Performance management

Topics in this module

1. 01

   Performance, value, governance and ethics

   Connect performance information with value creation, governance and ethical decisions, while recognising different interests and reporting limits.

   7 sections · 10 min read

   3 videos3 PDFs12 images

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   1. Begin with the outcome the organisation exists to achieve
   2. Combine numbers with interpretation
   3. Trace value beyond this month's profit
   4. Put performance inside governance and risk decisions
   5. Protect the credibility of the information
   6. Recognise different incentives and different organisational needs
   7. Sources and further reading
2. 02

   Sustainability and integrated performance

   Examine economic, environmental and social effects together, and use the guide's integrated-reporting context to connect resources with outcomes.

   7 sections · 8 min read

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   1. Ask whether performance can continue and what it depends on
   2. Keep the three dimensions connected but distinct
   3. Distinguish intensity from total impact
   4. Understand the historical integrated-reporting idea
   5. Follow one decision through its consequences
   6. Report trade-offs and evidence with balance
   7. Sources and further reading
3. 03

   Strategy, controls and balanced scorecards

   Connect strategy with controls and balanced scorecards, test the links between measures, and use reliable information to improve decisions and learning.

   12 sections · 14 min read

   6 videos6 PDFs15 images

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   1. Begin with the strategic choice
   2. Combine controls before, during and after work
   3. Check whether control is actually possible
   4. Balance different views of performance
   5. Choose a framework that clarifies the business
   6. Distinguish objectives, measures, targets and actions
   7. Treat the strategy map as a set of hypotheses
   8. Cascade responsibility without creating local victories
   9. Build dependable information rather than a decorative dashboard
   10. Adapt the scorecard for a public or not-for-profit mission
   11. Use review meetings to learn and act
   12. Sources and further reading
4. 04

   Designing performance measures and targets

   Design useful measures, define fair comparisons and set practical targets using clear data rules, strategic priorities and measurement costs.

   10 sections · 10 min read

   3 videos3 PDFs5 images

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   1. Begin with the decision and the strategic purpose
   2. Write a definition that another person can apply
   3. Calculate the result without hiding missing information
   4. Combine different kinds of evidence
   5. Consider efficiency, effectiveness and equity together
   6. Test whether the evidence deserves confidence
   7. Turn an aspiration into a SMART target
   8. Compare the benefit of measurement with its cost
   9. Self-check: evaluate a proposed improvement
   10. Sources and further reading
5. 05

   Diagnosing performance and organisational learning

   Explain target gaps, trends and benchmarks, test possible causes, and turn performance evidence into shared learning and checked improvements.

   10 sections · 10 min read

   1 video1 PDF3 images

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   1. Establish the gap before explaining it
   2. Separate changed case mix from changed performance
   3. Read a series, not just two coloured cells
   4. Move from plausible explanations to evidence
   5. Compare with others only after checking comparability
   6. Test the proposed link between action and result
   7. Change shared practice, and question assumptions when necessary
   8. Assign action and return to the result
   9. Self-check: explain the apparently contradictory results
   10. Sources and further reading
6. 06

   Rewards, culture and performance behaviour

   Evaluate how targets, rewards and organisational culture shape behaviour, and design reviews that reveal gaming and support lasting improvement.

   7 sections · 8 min read

   1 video1 PDF4 images

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   1. Ask what the performance system encourages people to do
   2. Recognise power and culture in the choice of measures
   3. Look for improvement in the outcome, not just the score
   4. Match responsibility, influence and reward
   5. Balance timely recognition with lasting performance
   6. Review the scheme as a management decision
   7. Sources and further reading