Performance Management Systems

Varma and Budhwar have put together a distinguished set of authors to look at a number of important aspects of performance management, with the ultimate goal of helping us understand why these systems succeed or fail and how to improve performance management in organizations.  I particularly like the analytic approach this volume takes, delving into a number of core topics (e.g., getting and using information about performance, goal setting, performance management and business strategy) that cut across a number of different types of performance management systems.  This volume makes a real contribution to understanding the critically important topic of performance management.

Managers, scholars, HR professionals, and students will appreciate this informative and useful set of contributions describing the essential details for constructing, managing, implementing and continuously modifying a performance management system to fit an organization’s unique and specific situation. Adopting a strategic perspective, the chapters emphasize the importance of aligning the performance management system with the organization’s goals and integrating it with all other components of the HR system.  The combination of evidence-based principles and skill development activities reinforce key concepts and promote meaningful learning.

Cutting through the myriad of fads and myths, Performance Management Systems: An Experiential Approach provides a science-based approach to achieve the strategic promise of performance management systems. With cases, theory-driven practice, and experiential exercises, the authors underscore the importance of developing managers’ skills in the overall success of performance management systems.  This book is a must-read for anyone, researcher or practitioner alike, who appreciates the strategic value of human talent and the role managers have in unleashing its full potential.