Execution Management vs. Performance Management
A culture of performance impacts the bottom line. An 11 year study of 200 companies from 22 industries concluded that Net Income grew up to seven time faster in organizations with a performance enhancing culture. These companies understand that employees want feedback on how they are performing.
However, in far too many organizations, “Performance Management” has become synonymous with the “Performance Appraisal”. Most managers cringe at the thought of once, maybe twice a year, sitting down with their employees to look in the rear-view mirror and discuss if the employee deserves a raise. This activity causes employees to defend actions instead of focus on solutions and is typically owned by Human Resources.
“Execution Management”, as we are defining the term, is about dynamically and actively guiding, directing, leading and managing the activities and behaviors of groups and individuals towards the achievement of Corporate Initiative’s, goals and the strategic plan. Critical to this process is ongoing communication…not simply weekly “one-to-one” meetings focused on the challenge of the week…but a more strategic conversation to ask the hard questions about progress towards initiatives and even discuss if the objectives have changed.
The Execution Management process is owned by senior management and creates the linkage between planning and execution. With a clear understanding of the organization’s objectives and how success will be measured, managers can help to align departmental and individual Goals, engage employees and accelerate results.