When Performance Management Fails - Forensic Case Studies from the Front Lines

Abstract

What gets measured gets managed and becomes the driver for employee performance. Performance Management Systems are a systematic approach to managing employees that links their efforts with the strategy of the organization by creating performance metrics that are salient, measurable, and aligned with the organization's goals and objectives. These metrics then serve as the focus for management processes such as hiring, training, supervision, and evaluation. However, metrics can lead to failures when they are ineffectively managed, such as when employees take safety shortcuts in order to meet more salient productivity expectations. This paper presents an overview of Performance Management Systems, situations where they can fail if not implemented systematically, and two forensic case studies that illustrate these failures.