A friend was telling me that the HR department in the organisation where he works advertised a workshop called ‘Managing Performance’. He manages a team of bright, talented designers and thought this sounded like a great workshop to help him to help his team be the best they can be.

He went along to the workshop expecting to learn how to bring out the best in people. He told me that what he actually learned was “how to manage poor performance”.

This story stopped me in my tracks. I had never thought of it before but the term ‘performance management’ does have connotations of managing poor performance. At best it smacks of getting people to do what they are supposed to do, But it doesn’t conjure up in my mind what it conjured up in my friend’s mind.

Shouldn’t performance management really be about helping people to realise their full potential by playing to their strengths, supporting them and motivating them? Of course it should. I think that deficit thinking and ‘good enough’ thinking dominates the management mind set. Even high-potential programmes are dogged by a focus on fixing weaknesses and deficits. People would do far better if managers went around thinking what my friend thinks – “how can I help my people be the best they can be”, and helping people to play to their strengths – which is after all what the best performers do. And HR professionals would do well to rethink what they mean by performance management and the expectations and culture that that label creates.

Sally

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