HR Tech 2024: The Performance Gap
Bridging the Performance Development Gap
We were lucky enough to be asked to host a session at HR Technologies UK 2024 Conference at ExCeL London. With over 100 speakers and thousands of participants over two days, our session explored the evolving landscape of performance development.
Together, our founder, Amy Mercer, and ambassador, Kim Stokes, looked at how current workplace trends are shaping the future of performance and shared innovative strategies to bridge the gap between traditional approaches and the demands of modern work environments.
HR Technologies UK will be sharing recordings from each talk soon, but in the meantime, here are some highlights:
The impact of focusing on development:
The stats show that companies that focus on development are
1.3x more likely to reach financial targets,
3x more likely to manage change effectively, and
2x more likely to innovate.
Despite these huge upsides, we are still seeing a massive gap within organisations. Only 29% of Organisations have a clear L&D strategy, and employees are showing they are twice as likely to leave due to a lack of development or career opportunities compared to pay and benefits.
The transformative power:
Incorporating development into daily life has the opportunity to transform development and overcome many of the barriers people and companies are experiencing. Here’s how to do it:
Encourage people to regularly communicate what they have achieved and help them connect their contribution to business outcomes; this will help them reflect and better articulate their impact.
Ask individuals what they're proud of; this shifts the focus to the person and provides deeper insights into their barriers and motivations.
Talk to people about who they are talking to and connecting with. We learn through osmosis, and this keeps connection at the top of the agenda.Elevate 121s by giving structure, using tech and including a self-check-in
Ditch the one-size-fits-all performance management approach. Providing a variety of tools like the Personal SWOT, circle of control and influence maps caters to various career stages and needs.
"How do you engage leadership?"
A regular question is how to engage leaders, especially when they seem to have other priorities. Our advice during the workshop was:
Connect development to business outcomes: For instance, calculating the cost of attrition and replacing people (recruitment/new hire cost) defines potential savings and a tangible impact that you can test.
Embrace agility: Adopting an agile approach will allow you to test impact (without too much upfront commitment, resources and time) and build momentum when introducing new initiatives. Start with small-scale pilots, actively involve stakeholders, iterate quickly, and continuously assess and demonstrate the value generated.
Involve them: It’s easy to forget that Leaders, regardless of their level, also care about their own development so they feel and see the impact.
Summary
Companies no longer consider employee development a nice thing —it is their business, and we need to see organisations move towards being more career-focused.
Get in contact if you would like access to any of the resources we shared during this workshop
