Performance Management Trends in 2023
2023 will be the year when companies will also build more structure to keep workplaces inclusive and where everyone’s contributions are recognized, regardless of working situations.

Performance Management is one of the most crucial aspects of an employee life cycle that is going to see a dynamic evolution from this year. The year 2020 and 2021 witnessed many teams busy adjusting to remote working and optimizing their productivity in a hybrid environment, 2022 has opened many doors for further development in other important areas, such as employee engagement, Learning & Development, and performance management.

2023 will be the year when companies will also build more structure to keep workplaces inclusive and where everyone’s contributions are recognized, regardless of working situations.

Managers will continue to be crucial stakeholders to keep up to date with training on how to communicate and navigate performance conversations with employees, many adopting a more ‘coach approach’ style of feedback where they encourage a mutual style of feedback and conversation with their direct reports.

In 2023 and beyond, we’ll see performance management develop in many different ways. As an HR practitioner or business leader, it’s important to keep up with recent trends so you know how to best evaluate and support your team as the norm develops.

Competency-Focused Performance Evaluation
Ensure that all employees are being evaluated based on the competencies that matter most to their respective job roles. Performance evaluation discussion should focus much more on the competencies and avenues of how to further develop those competencies which are crucial for performance.

Proficiency levels of the various competencies impacting a particular job role should be communicated to the employees to set the expectation of performance. In fact, employees should be made aware of the competency map of a particular job role.

Flexible Goals
The trend of annual goal setting may give way to a more flexible and agile goal setting. Instead of setting annual objectives, we will have to allow for flexibility. Goals may shift according to the top priorities of teams within a given quarter and accordingly, adjustments have to be made to both the performance standards and measures of evaluation.

Flexible Compensation Design
Gen Z employees are more inclined towards higher flexibility in their pay structure, which means a higher loading on their performance (against agreed performance indicators) linked to variable pay rather than the fixed components of their compensation structure.

Therefore, it’s very important to have a compensation plan in place that is transparent, clearly defined, and easy to understand. This plan must be clearly established with everyone in the organization so that there is no ambiguity in what to expect. It can be discouraging for employees when they feel that their compensation doesn’t line up with their contributions to the company.

The emerging trend is that Gen Z employees will be seeking compensation linked to effort and output, rather than being assured of fixed compensation.

Role of AI in PMS
Organizations that integrate performance tools into their team’s workflow are much more likely to see positive results from the process. Making performance feedback a natural part of day-to-day work makes it easier to coach employees and managers alike.

The role of chatbots is a very important aspect of PMS these days. AI throws real-time feedback to the managers from the employees which helps the team to plan for the respective employees in much smarter ways than before.

Data-driven PMS Discussions
Oftentimes, data used in performance reviews don’t dive deep into employee contributions, and performance that are relevant for performance conversations. This tends to make the performance discussion dated and out of context.

To help resolve this, organizations need to ensure the availability of high-quality real-time information through evolved technology platforms that collect employee performance data on an ongoing basis.

Gathering performance data year-round means that the company is getting deeper and better insights into employee performance in a continuous manner and employees are also receiving more accurate feedback about their performance levels.

Engagement & Coaching
2023 will witness a greater emphasis on coaching as a strategic enabler for performance enhancement. Managers will have to increasingly don the hat of a coach to ensure that employees are constantly enabled to perform at the desired levels.

Engagement with the employees at an emotional level and an enabling partnership with them in their professional journey will be key determinants of an effective performance management system for any organization.

Conclusion
Future belongs to the agile! Continuous evolution and response to change in the performance management system within organizations and around the world have become much more imperative than ever before.

Companies all around the globe have had to adapt themselves to changing circumstances arising out of the unexpected health emergency that the world encountered in the past two years.

Now, it’s time to ensure that the processes remain agile and capable of adapting to changing times.

Note: The post is written by Mr.Sujoy Banerjee