Workscape / HCI Study Reveals Weakness in Most Companies' Performance Management Practices

Workscape's Performance Manager Aims to Remove Barriers and Improve Transparency, Accountability and Communication


MARLBOROUGH, MA--(Marketwire - September 30, 2009) - 12th Annual HR Technology Conference, CHICAGO -- Workscape, Inc., a leading provider of integrated HR solutions and services, and the Human Capital Institute (HCI), a professional association and think-tank advancing the science of strategic talent management, today shared findings from their "2009 Talent Management Processes & Practices" study -- a research and survey project aimed at delivering insight into current performance management trends and practices. Although the majority of American organizations agree on the importance of performance management as a means to drive business success, only 11% subscribe to the best practice of providing ongoing performance feedback and measurement against goals. Workscape and HCI unveiled the results of the research study during the 12th Annual HR Technology Conference in Chicago.

Based on a survey of 690 HCI members as well as an exhaustive search of existing materials on the topic of performance management, the study demonstrated that performance management remains bogged down in the review process. In fact, two-thirds (66%) of organizations admit an inability to realign employee goals to corporate goals as they change throughout the year. Nearly half of the surveyed organizations still wait until the annual performance appraisal event to define and adjust employee goals.

"According to this research, despite overwhelming agreement that employee performance management's purpose is to drive greater organizational and individual performance, a large number of organizations (68%) equate performance management with a function that occurs only once or twice per year," stated Tony Marzulli, Workscape's chief marketing officer. "In order to compete successfully in any market -- especially today's highly dynamic environment -- companies need to be able to react swiftly to changes 365 days a year and not just during focal planning periods. With the right technology-based system in place, an organization can support performance and compensation decisions throughout the year -- making the business much more effective during tough economic times."

Workscape's solutions are designed to support this holistic approach to compensation and performance management, enabling organizations of any size to achieve greater visibility into their compensation planning process and drive accountability and goal alignment to line managers and individual employees.

"In an organization of our size and structure, driving individual accountability is challenging but it's critical to achieving our corporate goals of growing the business and retaining our competitive edge," said Blair Ewell, Phoenix Terminal Manager of Workscape client Swift Transportation. "Workscape's Performance Manager delivers a framework for instilling a degree of accountability that was previously missing during the review and compensation planning processes."

According to the Workscape/HCI survey, only 21% of organizations use automated performance management solutions to better align corporate and individual goals. In addition, only a minority of organizations have adopted a formal performance measurement methodology. The results of the survey demonstrate that current employee performance management practices rely too much on the performance review process and, in most organizations, fail to provide a dynamic, ongoing means of keeping individual and organizational goals in synch.

Marzulli continued, "The ability to quickly recognize and adapt to fast-moving changes -- such as changes in the markets or changes in a company's business strategy -- can drive how successful a business can be. So many changes and variables directly affect a company's ability to drive performance and retention through rewards structures. To be competitive, companies must have the right information to make compensation and performance management decisions, each and every day."

"Organizations need formal employee performance management systems in place to raise overall organizational performance," said Carl Rhodes, HCI's Chief Operating Officer. "In most cases, this will include technology and well-trained front line-managers -- essential for driving the desired results."

Addressing additional results from the survey, the Workscape/HCI report, "Performance Management Processes and Practices, September 2009," is available for download at www.workscape.com/performancereport.

About Workscape

Workscape is unique in its ability and demonstrated domain expertise in addressing the talent management, benefits administration and employee communication challenges of hundreds of organizations and millions of workers across the country and across the globe. For the past decade, Workscape has been delivering Web-based software and services that are proven to help organizations reduce healthcare costs, improve adherence to compensation budgets and ensure alignment between employee activities and corporate goals. As a result, our employee-centric approach has consistently helped organizations to achieve the highest return on their greatest workforce expenditures: healthcare benefits and employee compensation. For more information about Workscape, visit www.workscape.com or call 888-605-9620.