Using social goals as part of your performance management process

There’s no doubt that setting goals is a vital component of the performance appraisal process. Goals can give employees direction, they can be used as a performance indicator as well as act as a tool for motivation. But with the accelerating speed of change in organisations and the demand for quick responses and continuous feedback, annual goals can quickly become obsolete. So should we be re-thinking the way we use goals as part of the performance appraisal process?

By using a more collaborative approach, empowering employees and changing from a culture of top-down control, some organisations are moving towards more transparent and agile systems to improve performance and accomplish workloads.

So how can goals be used collaboratively? Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham, the two most recognised academic researchers on goal setting, have stated in their research that “Making a public commitment to a goal enhances personal commitment.”

Making a goal public or social will certainly encourage collaboration among team members and open communication between colleagues. Social goals allow employees to work in real-time by sharing work amongst peers, managers and teams. Goals are shared and worked on collaboratively across teams and the organisation. Individual performance is monitored in real-time and has direct relevance to results.  Teams can rally around objectives in an easy, open and social way. This helps teams to stay focused on what really matters and encourages individuals to work towards driving the key targets that impact the business.

There are a number of new and innovative social performance management platforms on the market now. These systems fully embrace the concept of collaborative, social goals. WorkSimple’s platform allows individuals and teams “to set relevant goals that impact work happening on a daily basis.” The platform provides a news stream which enables individuals to view what their peers are working on and see how their own work fits into the bigger picture.

Rypple, which has recently been acquired by Sales Force describe their approach to social goals - “you can inspire your team to set challenging objectives — and actually accomplish them. Objectives and key results achieved are showcased on individual profile pages so people know where they stand and what’s expected of them….. Share your goals publicly on Rypple and access resources from across the company. People in your organisation can join goals — and invite others to collaborate with them. Teams aligned around achieving the right objectives work better together and more effectively.”

So adopting a social approach to performance management can certainly help companies to align goals in real time in addition to making them highly focused.  Ultimately, the workforce feels more engaged, more in touch with where the business is heading and more empowered to engage in its success.

Will Rypple make a Splash?

Rypple is a web-based social performance management tool which provides a more collaborative and social approach to performance management.  The system allows for continuous conversation between employee, manager and other team members.  The software employs various game mechanics, like badges, which can be custom-built to reflect a company’s own values.  At the same time it provides a platform to create ‘social’ goals for teams and managers. Goals can be shared and employees can join up their goals and invite others to contribute.  Other team members can comment, rate and provide feedback on an individual’s performance. Employees are encouraged not to sit back and wait for feedback; social performance tools encourage you to check and see how you’re doing.

Founded in 2008, Rypple have raised $13 million in funding and can boast Facebook as one of their clients but will it catch on? Rypple’s social performance platform certainly provides a way for teams to communicate effectively and targets can be easily monitored on a daily basis.  It’s great for rewarding a job well done but it doesn’t take away the need for private one to one meetings to give constructive criticism.  Making your performance management process agile is all about making it continuous and constant and social performance tools do that. However, they don’t take over the need for an annual review. 

The concept is good and Rypple have certainly made a splash in the HCM world by recently being acquired by Sales Force. Furthermore, they’ve recently launched a new android app for mobile use. l’ll be writing more about social performance management tools next month.

Social Learning - Why is everyone talking about it?

The new way of learning but is it really that “new”?

The majority of individuals are already using ‘social’ learning tools for their own professional or personal use. Learning tools like webcasts, podcasts, videos, blogs, micro-blogs and wikis are freely available on the web and being shared across social networks every second of every day. Informal learning makes up 70% of our knowledge base.

How does that transfer to business?
If you have talented individuals in your organisation, doesn’t it make sense for them to share their knowledge with others? Continuous, collaborative learning will surely lead to improved performance.

You may already upload learning resources onto your intranet or LMS….a time consuming task! Social learning solutions allow a continuous flow of discussion, feedback and learning amongst  your employees.  Ultimately, they learn from each other. Videos, podcasts, webinars, slide shows, screen captures can be uploaded instantly.  Learning resources can be linked to competencies, goals and personal development plans; all in one click, all on one platform. It’s not new or revolutionary, it’s how today’s generation are already learning.

Social learning solutions are not only beneficial in terms of improved performance, they also provide a huge long term cost saving.  As social platforms are usually offered as Saas solutions, minimal involvement is needed from your IT department.  Payment is usually per employee with a small set up fee. No expensive software installation to consider!

Social platforms have already been integrated into many leading talent management software suites but there are also a number of independent innovative solutions available on the market today. I will be giving my thoughts on some of these later in the year.