A simple formula for performance management

5 min readNov 16, 2018

For many managers, the path to a productive conversation about their direct reports’ capability in role is beset by the temptations of micromanaging, unhelpful criticism, passive inaction, or persistent praise.

Finding an approach that can allows us to cater to the specifics of changing contexts and individual leadership styles can be a challenge — in our experience, one that managers frequently fail to overcome.

At IG, we’ve created a framework that serves as a valuable foundation for good quality, productive conversations between managers and their reports. We’ve deployed this in a wide range of settings from FTSE 50 multinationals to SMEs — and its potential to create an organisation-wide, universal currency for successful management has been proven time and again.

Ask the members of their team to map each of the tasks onto the Clarity Confidence Matrix below. Then follow up with a conversation to explore the reasons for their placements, and the correct level and nature of support to move forward. Where employees map objectives in an amber or red box, they should be asked to suggest up to three things that they feel would help them overcome their concerns.

HIGH CLARITY, HIGH CONFIDENCE

Challenge level: low

· The employee is both clear on how to perform the task, and confident of achieving it. They’ll need minimal supervision.

LOW CLARITY, HIGH CONFIDENCE

Challenge level: moderate

· The employee is confident of their ability to complete the task but unclear on the technicalities.

· Typically, this will be a proven employee who is being asked to take on an objective in an area where they have little experience, but where their current skillset is likely to succeed.

· Their line manager will need to invest time with the employee early on, to ensure they are helped to make sense of the objective; as understanding grows, the support need will diminish.

HIGH CLARITY, LOW CONFIDENCE

Challenge level: significant

· While the employee has a very clear understanding of what the business objective involves, they are not at all confident they can handle it, typically due to moving into an unfamiliar area that requires a new skillset.

· The line manager will need to provide coaching, training and ongoing support until the new skills are learned, and successes have improved confidence.

· For this reason, line managers should be clear why it’s a good idea to pursue an objective that worries the employee.

LOW CLARITY, LOW CONFIDENCE

Challenge level: high

· This is usually the box chosen by recruits starting a new job. The line manager must devote time to explain each objective in detail, and ensure that high levels of coaching and training support are available.

· Contact with the employee will need to be frequent until understanding and confidence grow.

· Where an existing employee places most of their objectives in this box, we recommend that the line manager meets them weekly to monitor progress.

Where you place people on the matrix should depend on the nature of their task, and their position on the Talent matrix. A high potential candidate needing stretch may benefit from higher levels of uncertainty and challenge than an employee working at the capacity of their capability.

Similarly, if we’re looking for innovation, we may encourage uncertainty; if reliably high performance is essential and risk isn’t acceptable, we won’t tolerate anything but high clarity and confidence. In short, tailor your use of the tool to the specific contexts you’re working with.

Why does the Clarity Confidence Matrix Work?

It’s a collective effort

A dialogue that empowers the employee and encourages personal accountability, this tool offers a way in to what can be an intimidating and emotionally challenging area.

It’s universal

Taking a matter of minutes to pick up, the matrix creates a universal language that’s as useful for the front-line workers as the members of the ExCo. It’s resource-light, unintimidating, and isn’t specific to tasks, siloes, or functions.

It’s the basis for insight

The matrix can offer a “deeper dive” into an employee’s position. The best conversations are often around why somebody placed a certain task in a given quadrant — and the development work that can come about as a result of this insight.

It facilitates peer-to-peer learning

The clarity/confidence matrix allows us to pair or group people together that have complementary strengths, reinforcing a collaborative culture and upskilling everyone involved. it’s also a very helpful way of profiling your team as a unit, identifying “holes” in capability or psychological safety that can be addressed to course-correct towards success.

It fosters managerial agility

The simplicity of this tool allows managers to grow into a more mature leadership style, developing a subtler set of responses and behaviours that depend on context and the individual employee.

It’s systemic

It allows us to manage performance risk organisationally, creating a means of communication that identifies common issues and removes deployment barriers.

We can cascade accountability down the levels of the organisation, and cascade feedback on performance risk back up. This encourages agility on an individual, team, and systemic level. It also keeps lines of accountability clearly defined and transparent, allowing us to align performance management closely with the ultimate strategic objectives. We can also identify systemic issues, drawing patterns across the entire organisation for greater insight.

Here’s an example of completed matrix:

Background: Prisha, 25, is a good sales executive with five years’ experience, who one year ago stepped up to run her first team of six sales people. Due to a very recent merger with a competing firm, Prisha’s team now needs to expand its remit beyond telephone sales and into face-to-face selling at shows. This will require the hiring of two extra sales people for her team.

This matrix shows Prisha’s thoughts and concerns as she maps her objectives:

A simple formula for performance management

Why does the Clarity Confidence Matrix Work?

Other Indigogold articles you might like:

Written by Indigogold