Organizations seek to improve their results: market share, process costs, the income statement, sales figures, return on assets, etc. and yet in most organizations the element of measurement of people's performance is the number of hours worked… isn't that a contradiction?
In times when there is more and more talk of aligning personal / group goals with corporate goals, isn't it an incongruity that people's performance is measured by the number of hours worked rather than by the results obtained? Shouldn't each person's contribution to overall results be measured?
Managers of yesterday, today and tomorrow know that results "are the boss", although the way of measuring them is possibly evolving. Therefore, we understand that there is an element that will radically transform the relationship between environment and worker: the focus on results.
These results should not be the exclusive responsibility of the managers, but rather all members of the organization should know how they can contribute to the results, what is expected of them and how their work will be measured and rewarded.
But for this change to occur, powerful performance management systems are needed to know exactly what is the contribution of each person / group to the creation of value in the organization. "Qualitative" systems will be less and less useful and it will be necessary to move to quantitative systems: what cannot be measured, cannot be managed.
It is curious in the interviews to see how the candidates often ask about the working day and on very few occasions they ask about the results expected of them or the measurement methods.
In the McKinsey study "War for Talent 2000" it is found that not all people obtain the same results. The study looks at the performance improvement between an "average person" and an "exceptional person." The conclusions in this regard are:
• 40% improvement in operational work
• 49% improvement in management positions
• 67% improvement in sales positions
Manuel Cervantes, Director of Human Resources at IBM Spain, explains it very clearly with an anecdote: «When I receive new employees I usually show them a slide from a clocking machine, and I ask them if they know what it is and what it is for. When they answer that it helps to control the work, I tell them to think again about the answer, because what controls is the entry and exit time. Does it say something about a person's work? " (Source: El País)
It seems clear that the business world is changing: globalization, the intensive use of new technologies, increased competitiveness, mergers and acquisitions, companies constantly redefining their positioning, etc.
And all these changes are almost more important in the area of human resources. For many years, the usual "Taylorian" concepts have prevailed, whereby people rent their bodies (and partly their heads) during the working day in exchange for a salary. Nowadays, however, initiative, results, customer focus, innovation, etc. are increasingly valued.
This increasingly changing and globalized environment has clear employment repercussions: each time we work in flatter structures, teamwork is key, the entrepreneurial spirit is increasingly valued, telework begins to appear, performance management and career plans are becoming more and more important, etc.
And as if that were not enough, you also have to seek personal development and a balance between personal and professional life, otherwise the situation is not sustainable.
As can be seen, the situation is not simple.
Today all employees are treated the same, as if they all have the same needs and expectations. But this is not true, so the concept of "employee segments" will appear, each one different from the others, and with value propositions adjusted to them. With this change, problems will appear due to "internal differences", a challenge that companies will face.
When proposals are generated for each "employee segment", greater flexibility and adaptation to personal development needs will be achieved and a better balance between personal and professional life will be sought. In this way, the needed talent retention and development will be achieved.
