How Is Performance Management Different From Agile Performance Management?

Performance management is more suited for workers who operate within a hierarchy as opposed to those that are used to more collaborative kinds of environment. Agile performance management focuses more so on the development of skills and investment in future as opposed to traditional performance management that depends upon appraisals. Agile performance management also stresses upon an ongoing check and balance of sort while traditional forms of management rely upon yearly check ups. Moreover, agile performance management’s goals change according to the circumstances of a business whereas traditional performance management sets its goals at the beginning of the year.

What Is the Importance of Agile Business Performance Management?

There is a stark contrast between traditional performance management and agile performance management and the reason that the latter is more important than the former is because the numbers that back it up are becoming increasingly impressive. According to a recent research, companies that perform quarterly appraisals are 30% more likely to have higher profits than those that invest in an annual appraisal system. Moreover, businesses that invest in more collaborative form of work were seen to develop a lot quicker than those that followed the traditional hierarchical model.

Differences Between Traditional Performance Management Program and Agile Organisational Performance Management

A teacher teaches in real time during the class, reacting to how her children respond and their performance and shaping the curriculum as they progress, providing in the moment directions to help her students get better at the mistakes that they make and help them score well. She does not wait till the end of the semester to provide them with guidance. In the same way, the traditional method of conduction performance appraisals at the end of the year does not work even by a large margin. There are many reasons why the traditional method does not work. This has introduced to the business work an entirely new term; agile performance management.
Must Read: The Benefits of Agile Performance Management
Strategic Performance Management: Continuous Feedback

The main problem that plagues people when it comes to reviews that are taken at the end of the year is that there tends to be a huge amount of fear and apprehension on part of the employee who tends to work harder in the last few months as he knows the employer will only remember the last few months of work that was conducted. This largely diminishes the important of the review. As opposed to this, agile performance management provides employers with real time regular check ups and a round the clock and clear communication which delivers to them a basis on which they can return to their employees with constructive criticism. This tends to increase the strongth of the team too. Regular feedbacks are more effective as both sides can work on them in real time.

Purpose of Performance Management: Development

A very important difference between traditional and agile performance management is the end goal of each form of assessment. Traditionally, the focus of performance management is on the negatives of the employees overall performance and where they lack when it comes to specific projects. This could work if the employees take it in good stride, however, most employees take this to be more of a reprimand. On the other hand, when agile performance management puts employee growth first it does wonders for the business as a whole. Go back to the same teaching example where positives are celebrated when it comes to the children’s education and negatives are taken in good stride. This  approach helps employees with their training, positive reinforcement and further attempts at learning that encourage growth.
Must Read: A Guide to Employee Management 

Objectives have been an essential part of performance management. However, traditional ways of doing things were often very strict. More often than not, a manager would enforce a goal onto the employee who was then expected to accomplish it within a certain period of time. When something from beyond the employees control caused a disruption in their performance or caused them to not reach that goal it would be seen as a failure when it came to their performance. On the other hand, when given goals on a regular basis, employees have an opportunity to do it better the next time around.

Thus agile performance management is of the utmost importance when it comes to large or small businesses. Be it efficiency or goal management, employers should adopt the best techniques for their workers betterment and apt recording of their performance