Voices

For Deloitte, a more human performance management system

In the April issue of the Harvard Business Review, Deloitte unveiled their plans to move away from a more traditional performance management system, focusing instead on a system based on the individual team member and their strengths.

After discovering that the firm spends some 2 million hours per year on the traditional performance management process, Deloitte invested millions of dollars into a simpler, more feedback-based system that looks to "recognize, see, and fuel performance," according to the Harvard Business Review article.

Deloitte also found in Gallup polls conducted in the 1990s that teams that chose “strongly agree” to the statement, “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day,” were 44% more likely to earn high customer satisfaction scores, 50% more likely to have low employee turnover, and 38% more likely to be productive, further prompting a more empathetic angle in the firm's redesign.

"The shift that we’re seeing in our work is really honing in on the team and the team leader," says Ashley Goodall, director of leader development at Deloitte Services LP and co-author of the HBR article. "I think what we're trying to do is recognize that teams are the organizational unit that defines the firm overall. We’re trying to create a great experience on a team, ultimately."

Part of the redesign puts a special emphasis on team leaders - namely, leaders checking in with their team members once a week in order to keep priorities clear through a constant, rich stream of communication.

"We can give [leaders] real clarity on where we want them to move the needle," Goodall continues. "I think what we're able to do now is to say, 'If you’re a team leader, know your people and focus on your people. Know their strengths. Know and focus your people.”

And while 89 percent of firms have changed or plan to change their performance management system, according toDeloitte research, Goodall says that slow and steady still wins the race.

"What we’ve learned in the last couple of years is that you don’t have to go from 0-60 in one great leap," says Goodall. "We started with core elements and went on to test this system. You can start with a conversation on strengths, introduce check-ins, then measure performance, then think about what’s the best technology; there’s a staircase approach to this. You can do this carefully and deliberately, measure the results, and that’s what’s worked for us so far.”

For the full article on Deloitte's redesign, head to the Harvard Business Review's sitehere.

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