44. Does performance management work?

44. Does performance management work?

The Operations Room: A Podcast for COO’s · 2024-05-23
47:50

In this episode, we discuss performance management and getting the most from your teams. We are joined by Jessica Zwaan, Author of the best-selling book, Built for People, and COO of Talentful.

We chat about: 

Can traditional performance reviews truly capture an employee's value?Are OKRs just a trendy buzzword or a real strategy for driving company success?How can organizational network analysis uncover the real influencers in your team?What does it take to measure true employee performance in today's remote work era?

References:

Jessica’s LinkedIn

Website

Biography: 

Your company is building three products: A financial instrument, a customer product, and an employee experience. I advocate treating employees as customers purchasing an experience of work, and I encourage us to work like Product Managers in order to iterate and improve on that product. This paradigm shift positions work itself as the focal point of our strive for success, not just optimising the individuals as "human capital". Like the idea? I wrote a book all about it, called "Built for People" which you can buy basically anywhere books are sold.

To learn more about Beth and Brandon or to find out about sponsorship opportunities click here

Summary:

Choosing a life partner and nannies as a "wife hire." 0:05Bethany discussed tips for choosing a partner for career success, including finding someone whose mother worked outside the home.Bethany values hiring a nanny for the mental load relief and organization.Performance management effectiveness and its various components. 4:40Brandon and Bethany discuss the ineffectiveness of performance management, with 64% of workers viewing it as a waste of time and 47% considering it a failure in their company.Jessica Swann distinguishes between performance assessment and management, highlighting the importance of individualized growth and development in the latter.Bethany expresses concerns about goal-measuring and its practicality in the workplace.Bethany and Brandon discuss the importance of organizational network analysis and its impact on problem-solving.Performance management and leadership development. 10:06Bethany suggests rolling out OKRs gently, learning along the way, and avoiding command and control.Brandon agrees, emphasizing the importance of measuring marketing and sales performance collectively and connecting it to business outcomes.Brandon and Bethany discuss the importance of effective performance management and leadership skills for line managers.Bethany questions the feasibility of performance management, citing potential biases and limitations in the process.Performance management and assessment in organizations. 15:27Jessica emphasizes the importance of understanding employee performance, citing it as the most critical question in HR.Bethany agrees, highlighting the need for effective performance management...

The Operations Room: A Podcast for COO’s

We are the COO coaches to help you successfully scale in this new world where efficiency is as important as growth. Remember when valuations were 3-10x ARR and money wasn’t free? We do. Each week we share our experiences and bring in scale up experts and operational leaders to help you navigate both the burning operational issues and the larger existential challenges. Beth Ayers is the former COO of Peak AI, NewVoiceMedia and Codilty and has helped raise over $200m from top funds - Softbank, Bessemer, TCV, MCC, Notion and Oxx. Brandon Mensinga is the former COO of Signal AI and Trint.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

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