The Role of Leadership in Performance Management

By A. Abeku Haywood-Dadzie

Great leaders see their teams as a conundrum and therefore map out strategies and tactics to move them from forming-storming-norming to performing. They believe in synergy and the fact that harmony does not always mean singing in unison. Apart from their personal attributes and leadership qualities, these leaders manage the performance of their team effectively to ensure that all their members are actively engaged. They do this through performance management, by setting performance expectations, reviewing performance progress and evaluating performance against the set target. So what is performance management?

According to Michael Armstrong in his book "Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice," performance management is a systematic process for improving organisational performance by developing the performance of individuals and teams. He added that it is a means of getting better results by understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework of planned goals, standards, and competency requirements.

Performance management, to him, aims at the following: developing the capacity of team members to meet and exceed expectations and to achieve their full potential to the benefit of themselves and the organization; establishing a high-performance culture in which individuals and teams take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business processes and for their own skills and contributions within a framework provided by effective leadership; aligning individual objectives to organisational objectives and ensuring that individuals uphold corporate core values.

Performance management is based on the agreement of role requirements, objectives and performance improvement, and personal development plans. It concerned with inputs and values. The inputs are the knowledge, skills, and behaviours required to produce the expected results. Developmental needs are identified by defining these requirements and assessing the extent to which the expected levels of performance have been achieved through the effective use of knowledge and skills and through appropriate behaviour that upholds core values. One benefit of performance management is that it is a continuous and flexible process, which involves the leader and team members acting as partners within a framework that sets out how they can best work together to achieve the required results.

What tools do leaders use?

The "Deloitte DDI" tools come in handy. Many leaders will attest to the fact that performance management discussions can be one of the most difficult episodes in the management of a team and can lead to disengagement if not handled properly. But it does not have to be like that. The whole process can and should be productive and helpful to all parties. At the end of the process, it should be a win-win situation. Successful leaders normally begin their performance management cycle discussions with a planning process, and this includes the setting of expectations. Once they have set the expectations, they constantly and consistently track ongoing performance and give feedback on performance. They do this by mentoring, coaching, and giving feedback. The final leg these leaders engage in is the review of progress, which is usually the end of cycle discussion.

Effective leaders always start the performance cycle discussions by stating the purpose of setting the expectations. They appreciate the fact that there should always be three outcomes from such discussions: understanding, alignment, and agreement. They understand that in setting expectations, members of the team need to understand the objectives so as to focus their effort on achieving the desired results as well as using the required behaviour and attitude. These objectives must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Added to that, members of the team appreciate what they do and have the sense that what they do is important and contributes to their success as well as that of their organization.

Lastly, members of the team must individually agree with the expectations and indicate their willingness to be held accountable for achieving them. They must pledge to take more initiative and be more persistent in delivering the required results and taking the required action.

Leaders who have been successful at performance management review know that the above process will be very successful and less burdensome if they always follow the following process: Open the discussion by stating the purpose and importance of the review; proceed to identify the importance and benefit of the process to the team member and the team as a whole; clarify the proposed expectations by seeking and sharing information about the task, Identify issues and concerns, develop the plan by discussing each expectation; agree on each expectation, including a contingency plan if appropriate, confirm how to measure progress; and close by summarising and confirming confidence and commitment.

These leaders undertake the above process while maintaining or enhancing the self-esteem of the team member. Again, by listening and responding with empathy. It is imperative to note that by listening not to answer but to understand, these leaders are able to encourage involvement and balance telling and seeking. Added to this, it helps them share thoughts and feelings and provide support without removing responsibility.

Again, an effective leader navigates the above minefield without detonating any mines by using the feedback process proposed by DDI, STAR, (Situation, Task, Action, and Results) or STAR-AR (Situation, Task, Action, Results, Alternative Action, and Alternative Results).

STAR; It’s used when you want to give a compliment or positive feedback: S stands for Situation: effective leaders describe the situation they want to give feedback on. T represents Task: A successful leader describes the Task or role of the person they are giving feedback to in that particular situation. A is for Action: they also describe what action(s) they have observed. In other words, what did the person do or say? "R stands for Result." "What was the result of those actions?"

On the other hand, STAR-AR (Situation, Task, Action, Results, Alternative Action, and Alternative Results), on the other hand, is used by these leaders when you want to improve results or give corrective feedback. S is for Situation: T is for Task, A is for Action, and R is for Result. However, the A in the STAR-AR stands for alternative action that could have been taken and the R stands for alternative results, which would have been achieved with the alternative action (s).

There are many other ways in which leaders are able to achieve the same outcome. The movie Coach Carter epitomises the process and the outcome. In the movies, "Coach Carter" Samuel L. Jackson succeeds in setting the players on a winning streak. But when their grades started to suffer, Carter locked them out of the gym and shut down their championship season. When he was criticised by the players and their parents, he stuck to his guns, determined that they would excel in class as well as on the court. In the end, he succeeded in his quest to ensure that the students excel in class as well as on the court.