Train Managers to Manage and Employees to Participate—Don’t Skip Basic Management Practices

Research Performance Management best practices and you will find an abundance of performance management practices described as:

 “setting effective goals and aligning goals with corporate strategy”
 “holding periodic performance conversations”
 “giving objective feedback”

Though these may be called “Performance Management Practices,” they are just basic, good management, communication, and interpersonal skills. While these management practices are certainly a prerequisite for effective performance management and coaching, organizations can realize a significant increase in performance simply by applying sound management practices independent of any performance management system.

In addition to basic, good management practices, specialized management frameworks and tools should be used to expand a manager’s options for addressing more complex individual and systemic performance issues. When management training, frameworks, and performance tools are institutionalized, employees can more clearly identify and communicate what they need to succeed.