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How is execution management different from performance management?
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We get this question occasionally, so we decided to address it here. Performance
management generally refers to measuring past performance and making an adjustment
or two in order to increase performance next time.
In the workplace, you perform to some standard, and your boss measures your performance
to see if it met the standard. At its essence, it’s nothing more than an employee
appraisal process that the human resources department typically owns.
Execution management is a bit different. Execution is the act of doing something,
and when you manage execution, you’re focused on managing an act rather than a result.
That’s not to say that execution management is the same as micro-management – far
from it. But shouldn’t management be about leading, guiding, and motivating people
to greatness rather than simply judging them at the end?
The Way Sports Teams Do It
Organizations usually set goals at the beginning of the year and then look at them
again at the end of the year to see if they were met. Based upon this annual review,
adjustments are then made for the coming year. But what if a football coach managed
its players this way? The coach would set a goal at the beginning of the season
to win 15 out of 16 games, let’s say, but only at the end of the season would he
look back and discover that they only won six. That would be one sure way of getting
fired as a coach, wouldn’t it? Instead, the players are coached throughout the game,
and the game itself is reviewed in detail at its conclusion. This way, players can
make adjustments as they go. Shouldn’t organizations work that way, too? Shouldn’t
they practice execution management the same way that sports teams do?
Driven by Strategy
Execution management is the key to successful organizational performance, but strategy-driven
execution management is the key to organizational greatness. It’s not enough to
manage the execution of individuals in an organization; rather, individuals’ activities
need to be driven by the organization’s strategy and goals. Just as the individual
football players’ activities are driven by the team’s, management’s, and owner’s
goals, so must individual employees’ activities be driven by higher-level goals
and strategies.
Unlike performance management, execution management is owned by senior executives.
It starts with defining the strategy and continues with the execution of it. While
the purpose of performance management is to determine how well employees are performing
for succession planning, training, merit raises, and the like, the purpose of execution
management is to successfully carry out the strategic plan in order to realize the
organization’s vision. Because strategic plans are identified at the highest levels
in an organization, execution management is the ultimate responsibility of the executive
team. Performance management, on the other hand, is typically the ultimate responsibility
of HR.
If you want a system that merely looks at past performance of employees to see if
they deserve a raise or a bonus, a simple performance measurement system will do.
But if you want to manage the successful execution of your strategic plan, take
a look at KeyneLink,
our strategy execution management system.
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