redesign performance management   

Want to modernize performance management? Transitioning away from annual performance reviews to the continuous performance management process can feel overwhelming.  Where do you start, and how do you get it right?

We will partner with you to design and deploy a program that meets the expectations of today’s modern workforce. Our simple system, tailored to your organization, genuinely engages employees and adds to a positive, productive work culture – all while driving individual and organizational performance.   We'll help answer questions like how to assess and track performance without ratings, how to make pay decisions without ratings, branding, communication, how to ensure managers and employees engage in productive performance conversations, conversation frequency, and more.

Influence and Onboard Decision Makers and Key Players

It should be easy to convince people to move on from annual reviews and ratings.  Not many people rave about their organization's amazing performance management process.   Yet, some have difficulty imagining a process that doesn't involve annual reviews and ratings.  It's all they've ever known.     

While the movement away from annual performance reviews and ratings is no longer a new concept, change is hard. We will help you:

• Influence and gain the support of senior leaders and key decision-makers
• Connect your initiative to organizational objectives
• Create a persuasive case for change
• Leverage and involve your HR team to take a proactive role in evolving performance management

create a culture of performance development conversations

Elevate the quality and frequency of back-and-forth performance development dialogue

The advice to managers of “Give feedback early and often” is a form of continuous performance management.  Yet, just 6% of managers are skilled in having candid performance conversations.  We will help you go beyond advising managers to give feedback to a process that guarantees regular conversations:  

• Take the pressure off managers to be the sole source of feedback by training your employees to actively participate in conversations about their performance and potential
• Train your managers to provide performance-boosting feedback by learning to analyze performance, uncovering the highest impact area for development, and crafting non-threatening messages that can be heard and are comfortable to deliver.

Steer your organization to the continuous performance management model

Set the stage for employees and managers to work collaboratively with a simple, quick preparation process that ensures meaningful performance development conversations between the manager and employee.   Our method is called the 10-Minute Questions Conversation (10MQ). The prep work is five to ten minutes, tops. The meeting, guided by pre-selected questions, takes about 10 minutes and concludes with action items.

Tailored to your organization, the 10MQ template will guide discussions and ensure organizational-wide continuity. 

assess and track performance without ratings

We'll set you up with a system to continue assessing and tracking performance with our methodology and online tool

Looking for an alternative to annual performance reviews and ratings, but still want to measure and track employee performance?    Learn how to create a richer more precise understanding of performance effectiveness throughout your organization using our Team Plotting process and visual model, the Employee Performance Continuum.  

Use a standard set of tools and shared vocabulary to accurately and consistently assess and track performance

Prepare managers to speak with greater clarity and confidence about an employee's current and planned/future performance.  Learn how to guide and facilitate talent review conversations that incorporate new points of view with perspective expanding dialogue amongst peer managers.      

Ensure fair and accurate performance and potential assessments 

• Flag and minimize common biases, subjectivity, stereotypes, and assumptions. 
• Uncover hidden talent and identify advancement readiness 
• Identify and course-correct instances of underperformance 
• Surface high-potential employees
• Identify training and upskilling needs
• Create internal talent mobility opportunities

We recognize the value of tracking the team plotting data using the Employee Performance Continuum, so clients have access to our online web application.   

Continuous Performance Management Web Application

The application is available exclusively to clients using our continuous performance management process  

We developed the Employee Performance Solutions web application at the request of clients wanting to automate their continuous performance management process. Our web application offers a simple visual model to help managers recognize and support the needs of each employee based on performance level:

• High, mid-level, new and developing, and combination performers showing on or off-target work results and observable behaviors

The reporting offers a simple visual way to assess, track, and support employee progress. Historical performance data is tracked and sorted by department, manager, or role.

The implementation of the tools and concepts learned during the Manager’s Performance Coaching training is supported and automated through the web application.  

How we think about employee performance

We think of performance visually:

• The Employee Performance Continuum helps assess Results and Behavior
• The Performance Continuum is just the starting point.  The "plotting", training, tools, and templates steer the right conversations
• Help your managers take the guesswork out of how to give performance feedback.
• Intentionally move more of your employees to the "top right".  We'll show you how!

watch the video below to see how it works.  Click here to share the video