What is Performance Management anyway..?

Armstrong and Baron (1998) defined it nicely as a “strategic and integrated approach to increasing the effectiveness of organisations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors.” Other research (Zaffron 2009) suggests that if a link can be found between individual, team and organisational goals productivity and quality will increase - “it may be possible to get all employees to reconcile personal goals with organizational goals and increase productivity and profitability of an organization using this process.”[1] So PM processes work and make a difference not only to outcomes but also staff engagement and by implication well-being PM tools can apply equally to individuals, teams, departments or the organisation as a whole.  Organisational output or ‘products’ do not appear to have a bearing on the impact of PM; education, care, health, social service or profit outputs can all benefit from an increased performance management culture.
 [1] Zaffron, Logan, Steve, David (1st edition, Feb, 2009). Performance Management: The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life