The Hindu Business Line : Performance reviews

PERFORMANCE reviews are often a challenge for CEOs as it tests their patience and multi-dimensional skills, which are essential perquisites to conduct these meeting in a thorough and efficient manner. The CEO often finds himself shifting from the role of investigator to advisor, while still maintaining his emotional balance.Such level-headedness and temperance are crucial to the success of any performance review meeting.

However, it is not uncommon to experience a dissipation of gusto and enthusiasm as the meeting wears on. As a result of which member participation dwindles and serious company issues are buried silently. This apart, some smart non-performers may try to magnify baseline performance achievement. This would be like the foolishness of a comedy show dawning on the audience after exit. At times, few reviewers may fall for it. The non-performer may or may not escape detection but the enterprise may be caught out in due course.

With "outsourcing" the new mantra worldwide, enterprise performance reviews are also being gradually outsourced, not with the primary intention to reduce cost and save the manager's time, but to provide a third eye view or an out-of-the-box approach to the perennial issues of non-performance.

A no-frills, objective analysis of a company's crisis reality in areas of performance is one of the benefits of outsourcing performance reviews. For, someone from the outside is more likely to present a clearer picture of a company's concerns, without feeling compelled to favour any particular agenda.

The crux of performance review is to detect and diagnose the non-accomplishment of baseline performance. Radical implementation approaches based on problem understanding would be the ideal remedial measure of an enterprise.

Also seen is the fact that performance review findings need successful implementation at a faster pace with sustained monitoring until problem resolution. Monitoring the progress of such implementation in a sustained manner would be next to impossible for any CEO. The complexity of such an exercise is more for a CEO who is accountable for a highly diversified, multi-locational and widespread business enterprise. In view of all this, outsourcing is the best alternative.

(The author is a management consultant. Feedback may be sent to tkpandian@yahoo.com)

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