3: How Bosses Can Build Engagement &The Bottom Line. Employee engagement is frequently thought of as an organizational issue, but it is the relationship between bosses and their teams that can have the most dramatic impact on engagement. And when teams are engaged, they are more productive, more efficient and ultimately contribute more to profitability. Learn ways you can help develop your leadership team’s ability to connect and build engagement with their direct reports and measure the business impact of engagement.
- The Virtual Workforce—Not Your Typical Workplace Anymore. Electronic communication and data storage have transformed our workforces. Employers are confronted with a growing body of “virtual employment law” that can produce surprising results. This session addresses virtual employment law concerns and answers questions that typically arise in the context of the virtual workforce.
- The Orange Revolution. Drawing from The Orange Revolution, recognized worldwide as the premier book on how teamwork can revolutionize a company, this presentation reveals the synergy that exists among teams in the world’s most respected and innovative organizations—and how to tap into that power within any group of individuals. iBi
