There are some interesting correlations I have found in the performance of an individual and performance of the portfolio a person is managing. Very often irrespective of whether or not the person is capable or performing, he or she gets evaluated on the basis of portfolio they are managing. This is truer the higher you go in the organization.
How often do you find in times of growth as the business delivers better results, the person managing that portfolio also grows rapidly….ever heard of the phrase its important to be the right person at the “right time”…the admission of the right time is in a way admission of this phenomenon. Interestingly the job at senior levels is a lot about aggregation and administration….ofcourse its supposed to do much more as a leader in terms of long term planning etc…however crudely put many people can get away by just aggregation. In such times often portfolios might perform great due to market conditions, due to a good team, due to organization brand, and such other many factors. This is where corporate governance comes in conflict of shareholders interest….shareholders and stakeholders in any organization would most often stand by the individual and you see the correlation only strengthening. In growth markets it could create positive perceptions about an individual over a period of time….similarly in declining markets it could create negative perceptions about the individual.
Crude as it may sound, most of the organizations fail to differentiate between individual performance and business performance….while individual performance needs to be linked strongly to business performance it’s an interesting dichotomy where one needs to also know the art of separating them. Else individual performance will continue to be dependant upon how the portfolio they are managing; “meaning position they occupy”; is performing…it’s the position that you occupy that’s growing and in turn growing you by default.
I would love to see organizations where the correlation is broken without intent of delinking individual’s contribution to business performance. I would love to see individuals occupying top jobs and conversations doing rounds “he has grown on his capability…and not because he was the right person at the right time”.
Till such time I would say performance management is a lot of good talk and nothing else….in the end its kissa kursi ka J
~~Rohit~~
Rohit Jain