Social Performance Management System: Effect Of Enterprise Social Media

India is an emerging economy and for it, the right balance between growth and technology is of utmost importance. It envisions a huge number of job openings by the next decade. One of the sectors in which has created such job opportunities is the IT/Services sector. Even today the sector contributes to 56.9% of the GDP, provides 27% of total employment emerging at a growth rate of 7.5% post liberalisation. There is a slow transformation in this sector from the system of transactions to a system of engagement. The entry level trainees are either inducted to a project or adds to the bench strength. This group of employees constituting the lowest level of hierarchy in any organization are the Gen-Y/ Millennials. They are technologically more enhanced and are connected 24x7. In this social world, it’s the perfect balance which is required for organizations to grow and the employee to rise. So, there is a need to align Performance Management System (PMS) with the social way of thinking and communicating.

There was a time when Management by Objectives (MBO) or Management by Results (MBR) was a fresh concept. Then came the age of ‘competency based evaluation’ and in the 90’s we had the 360 degree feedback which injected objectivity. Enterprise Social Media (ESM) is gradually gaining importance in various organizations. Any organization which starts to implement ESM, clearly points out the risks and costs attached to it. Any organization has to first adopt and then adapt to ESM which has its own impacts. And one of these impacts is on a crucial and complicated organizational process of PMS. However one has to remember that the fundamentals remain the same- The manager still reviews and provides feedback to the employee.

Image Courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net, Danilo Rizzuti

Is the employee thinking about his long term goals in the organization? Was the organization able to lower the attrition rate with respect to last year? The retain-ability of the organization is one the important factors that is affected by PMS. For the IT/Services sector the main understanding that is needed to be imparted is the individual level performance, collaboration with team and growing professionally. In the current system there are instances where the entry level trainees in the IT services sector thinks that performance appraisal is performance management. Even though the definition of PMS covers organizational level productivity too, it is not covered for the mentioned hierarchical level. Effectively the following processes make an effective PMS.

• Planning the Performance (Employee goal setting/ Objectives for the next cycle).
• Communicating the present performance and its components
• Collate and document the data.
• Performance Appraisal Cycle meetings
• Identification of focal points and training for performance up gradation (job enrichment)

But for an Entry level trainee, PMS is effectively Performance Appraisal. For some organizations it is not. It is a round the year event and employees are in demand of constant feedback. The pay scale, recognitions, rewards and benefits fall in line when performance is proved. Now we try to figure out the loopholes of the system followed in some organizations generally in the IT/Services sector and then we shall see how ESM can bring change and transform the organization for the changing generation.

Potential problems: where lies the glitch?

Performance Appraisal is only a part of Performance Management. Regardless of the quality of the work or the progress, performance appraisal has been more about increasing payrolls, getting acclamations et cetera. Some employees such as the entry level trainees on a lighter note work rigorously only a week before the appraisal process to meet the objectives. This neither helps the individual nor adds to the overall performance of the organization. In some cases even the management botch the evaluation process and place the employee’s performance results on the pre-adapted methodology.

Most employees have a sense of overlooking the appraisal round the year until the next appraisal cycle. They are not only unclear about their objectives and goals, but also are unable to map their goals to the organizational future aspects. This creates a sense of stagnation not only in terms of enhancing the productivity of the organization with new ideas but also in the overall growth. Managers on the other hand are coerced to provide progressive support and judicious feedback to employees for their performance.

The big dilemma is still the effects of social media to the organizational culture. Is a performing employee productive; do this impact his co-workers and the team leaders; are there any direct influence on the presented reports; do this really help the manager appraise his/her performance? It is certainly a query to be answered.

The fear of reprisal limits the employee to be candid in providing feedback. There is no sense of openness and these kind of activities decreases the efficiency of the PMS processes.

A responsible and more accountable work-frame is required at the employee’s front. To utilize the resources prolifically and adapt to the changing culture is imperative in nature and certainly not easy to comprehend.

ESM to the rescue

One of the most important factors in any organization is to manage tasks into the profitability increment way. Proficient planning, uninterrupted testing, effective tracking and reporting are required to perform task management. Training and Mentorship programs should direct to the way of imparting desired knowledge and skill and enhance performance.

The Gen-Y internal customers (employees) will never agree to annual or bi-annual goals. For innovation to take over and organization to rise in the coming decade, these methods will slowly be unable to adapt to the want for constant feedback by Gen-Ys.

Employees always like it when it is an open door and open desk policy around. A trainee can turn into a gem if he is that brilliant and focused towards rise for him/herself as well as the organization. He can be the MVE (Most Valued Employee). That should be help from ESM.

The freedom of ESM, as part of its changing culture, is an advantage to the employee. An employee must maintain the equilibrium by providing efficient output at the consigned time. This gives an exposure to the ideas discussed responsively; an innovative platform; and understanding for time management.

So here is the way out. Transform for the better. Welcome Enterprise Social Media (ESM).

The long term thinking

Welcome Social Performance Management System (SPMS). With the substantial inputs from social platforms it will be easier to measure individual objective and goals getting achieved. You can just record Facebook events or check if the professional network of LinkedIn for fulfilment of goals.

There is monitoring of individual performance at all times. Teams are focused on output. They enjoy when they get perks but when it is business it is productivity and proving him/herself. Social goal mapping completes that component of the SPMS. There is collaboration for even some Manager who has come new into the project. He should be like a new friend as well as an important business delegate of the organization. Public recognitions act as rewards. It does matter when friends like your life event of getting certified into something. Employees get motivated, focused and accountable. It’s learning everywhere. On the official sides the results are achieved through Social graph which helps to ascertain the actual performance of any employee individually as well as in a team. Facebook’s API Graph Search and consultation firms like WorkSimple use the latest technological tools to find the effect of both- employee on ESM and ESM on productivity.

With the implementation of social platform, it is easy to interact in the hierarchy irrespective of the thought conflict. You can connect to your senior manager as well as to the CEO through LinkedIn. You can WhatsApp your Associate Director if you are stuck in a showstopper issue.

The employee gets a chance to self-brand himself and be open to be famous if he/she has the potential. He is hyper-connected. He can forecast his innovations as googlers do in the X-Labs. New Ideas can stay internally with legalities on a social basis. It is no more a Parent-Child relation as Transaction Analysis would say. It’s an Adult- Adult relationship. Just that the age has transformed with technology.

There lies the difference between Organizations and Great Organizations. Google is ranked the best place to work, The Best Employer, The Best Service Provider, The power house of the market and what not. For any organization be it Google or be it a new entrepreneurial, the Performance Management System will remain at the core. At the end of the day, what matters is that the organization is growing and the employees are growing too. It’s no more the age of B2B or B2C but it’s the age of People to People (P2P). It’s just in the culture

This article is authored by Debojyoti Saha and Shubhi Gupta from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar.

References:

• Social media and managing performance- http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3376
• THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIAON FIRM PERFORMANCE- 2013 INBAM Conference- Daniel Palacios- Marques, Clara Gieure- Sastre and Olga Sastre- Sanchez
• 10 Things a Performance Management System can do for you- http://www.trainingindustry.com/media/3726707/sumtotal-10%20things%20a%20performance%20management%20system%20can%20do%20for%20you.pdf
• Social Media’s Effects on Job Performance- Shel Holtz
• The mindfulness perspectives on decision-making and performance management- Dr, Jutta Tobias and Dr. Andrey Pavlov
• Performance Management- The New Realities- Michael Armstrong and Angela Baron
• Ultimate Performance- Measuring Human Resources at Work- Nicholas C. Burkholder
• Organizational Culture and Performance- R.K.Dwivedi
• http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2013/snapshots/1.html

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