Understanding performance management
Faced with changes in the market, performance management has become a strategic lever for organizations seeking to optimize their results while developing their human capital.
What is performance management?
Performance management is an ongoing process that aims to align individual and collective goals with business strategy., to measure and evaluate results, and to develop the skills needed to achieve the goals set.
Much more than just an annual assessment, it is a holistic approach that includes goal setting, regular monitoring, continuous feedback, and skills development.
In 2025, the challenges of this critical practice are multiple:
- Strategic alignment : Ensuring that each employee contributes to global goals
- Organizational agility : Quickly adapt goals in a volatile environment
- Employee engagement : Maintaining motivation in a context of transformation
- Talent development : Identify and cultivate critical skills for the future
- Talent Retention : Offer clear and rewarding career prospects
- Sustained success : Reconciling short-term results with long-term sustainability
The performance equation
To understand its mechanisms, a simple but powerful equation deserves our attention: Performance = Skills × Commitment²
This formula highlights two essential factors: The skills represent the necessary technical and behavioral know-how, while The commitment corresponds to motivation and involvement, with an exponential impact on the final result.
According to Gallup, managers influence up to 70% of engagement of their employees, making them key players in collective prosperity. However, they are not the only contributors : HR, the clarity of the Direction's guidelines, the framework for collaboration and corporate culture also play decisive roles in the growth of a business.
What ESC or Engineering School trains to manage conflicts, give feedback or manage multi-generational teams?
This rhetorical question highlights a paradox: we often promote technical experts to the rank of managers without preparing them for the human challenges that await them.
The foundations of performance management
What types of performance should you take into account?
Performance comes in several complementary dimensions that it is essential to balance:
- Individual performance concerns the results and contributions of each collaborator. It integrates both quantitative aspects (objectives achieved, production achieved) and qualitative aspects (behaviors, embodied values, collaboration).
- Collective performance represents the ability of a team or organization to achieve its common goals. It goes beyond the simple sum of individual results and is based on dynamics of interaction and synergy.
- Operational performance focuses on the effectiveness and efficiency of daily processes and activities, measured by indicators such as productivity, quality or deadlines.
- Strategic performance assesses the organization's ability to achieve its long-term ambitions and adapt to changes in its environment.
Individual productivity and collective results
One of the most striking paradoxes is the complex relationship between individual and collective productivity. A team composed of brilliant individuals can underperform collectively, while a team of collaborators with average skills but perfectly coordinated can achieve exceptional results.
This phenomenon is explained by several factors : the coordination of efforts, the alignment of objectives, the relational dynamic and the quality of leadership. As explained in our article on improving individual performance, personal contribution also includes qualitative dimensions such as alignment with corporate values and contribution to corporate culture.
To align the planets, several approaches are recommended:
- Define goals at multiple levels (individual, team, and organizational)
- Valuing collaboration in individual assessment
- Promote transparency on goals and results
- Develop collective intelligence
- Balancing competition and cooperation
Methodologies for setting performance goals
Several methodologies have been proven to be effective in defining and evaluating goals. The OKR method (Objectives and Key Results), popularized by Google and detailed in our article on The OKR method, is based on ambitious, qualitative and inspiring goals, combined with quantifiable and measurable key results. This approach promotes strategic alignment, ambition (with a target success rate often set at 70%), frequent reviews and total transparency.
The SMART method is another widely used approach. It states that any effective objective must be Specific (precise and clearly defined), Measurable (quantifiable through objective indicators), Achievable (realistic considering available resources), Relevant (relevant to strategic objectives), and Time-bound (time-bound).
Management by Objectives (MPO)), introduced by Peter Drucker in the 1950s, involves a joint definition of objectives between manager and collaborator, autonomy in the means implemented and an evaluation based on the achievement of results.
Regarding the pace of evaluation, the current trend favors a hybrid approach, combining regular check-ins with more formal assessment moments, as shown in our article on performance reviews and improving their impact.
Today, the pace of performance evaluation is hybrid: it consists of alternating annual meetings and one-off check-ins
Performance measurement
Measurement is often the weak link in this HR practice.. To be effective, it must be based on balanced key indicators (KPIs), covering both quantitative aspects (volumes, figures, ratios) and qualitative aspects (satisfaction, perceived quality), and integrating both result and activity indicators.
Tracking tools have become considerably sophisticated, with dashboards to visualize key indicators, automated reporting tools, HR analytics for in-depth analyses, and feedback platforms for qualitative feedback.
It is essential that this measure be contextualized. to avoid several pitfalls: short-termism that sacrifices sustainability, opportunistic behaviors (“you get what you measure”), demotivation in the face of goals perceived as reducing, and the hiding of essential qualitative contributions. Appreciating the tangible results of each employee is one of the pillars of wage transparency required by the new European Directive.
Management styles and their impact on results
Management training: a blind spot
HR is increasingly asking managers to devote 80% of their time to management, but managers often find it difficult to comply when they have themselves been individual contributors. This is why some people without specialized technical expertise can sometimes prove to be better managers than former experts who know the job perfectly but do not have the necessary managerial skills.
The 6 management styles according to Daniel Goleman
Daniel Goleman identified six management styles, each with a different impact on individual success:
- Directive management is characterized by clear instructions and a “top-down” approach. It is particularly effective in crisis situations or with novice teams, but risks eroding commitment over time if used exclusively.
- Leadership management strives for excellence, imposes high standards and advocates exemplarity. It generates excellent results with qualified teams, but can demotivate less experienced employees who are struggling to keep up.
- Participatory management favors the search for consensus and the involvement of employees in decisions. It promotes sustainable engagement, a key factor in long-term performance, but can slow down execution in emergency situations.
- Visionary management is distinguished by its ability to project an inspiring vision and to give meaning to daily work. It is particularly effective in times of change, but needs to be complemented by more operational approaches in order to translate the vision into concrete actions.
- The Management Coach focuses on the long-term development of employees. It generates substantial benefits in the medium term by developing human capital, but this time-consuming approach can be difficult to implement in contexts of high operational pressure.
- Collaborative management gives priority to harmony and team cohesion. It promotes harmonious individual success and a well-being conducive to commitment, but may lack effectiveness in the face of critical situations requiring quick decisions.
The importance of managerial flexibility
As Linda Hill (Harvard) points out:
The most effective leaders use a distinct set of leadership styles — each in the right measure, at the right time.
Managerial excellence lies in the ability to adapt one's approach depending on the context (stability or crisis), Individuals (experience, personality), Objectives (innovation, efficiency) and organizational culture. This flexibility, although difficult to implement, pays off in terms of performance.
Diagnosing the managerial maturity of your organization
The differences in perception between managers and employees
A phenomenon that is particularly indicative of an organization's managerial maturity lies in the differences in perceptions between managers and employees. Recent data show significant differences in key management dimensions:
Feedback and recognition (Human Footprint Barometer 2023-2024)
- 81% of managers think they are giving enough feedback and recognition
- Only 52% of employees share this feeling
Support and listening (Human Footprint Barometer 2023-2024)
- 87% of managers feel that they listen to the needs of their team
- 60% of employees confirm it
- Perception gap: 27 points
Communication (OpinionWay study for Slack, 2022)
- 78% of managers consider themselves transparent in their communication
- 49% of employees perceive it that way
Encouraging innovation (OpinionWay study for Slack, 2022)
- 85% of managers think they encourage innovation
- 54% of employees are convinced
Trust and delegation (Great Place To Work France 2023 Barometer)
- 74% of managers think they trust and delegate effectively
- 44% of employees share this point of view
These systematic and significant differences reveal several phenomena. : the illusion of competence of managers who often overestimate the effectiveness of their practices, the self-complacency bias that pushes us to evaluate our own actions more favorably, differing expectations about what it means to “give feedback” or “delegate effectively”, and systemic constraints that can limit the intentions of managers.
These differences in perceptions are a valuable indicator for orienting managerial development actions, in focusing primarily on the dimensions where the differences are the most marked. They also highlight the importance of open communication and a feedback culture within the organization.
Warning signs indicating a need for support
Some signals should draw attention to a need for managerial support. An increase in turnover, especially when concentrated in certain teams, is often the first indicator of poor management. What do you think of the famous adage:
Employees don't leave a company, they leave a manager.
A decrease in engagement, whether measured by surveys or observed in behavior (decrease in initiatives, reduced participation), also deserves immediate attention. Other signals, such as a deteriorated work environment, recurrent difficulties in achieving goals despite proven skills, or the multiplication of conflicts requiring HR mediation, can also indicate underlying managerial problems.
Early detection of these signals makes it possible to intervene before situations deteriorate significantly, permanently affecting the performance and commitment of teams.
How to implement effective performance management?
The implementation of effective performance management is based on five fundamental pillars : a clear scope of intervention, the focus on progress, the optimization of everyone's potential, the culture of skills and, finally, its implementation by appropriate tools.
1. Clarification of the role and scope of the manager
According to a Deloitte study, 81% of managers say they do their work outside traditional functional boundaries. This porosity of roles requires a clarification of expectations. The clarification of the managerial scope must focus on 4 dimensions:
- Operational responsibilities (what part of the time devoted to production),
- Managerial (what expectations in terms of team leadership),
- Strategic (what level of contribution to the strategy)
- Transverse (what involvement in business projects).
The balance between operational responsibilities (doing) and managerial responsibilities (doing things) is a major challenge, especially for local managers. The distribution of roles between managers and HR must also be clarified. on topics such as recruitment, assessment, skills development, and managing difficult situations.
2. Valorization of development and progression
An employee is more efficient when he sees himself progressing and when his new skills open up prospects for development. This vision of progress is a powerful driver of performance.
To maintain engagement, we need to offer visible and achievable development prospects. This can take the form of a mapping of development opportunities (such as our “Galaxy” solution offers), clear criteria for accessing different levels of responsibility, or concrete examples of successful trajectories.
Progression is not limited to climbing the hierarchy.. Other forms should be valued, such as broadening the scope (horizontal progression), deepening technical skills (increasing expertise), increasing influence without additional hierarchical authority (progression into impact) or managing more strategic issues (progression in complexity).
This diversification of trajectories makes it possible to meet the varied aspirations of employees and to optimize the allocation of talent within the organization, as explained in our article on The talent management lifecycle.
3. Expression of potentials
According to a McLean & Company study, 33% of employees feel that their skills are underused. This underutilization represents a considerable loss of potential for the organization.
Managers are responsible for identifying and developing talent. To help them, several approaches can be put in place, such as training in the detection of potentials, tools for assessing skills and aspirations, or structured talent review processes.
Cross-cutting projects and specific missions are excellent opportunities to develop new skills, test appetites, expand your internal network and gain visibility. Likewise, mentoring, whether formal or informal, promotes the transmission of knowledge, the sharing of experience and the development of self-confidence.
Our article on managing high potentials details the specific approaches for high-potential profiles, who require particular attention in the expression of their talents.
4. Competence culture and targeted skills development
The “culture of competence” is no longer limited to organizing a few annual training courses: it now embodies a philosophy of continuous learning, where each employee is an actor — or even a driver — in their skills development. In the most innovative companies, such as Google, Microsoft or Michelin, learning is integrated into the organization's DNA. : micro-learning programs accessible at any time, structured mentoring, personalized e-learning platforms and peer sharing rituals.
This dynamic of continuous skilling responds to a paradox: Never have employees invested so much of their own initiative in their professional development, often via short modules, podcasts, MOOCs or online communities... without the company always having control over them. Result: skills development sometimes escapes the organization's strategy, and the expertise acquired is not always aligned with the real needs for collective excellence.
To regain control, pioneer companies rely on:
- Micro-learning : short, targeted content that can be adapted to the pace of each person, which makes it possible to learn in the “dead time” of the day and to maintain a learning dynamic without interruption.
- Social learning : peer learning, mentoring, coaching, where sharing experience and collaboration become levers for accelerating skills, while strengthening cohesion and commitment.
- The individualization of courses : thanks to AI and learning platforms, it is possible to recommend to each employee the modules that correspond to their real shortcomings or aspirations, while maintaining consistency with the company's priorities.
Some businesses, like Google with its “20% of time” dedicated to learning or Michelin With her Talent Factory , explicitly encourage their employees to devote part of their time to skills development, whether technical or behavioral. Others, like siemens, offer internal platforms where everyone can choose their modules, benefit from mentoring or coaching, and even share their own expertise with the community.
The real challenge? To converge this desire for individual learning with collective challenges: mapping key competencies, orienting training efforts towards strategic needs, and valuing self-training as much as sharing and transmission.
5. Performance tools: towards global, inclusive and actionable management
Tools are no longer content to juxtapose individual and collective goals. The most effective solutions make it possible to visualize, in real time, everyone's contribution to the success of the team — and vice versa. This dynamic control makes the alignment legible, facilitates the identification of discrepancies and directs the action where it is most useful.
A good tool goes further : it highlights areas for improvement through predictive analyses (missing skills, weak signals of disengagement), intelligent alerts, and the crossing of performance, engagement and training data. It also offers concrete levers for action: personalized suggestions, automation of action plans, sharing of best practices and facilitated collaboration.
User experience remains the key to adoption : the tool must be intuitive, integrated into the existing digital ecosystem, accessible on all media, and customizable according to the needs of the manager and the team.
Finally, digital inclusion is a central issue: 80% of employees in the world are deskless (field, production, logistics) and often digitally under-equipped. The tools must therefore be designed mobile first, multilingual, with ultra-simplified interfaces, to ensure that each employee can contribute to the dynamic of success, wherever they are located in the organization.
The role of HR in supporting performance managers
Examples of local support
Several companies have developed innovative approaches to managerial support, which can serve as a source of inspiration.
At Sage, as explained by Tiphaine Brisou-Debeze (People Director), support is based on several simple provisions:
- Weekly 30-minute calls with managers
- A Teams group for exchanges within the management community
- Dedicated onboarding for new managers
- A Leadership Academy.
Sage has also implemented a Squad methodology promoting transversal and temporary project management, offering “a springboard for talent” and making it possible to “detect less visible potentials”. In addition to these best practices, here is the management support philosophy developed by Tiphaine:
The most requested managerial courses
According to the Cegos 2023 barometer On “Managers and training”, the five courses most requested by managers are:
- Interpersonal communication and public speaking
- Team leadership and motivation
- Diversity and inclusion management
- Change Management and Managerial Agility
- Conflict management and constructive feedback
The APEC 2023 barometer on “Executive expectations in terms of training” confirms these trends, with a strong demand for public speaking and project presentation, effective and assertive communication, diversity and inclusion management, time and priority management, as well as emotional intelligence and stress management.
These themes reflect the contemporary challenges of management: communicate effectively in a complex environment, adapt to rapid changes, manage increasingly diverse teams, and maintain personal balance in the face of increasing pressures.
Skills and Performance: a complex relationship
The relationship between skills and performance, while intuitively obvious, is more complex than it seems. While skills are a prerequisite, they alone do not guarantee it.
Technical skills vs managerial skills
One of the most common mistakes organizations make is promoting technical experts to management positions without ensuring that they have or can develop the necessary managerial skills.
What is the Peter Principle” or “beetle syndrome”?
It is based on several mechanisms:
- the tendency to replicate similar profiles in management positions,
- the erroneous assimilation between technical excellence and managerial skills
- the absence of rewarding alternative paths for experts
- the lack of knowledge of specific managerial skills.
As Julia de Funès, philosopher, writer and speaker, points out:
Management is not a promotion but a skill.
While technical skills remain important for understanding team work, soft skills are crucial for managerial success: emotional intelligence, communication, leadership, leadership, problem solving, and relationship management.
Motivation, a key success factor
As our performance equation highlights, motivation is an exponential factor in managerial success. An appetite for management is demonstrated by a genuine interest in the development of others., a satisfaction in seeing the team succeed collectively, a preference for organizational and coordination activities, and a curiosity for human dynamics.
Intrinsic motivation can be identified by several signs : taking spontaneous initiatives to help colleagues, clear interest in collective issues, active search for feedback in order to progress, voluntary participation in transversal projects, or investment in informal mentoring activities.
The reference document refers to the concept of”Flow“, optimal psychological state identified by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. For managers, this state can be achieved when their skills are aligned with managerial challenges, when they experience intrinsic satisfaction in their activities, when they can exercise their creativity and autonomy, and when they perceive the positive impact of their actions on their team.
The balance between skills and appetite
The challenge for organizations is to find the right balance between skills and appetite in the selection and development of managers. The reference document clearly highlights this risk: “The lack of appetite can lead to the choice to promote technical people who are not interested in human aspects.”
The consequences of unsuitable promotions can be severe: gradual disengagement by the manager, personal suffering from unwanted responsibilities, negative impact on the team and its success, and direct and indirect costs for the organization.
To avoid these pitfalls, we need to develop alternative routes rewarding for experts not interested in management: expertise sector with equivalent levels of recognition, roles of mentor or technical referent, project management offering transversal responsibilities, or strategic contributions that value expertise in important decisions.
Our article on the secrets of continuous listening to employees proposes approaches to better understand the real aspirations of employees and thus better guide them towards adapted paths.
Performance management tools
Formal interviews
Formal interviews remain key moments in the performance management cycle, despite the emergence of more continuous and agile practices.
The annual evaluation interview, although often criticized, remains relevant when properly conducted. It allows a structured assessment of the past year, an objective evaluation of results and skills, and the formalization of a concrete action plan. At Neobrain, we believe that it is often tedious to fill it out for this occasion alone, which is why its content can be continuously powered and thus become a more enjoyable exercise for all actors.
Our article on annual interview campaigns details the key success factors for a successful exercise. Below is an illustration of how managers conduct annual interviews on the Neobrain platform.
Performance reviews are sometimes distinguished from annual interviews by their higher frequency and greater focus on results. They are evolving to integrate qualitative dimensions beyond KPIs and adopt a more collaborative approach in defining objectives, as explained in our article on improving the impact of these reviews.
The people reviews, less well known but increasingly used, are a complementary process that focuses on long-term potential and development. They offer a transversal vision of the organization's talents, allow the detection of high potentials and the forecasting of future skills needs. Our guide to The People Reviews details the implementation of this strategic process.
Continuous feedback
In addition to formal interviews, continuous feedback is becoming an essential practice of modern management. Real-time feedback tools, with their simple interface and the possibility of instant feedback, promote responsiveness, desacralization of feedback, and continuous learning.
Check-ins, short and regular interviews between manager and employee, make it possible to take stock of progress, difficulties encountered and future priorities. They facilitate the rapid adjustment of actions and maintain alignment between manager and collaborator. Below is a workshop presenting interview campaigns by our Neobrain teams.
Technologies at the service of performance management
AI, task automation, and productivity
Artificial intelligence is radically transforming employee productivity. According to a The Adecco Group study (2024, survey of 35,000 employees in 27 countries), AI saves all employees an average of one hour per day.
For the 12% of employees who use AI daily, the productivity gain is on average 1 hour per day.
More specifically, 21% of users save between 45 and 60 minutes, 20% between one and two hours, and some up to four hours depending on the sector. The greatest gains are seen in energy, tech and industry, with savings ranging from 52 to 75 minutes per day.
These considerable time savings allow employees to go faster on usual tasks, to deepen their analyses, or toimprove the quality of their deliverables. For managers, this represents an opportunity to devote more time to the human dimensions of their role: coaching, feedback, talent development.
In short, does this use of AI really make it possible to be more efficient from an economic point of view?
This is the question of The correlation between productivity and performance. An increase in productivity can improve operational results and profitability, but an excessive focus on productivity (doing it faster) can also damage quality or innovation, and therefore overall excellence.
As explained in our article on generative AI and HR, the impact of these technologies goes beyond simply automating repetitive tasks. They increase the cognitive abilities of employees, facilitate decision-making and democratize access to skills that were formerly reserved for experts.
New perspectives in performance management
A more human and personalized management
Today, 47% of employees expect more humanity in management (Solve Recruitment, 2024). Innovative companies, like Unilever, rely on AI to analyze anonymous feedback and offer managers concrete recognition or development actions adapted to each employee.
Personalization is accelerating : some employees now choose the form of their objectives (projects, missions, results) and the tThe type of recognition that motivates them (bonus, training, free time). This individualized approach responds to the search for meaning and uniqueness, especially among younger generations.
The impact of hybrid work and the gradual return to site
The hybrid model is essential: according to Accenture (2024), 62% of HR departments plan to invest in automation tools for talent management. While full-time remote work is on the decline, the gradual return to site is accompanied by new rituals: hybrid meetings, short and regular team points, and redesigned collaborative spaces.
Performance indicators are changing: the focus is on results, remote collaboration and the ability to share knowledge, rather than on attendance time.
Innovative and little-mentioned practices
Some companies are experimenting with the” Reverse feedback ”: employees evaluate their managers, and this feedback directly influences managerial development goals.
The” collective well-being score ” is becoming a key indicator: part of managers' variable remuneration depends on the evolution of this score, measured by regular surveys on the atmosphere, workload and work/personal life balance.
The 4-day week experiment is spreading: French companies such as YPREMA, LDLC, RATP are noticing an increase in productivity and creativity, while reducing absenteeism and turnover.
The growing role of technology
Generative AI is emerging as a manager's assistant, suggesting actions in real time to motivate, resolve conflicts or balance the workload. Predictive analysis makes it possible to anticipate the risks of disengagement and to act before they take place.
Annual interviews give way to continuous micro-feedback, integrated into collaborative platforms that facilitate the monitoring and adjustment of objectives.
Towards collective and sustainable performance
The most advanced organizations value collective performance: team success takes precedence over individual success, encouraging cross-cutting cooperation and innovation.
Lifelong learning is integrated into daily life: managers and employees together create informal “learning moments”, promoting agility and permanent adaptation.
In summary: Performance management is humanized, individualized, and based on innovative practices: collective well-being score, reverse feedback, 4-day week, gradual return to site, and integration of AI. The challenge: combining sustainable ambition, commitment and fulfilment at work.
