Expert Urges Employers to Overhaul Performance Management Systems
Marcus Buckingham presents his ‘strengths-based leadership concept’ at the Middle East HR Summit; HR Awards winners to be announced today
Performance management systems need to be radically redesigned in order to retain talent and keep employees motivated amidst the impact of the global economic meltdown on recruitment and rewards, according to motivational trainer and proponent of strengths-based leadership, Marcus Buckingham.
Addressing employers and human resource (HR) professionals from the Middle East at the ‘Summit Guru Day’ held as a prelude to the 6th Middle East HR Summit, organised by IIR Middle East, in Dubai today Buckingham said managers need to move away from certain ‘myths’ that continue to govern performance appraisals.
“The best way to enhance performance is to build on a person’s strength instead of focusing on their weaknesses. Your personality doesn’t change as you grow; on the contrary you become more of who you already are,’ Buckingham, who has worked with the Gallup Organisation for 17 years analysing management practices in Fortune 500 companies, said.
Buckingham added that unlike what most managers tend to think, a person grows more in their areas of strength rather than in their areas of weaknesses.
The 6th Middle East HR Summit, which is in session during the 8th to 12th of November 2009 brings together highly successful HR development consultants and thought leaders from the region and abroad. These experts will offer valuable insights to employers in the region on how best to tackle issues such as employee retention, reduced budgets and nationalisation.
The Summit sessions start today with the presentation of the ‘Middle East HR Summit Awards’, an integral component of the Summit intended to honour path-breaking HR initiatives and exceptional HR talent for contributing to developing a high quality workforce for the region.
Nominations for this year’s HR Summit Awards have come from leading organisations in such diverse sectors as social empowerment, oil & gas, real estate and hospitality.
Following the Awards presentation, Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Executive Director of Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai Academic City will share his observations on the ‘Impact of the economic situation and its effect on talent management, the human resources function and industries in the region’.
The Middle East HR Summit is in partnership with Dubai Knowledge Village, and sponsored by Hay Group, Eca International and Innovation 360 Institute.
For more information on the Middle East HR Summit programme, please visit http://ww2.iirme.com/hrsummit
About the Middle East HR Summit
Organised by IIR Middle East, the Middle East HR Summit is the region’s premier annual conference and exhibition for Human Resource professionals.
Running in parallel with the Summit will be the HR Exhibition, featuring services and products to meet all HR requirements.
For more details about the Summit and the full programme, please visit www.hrsummitme.com
About IIR Middle East:
The Institute of International Research (IIR) is part of Informa plc, the leading international provider of specialist information and services for the academic and scientific, professional and commercial business communities. Informa has more than 150 offices in more than 40 countries, employs over 9,000 staff globally and is the largest publicly owned organiser of conferences and courses in the world with an output of over 10,000 events annually.
For more than 35 years IIR has been the leader in facilitating business knowledge and skills delivered through cutting edge conferences, training programmes and industry led exhibitions.
Operating in the Middle East since 1993 we are the leading event organiser regionally. Key expertise allows us to identify trends ahead of the curve by responding quickly to market needs to bring global thought leaders and industry experts into the region.
I fully agree with Mr. Buckingham that performance management systems need to be continually evaluated and redesigned in order to attract and retain talented managers and staff. This is a global necessity, and not limited to any region. I also agree that “…a person grows more in their areas of strength rather than in their areas of weaknessâ€. This happens simply because most people gravitate towards activities that they are good at, and they enjoy doing, rather than towards tasks that they are less capable of performing or that they dislike, particularily when they are under performance pressure.
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But I have to disagree with the statement that “The best way to enhance performance is to build on a person’s strength instead of focusing on their weakness.†Simply because, in the wrong situational context, a person’s performance strength quite often becomes a performance weakness.
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Take, for example, a person who is highly analytical and strategic. In situations requiring this skill they will perform quite well but, when under pressure, they are more likely to gravitate towards this same “comfort zone†whether the situation demands it or not. Hence we can see “paralysis by analysis†and subsequent slow decision-making in times when it is more important to take action. Similarly, a person who is strongly action-oriented may wrongly rush to making mistakes in situations that would have been better served by strategic thinking and analyitical problem solving. The key point is, your performance strengths can be a performance liability when mismatched to the wrong situation.
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I would argue that it is most important to identify and understand a person’s performance strengths and weaknesses (we all have them) and then to create, or manipulate, situations that will respectively maximize and minimize their impact. By knowing how a particular person will react under pressure (strengths that they will gravitate towards and weaknesses they will avoid), we can then help them to develop the proper response that will be appropriate to the specific situation –strength or not.
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Whether hiring new staff, or evaluating current performance, taking the time to honestly identify situational matches (or mismatches) between the person’s performance capabilities and the requirements of the task, the position, the manager, the team and the overall work environment is a key component to above-average performance sustained over time.
Jim Gilchrist
President
CAESÂ Career Advancement Employment Services Inc.
http://www.careeradvancement.on.ca