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Digitization of Performance Management System

Traditionally, feedback is stored and kept in file all year, waiting until the annual performance review when managers let it lose all at once. Not only is this uncomfortable for managers and demoralizing for employees, but it digs up old ground that often neither the manager nor the employee can fully recall........ read more

While an increasing number of companies are recognizing the need for change in their approach to performance management, performance is changing rapidly. In 2015, bigger name organizations scrapped traditional performance appraisals and restructured their performance management processes. In 2016, it’s expected that significant changes will continue to occur. After calculating that performance management was consuming two million hours each year across the organization, Deloitte joined the ranks of change makers. More unexpectedly, 2015 also saw General Electric finally put their infamous “rank and yank� system to bed.

Performance ratings have been confirmed as leading to lower levels of motivation and are proven to negatively impact performance as a result. Instead, forward-thinking companies are favoring well-structured objectives and regular feedback for employees over outdated grading systems. Employees lose sleep over them, managers plough their precious time into hefty piles of paperwork, and HR are left with a mountain of data to analyze. It’s the annual performance meeting. Now, companies are recognizing that once-a-year meetings are inefficient and insufficient.

Instead, companies are introducing “check-ins�, regular, informal meetings or conversations between managers and individual employees. These check-ins allow managers to identify issues early on, support employees over time and encourage progress. In line with the abandonment of performance ratings, companies are setting more regular objectives with shorter time frames. Yearly goals and meetings are rapidly being replaced with more regular, informal check-ins and shorter-term objectives.

A shift to the cloud and increased use of software will be a big part of the future of performance management. It’s thought that cloud-based HR could improve employee engagement as well as cut down on admin time for HR teams. Many companies are already introducing performance management software that uses the cloud. General Electric is currently using a performance feedback app for managers and employees so that they can request feedback and provide comments from their devices. The beginning of 2016 saw some performance management analysts picking up on the existence of gender-related bias in outdated performance management processes. As a result, we can expect an increasing emphasis on ensuring performance reviews in the future are free from bias.

One of the ways this may be tackled is through providing training for managers on best practices when they are writing their performance reviews and ensuring they are always taking a forward-looking approach.

Decoding SaaS Standardization: The Lego Way

There has been a rapid growth in adoption of cloud technology over the past few years. Early adopters moved to cloud for CRM and Collaboration, and of late there has been a huge surge in demand for HR on cloud......... read more

But one of the things that holds back adoption is the myth that a SaaS product is a standard product and won’t be able to map their organization’s unique practices and processes. While this may be true to a certain extent, once we deep dive, we will understand the nuances.

“Standard� in SaaS doesn’t mean one size fits all. A good SaaS application can be compared to Lego Blocks. With a set of 10 Lego blocks, you can create hundreds of shapes and structures. Just like Lego, in a SaaS product, there are different kinds of building blocks like — Forms, Roles, Groups, Workflows, Rules, Templates, etc. These building blocks can be combined in multiple ways using configuration parameters to map a large number of Org structures and processes.

Also, just like a set of Lego blocks, you cannot build everything. There is a limit to the number of permutations and combinations you can do. This limit is the system boundary. The role of a Product Design team is thus very crucial, because they have to understand the best practices across different industries and define the system boundaries.

A good SaaS Implementation team understands the building blocks, the different structures that can be built out of this set of blocks and the boundaries. By understanding the industry / business of the customer, they are able to suggest the structure that best fits them and thus are able to “Simplify their Work Life�.

Thus, SaaS does mean standardization in a ring-fenced way, but there is lot of flexibility that it provides through various configuration options available. All you need is a sharp “Architect� who can understand your needs and the building blocks well and create the best available product ready for use.

Hope this helps next time when you are asked to explain SaaS and Standardization. Here’s to a Simplified Work-Life on demand!