Performance Management: Putting Research into Action

How Performance Management Affects Learning

Christine leaned back again. She wanted to instill the idea in her peers and the CEO that, while performance management was a system that could encourage learning within individuals, it actually was also a PART of the learning occurring at the organizational level—the organization would “learn” with the new performance management system as well. Performance management triggers a “system” to learn by providing goals to meet. And it provides feedback to the system regarding whether those goals are being met. Feedback is crucial in the living systems model. Without feedback, a living system can change, but it cannot learn. Without feedback, a system cannot determine the extent to which it is moving ...