How to Win the War for Talent Through Performance Management | Gartner

Employee wellbeing (EWB) continues to be a top priority for many organizations. And while leaders have implemented practices and tools to support EWB, this article argues that HR leaders can “reposition performance management (PM) at their organizations to deliver on employees’ wellbeing needs, not just their performance needs.”  As illustrated in Figure 2, PM processes can help meet 3 of 6 EWP needs in particular: mental, career, and family wellbeing needs. Specifically, managers can use ongoing performance feedback discussions to support EWB through three types of wellbeing conversations: 1) Disruption-focused conversations, 2) Mental wellbeing conversations. 3) Career conversations. Examples of how a few organizations are incorporating these discussions into performance check-ins are provided. Regarding disruption conversations, Figure 3 on page 17 applies two types of disruptors to a Disruption Differentiation Matrix to help managers determine how they might message the conversation: 1) Work disruptions: disruptions to the business unit, team, project, or workflow (e.g., change in responsibilities, loss of key team members), 2) Personal disruptions: disruptions to the individual employee’s ability to work (e.g., new caregiving responsibilities, health challenges, etc.) It is important to point out that without trust and psychological safety between the manager and employee, these types of conversations are unlikely to result in meaningful discussions.