Resilience and performance management
It struck me today whilst delivering training on performance management in Chichester how difficult it must be for those involved in managing performance to get the balance right. We have research that tells us how striving to reach perfection has a negative impact on employees, Dr Kristen Neff highlighting how just taking that pressure off to do well at all things, to accept that average can at times be good enough actually improves performance, and the work of Carol Dweck on acknowledging and sharing the learning from mistakes in order to grow a Growth Mindset.
Where systems are in place that “score” performance, the inference being that the higher the better, can it then be possible to have an honest conversation about mistakes, or to feedback that performance is average and not have the employee reaching for the exit, believing that the organisation doesn’t think they are good enough?