- Leaders know effective performance management (PM) is essential to the business but continue to struggle to find what works for their organization’s context. This leads to organizations regularly changing and adding PM processes and practices without a defined plan or purpose. When PM doesn’t have a clear purpose, it aims to serve every possible goal and ends up serving none.
- Many organizations emphasize the process of PM, focusing primarily on formal evaluations and documented goals, and fail to adequately recognize the human experiences that make PM effective – psychological safety, trust, and ongoing coaching and feedback (and many more).
Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst.
- Get on-demand project support
- Get advice, coaching, and insight at key project milestones
- Go through a Guided Implementation to help you get through your project

Our Advice
Critical Insight
Strategic performance management goes beyond a well-defined process – it looks below the surface at the human experience of PM. Balancing a process-driven and human-centric approach drives success and employee engagement through healthy performance conversations centered on growth and development.
Impact and Result
- This research will help HR craft a PM philosophy statement that clearly outlines the organization’s approach to PM in alignment with strategic objectives.
- It will guide HR in designing a human-centric PM framework to enhance coaching and feedback conversations and build relationships between leaders and employees centered on psychological safety and trust.
- It will support HR in equipping leaders and employees with the skills and resources to engage in meaningful coaching and feedback conversations to drive employee and organizational performance.
Performance Management

This program has been approved for continuing professional development (CPD) hours under Section A of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Log of the Human Resource Professionals Association (HRPA).

McLean & Company is recognized by SHRM and can award Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®.

HR Certification Institute's® (HRCI®) official seal confirms that McLean & Company meets the criteria for pre-approved recertification credit(s) for any of HRCI’s eight credentials, including SPHR® and PHR®.
How to complete this course:
Use these videos, along with the Project Blueprint deck above, to gain an understanding of the subject. Start with the Introduction, then move through each of the Course Modules. At the end of each Module, you will be required to complete a short test to demonstrate your understanding. You will complete this course when you have completed all of the course tests.
- Number of Course Modules: 6
- Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hrs
Learning Outcome
Learners will develop the potential structures and building blocks for modern performance management.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, learners will be able to:
- Evaluate the current state of their organization’s performance management framework.
- Identify the building blocks of performance management and tailor them to organizational culture and strategy.
- Align HR processes with modern performance management best practices.
- Develop communication, change management strategies, and training to successfully transition to a modern performance management framework.
Course Modules

Performance Management - Introduction: Shift to a performance management approach tailored to your organization

Performance Management Module 1: Prepare to change the PM framework

Performance Management Module 2: Design the mandatory elements of a PM framework

Performance Management Module 3: Design the optional elements of a PM framework

Performance Management Module 4: Align related HR programs

Performance Management Module 5: Communicate and train to manage change
Workshop: Redefine Performance Management
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Prepare to Customize the PM Framework
The Purpose
- Assess the current state of the PM framework and identify challenges, goals, and metrics.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Current-state assessment across PM building blocks
- PM goals and metrics identified
- Changes identified to PM process
Activities
Outputs
Assess the existing PM framework and identify challenges.
- Current-state assessment
Define the organization’s PM goals and metrics.
- Goals and metrics
Tailor the PM process.
- Tailored PM process
Module 2: Customize the PM Framework
The Purpose
- Clarify the approach to goal management competencies and feedback and coaching.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Approach to goal management defined
- Role of competencies in PM identified
- Feedback and coaching activities selected
Activities
Outputs
Clarify the approach to goal management.
- Goal setting, competency, and feedback and coaching building blocks customized
Define the role that competencies will play in PM.
Assess current feedback and coaching activities.
Module 3: Customize the PM Framework
The Purpose
- Determine the role of crowdsourced feedback and ratings and calibration meetings.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Role of crowdsourced feedback determined
- Rating scales are developed
- Plan for calibration meetings established
Activities
Outputs
Determine whether crowdsourced feedback will be used.
- Crowdsourced feedback and ratings building blocks customized
Determine if ratings will be used and develop a rating scale.
Plan for calibration meetings.
- Approach to calibration defined
Module 4: Align New PM Framework
The Purpose
- Evaluate the alignment of HR practices with PM and confirm accountabilities for key stakeholders.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Plan for alignment with HR practices established
- Stakeholder accountabilities confirmed
Activities
Outputs
Evaluate the alignment of other HR practices with PM.
- Action items to align HR practices with new PM framework identified
Confirm key accountabilities for key stakeholders.
- Stakeholder accountabilities confirmed
Module 5: Next Steps and Wrap-Up
The Purpose
- Plan to respond to pushback and customize performance review and PIP template, and develop a communication plan.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Plan to respond to pushback established
- Performance review and PIP template customized
- Action and communication plan drafted
Activities
Outputs
Prepare to respond to pushback.
Customize performance review and PIP templates.
- Customized performance review and PIP templates
Develop an action and communication plan.
- Action and communication plan created