What is inclusive performance management? and how can I get it right?

I find this topic fascinating as it’s all about people and understanding what makes us all show up at work, be creative, have energy and motivation to be highly performing individuals and teams and how employers can establish effective people management strategies that support talent across the organisation for business growth, aligning to strategic objectives and living the company values day to day in our work.

Each of us has so much to give, so how can we ensure we have inclusive performance management practices and provide effective feedback to employees that gets the best out of each of us in the workplace? 

What is inclusive performance management? 

The CIPD defines performance management as:

“the attempt to maximise the value that employees create. It aims to maintain and improve employees’ performance in line with an organisation’s objectives. It’s not a single activity, but rather a group of practices that should be approached holistically.”

What stands out to me within this definition are the statements ‘maximising the value‘ and ‘not a single activity‘. 

Performance Management describes the attempt to maximise the value that employees create. It isn’t about a yearly appraisal conversation reliant solely on HR systems; it’s everyone’s business and aims to maintain and improve employees’ performance in line with the organisation’s objectives and how employees can add value to the culture, understanding what we are doing well and where we need to grow and develop. 

It means celebrating successes, reflecting, and learning when things might not go as expected. These conversations happen all the time within organisations and have the power to contribute to how excluded or included our colleagues feel.

I’ve found in my past experiences when leading multiple teams that the most productive way of enabling everyone to fulfil their potential at work starts at the beginning of an employee’s lifecycle within any organisation. By ‘the beginning’, I’m talking about the moment an individual begins the onboarding process, through the induction phase and then continuously for the duration of that individual’s journey with their employer. 

The performance review process can be enhanced if it is transparent and holistic in approach and not a single activity that happens yearly. It is part of an ongoing and open conversation that builds rapport and evolves a positive relationship between the manager and the direct report/team from start to finish. As managers/leaders, we can role model inclusive behaviours by being courageous in encouraging constructive conversations that might not always feel comfortable yet are necessary, provided they are delivered safely, constructively, and appropriately.

How can effective performance management positively impact inclusion? 

Many organisations want to improve their approach to I&D and move away from performative and tokenistic activities to programmes of work which embed inclusion into the everyday and have a long-lasting positive impact on culture. 

Performance management is the perfect opportunity to introduce an inclusion mindset as it influences employee experience and progression. Often organisations can view performance management mechanisms as processes and need to consider the skills managers and leaders require to ensure they are inclusive conversations.

Organisations will have many performance management touch points in their employee life cycles, such as:

• Probation
• Performance Development Reviews (PDR), end-of-year reviews, or other forms of appraisals
• One-to-one or supervision discussions
• 360 feedback
• Project review meetings

These critical conversations can influence a colleague’s success and progression within an organisation. This highlights the importance of looking at performance management through an inclusion lens to ensure we take a fair, evidence-based approach and not just go with a “gut feeling” or allow past experiences or personal bias to inform any decisions. 

These Inclusive performance management conversations contribute to the culture of organisations in many ways.

The role of an inclusive manager

Inclusive performance management describes activities that:

• Establish objectives for individuals and teams to see their part in the organisation’s mission and strategy.
• Improve performance among employees, teams and, ultimately, organisations.
• Hold people to account for their performance by linking it to reward, career progression and termination of contracts.

To be an effective inclusive leader, you will be role-modelling behaviours that demonstrate you are implementing these essential activities. Performance management centres on two-way discussion and regular, open, supportive feedback on progress towards objectives. It combines principles that enable good people management practice, including learning and development, performance measurement and organisational development. 

A study by ACAS found that

“Performance management shouldn’t be seen as just a tool to identify poor performance or measuring against targets. A good system can help an organisation to motivate their staff, recognise the work of their employees and identify development opportunities.”

The study highlights how managers must allocate time to do it properly and ensure an equitable and fair process. 

McKinsey backs up this statement by suggesting that; “resilient organisations not only survive but thrive despite uncertainty” and that it is, therefore, essential that performance management becomes a “key enabler” that translates “strategy to clear priorities” with the notion that once this alignment to goals is applied to individuals and teams, leaders are better equipped to allocate or re-allocate resource to ensure maximum impact. This, in turn, supports an employee’s understanding of where to focus their own time and energy by supporting their own objectives, line manager and leaders. (Mckinsey.com article online November 2022). 

Things to avoid when managing performance

• Avoid surprises. Managers should discuss and address problems along the way and as they arise and not leave concerns until the end-of-year performance meeting.
• Avoid favouritism. Objective criteria should be used to measure performance where possible to reduce the risk of managers being seen to favour certain employees over others, and
• Avoid discrimination. Employers should actively consider the diversity of their workforce and ensure that their arrangements are fair to all and in line with the Equality Act. For example, an employer must make reasonable adjustments if an employee with a disability is disadvantaged by their performance measures. 

How can Inclusive Employers introduce and help embed inclusive performance management in my organisation?

Sign up for our informative webinar Inclusive Performance Management where you can learn:

• What is performance management?
• Skills and awareness of managers and leaders to support successful performance management
• How should we approach truly inclusive performance management conversations?
• The real human impact of getting this right

Our consultants offer a range of inclusive leadership and management training programmes and can tailor their support to suit your organisational needs. Get in touch today.

You can also read more in our printable member’s resource, Inclusive performance management factsheet.