Page - 1

Prelude

I had written the Part I of this article featured sometime back at CoolAvenues.com, and then I also published a detailed case study on the same topic in the month of February in an HR magazine.
I had the least idea at that time that I would write Part II on the same topic. But the response that I have received from various individuals after reading both the versions is pretty overwhelming and, hence, I decided that I would publish a continuation to my previous article. Whether the discussions around this topic is going to end here or going to give me a lead to write Part III depends on the responses I may receive. But as long as people find it interesting and useful, I would let the ball keep rolling...

Need of the Hour: Strong Performance Management System

Time and again it keeps reverting back to square one that we need a stronger performance management system. Lot of thoughts have gone into this topic, discussions have happened and many advancements are also being witnessed. Whilst all these new measurements are making any PMS stronger in identifying the high performers in the right way and, hence, to an extent also helps us to identify the non-performers, it hardly suggests a way forward to deal with the non-performers post this cycle.

There can be a fair debate around the previous statement that I had made that there are many methods to put these non-performers back on track. I do agree with it too, but my humble submission would be most of them stay in the conceptual stage. After the performance review is done, we are busy on finalizing the rewarding measures for the high performers and some nominal incentives for the average performers. We assume that we penalize non-performers by not rewarding them and just letting them be where they are. Now, this is where the actual problem lies. I am really not sure how many of us as managers, supervisors in our roles and also as HR professionals actually tell these non-performers why they have been pushed into that bracket.

Be Direct: Dare to Call Spade a Spade

That said, I would like to highlight on the importance of getting the message straight to them. It is better to have bullet points when we explain it to them. Most line managers I have dealt with as an HR manager always had the fear to deal with 'problematic' people. They were also expressing their vulnerability in dealing with people who were not open to feedback and just kept defending back. I have always advised them they need to be more open and be daring enough to quote instances where things have gone wrong.

Next

Dr. Dineshkumar Murugesan is currently working as Manager, U.S. Human Resources in a professional services firm at Hyderabad. He leads the HR Operations and the Resource Management Teams of the Talent Support Centre. He has almost 12 years of HR experience. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science Engineering and a Master’s in Human Resource Management.
This article expresses his own personal views and does not represent his current or any previous organizations' views.