The BEST Awards recognize organizations that demonstrate enterprise-wide success as a result of employee talent development. The winners use learning as a strategic business tool to get results. View the entire list of 2024 BEST Award winners.
Implement creative performance management strategies to evaluate, train, and retain key employees.
Employers that prioritize transparency and communication—particularly in sharing goals and expectations for employees, as well as requirements for skills development and future growth—position themselves advantageously for the rapidly evolving world of work.
Panda Restaurant Group takes that approach to heart. "Our organization's vision is to become a world leader in people development, and we have a sound strategy for supporting the growth of our people," says Dora Lee, executive director of L&D. The company comprises a collection of restaurant chains, including Panda Express, that employ more than 50,000 workers.
Panda goes above and beyond in its performance management programming, prioritizing people planning sessions and performance management workshops to align with its goal of people development within an industry plagued by high turnover rates.
The company's investment in people "comes to life" during biannual people planning sessions, Lee states, during which department leaders convene for daylong meetings and collaborative discussions. "The conversations begin with a supervisor presenting accomplishments, strengths, and development plans for each person on their team," Lee explains. Attendees also discuss individual development plan recommendations, promotional opportunities, and stretch assignments for high-performing associates.
"The spirit of these conversations really represents Panda at our best," Lee notes. "The level of collaboration and partnership is incredibly high among the department leaders as they work together to proactively identify, coach, and prepare the people who will become the company's future leaders."
Complementing the people planning sessions are Panda's performance management workshops, conducted by the HR team throughout the year and designed to elevate the skills of supervisors in assessing, managing, and enhancing performance. Participants improve their feedback and communication skills, engage in crucial conversations, elevate their spot coaching abilities, and improve individual development plan skills.
The organization's deliberate performance management initiatives drive a purpose-driven culture that supports its core talent strategy of finding, energizing, and elevating talent. With solid programming in place, Panda has promoted more than 400 support center associates and 27,000 restaurant operations associates during the past four years, including 68 percent of managers and 100 percent of above-store leaders.
Continuous discussion
People development is also top of mind at Altria, a 6,450-employee company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia—and performance management is an important part of it. "We believe in strong, sustained performance from all employees against clear objectives and goals and expect leaders to provide timely, constructive, and actionable coaching and performance feedback," says Kristin Butterworth, senior manager of talent development. "Our performance management process and tools are designed to enable employees and people leaders to perform at their best."Altria's senior analyst for the TD system supports strategic design and tactical execution of the company's processes related to performance management, TD, and succession planning. "This includes designing and implementing optimal solutions, collaborating with key stakeholders and end users to understand needs and identify potential solutions to improve processes, serving as administrator for our performance system, developing and executing metrics and reporting to drive accountability, measuring results, and optimizing effectiveness of talent management solutions," Butterworth explains.
The senior analyst collaborates with employees across the company, including key stakeholders as well as end users, and helps implement all aspects of Altria's performance management process—with employees' year-end bonuses tied to achieving objectives and key results. To aid in evaluating performance, the company conducts annual performance reviews and engages in continuous performance discussions.
Other strategies include documenting individual capabilities, evaluating individual development plans, involving employees in setting performance goals and self-reviews, implementing peer review of performance or 360-degree feedback systems, tracking employee learning histories, and tying salary increases and rewards to performance ratings.
"Our performance and career management team provides a foundation for employees to build their career by owning their development through career conversations, our review process, and skills assessment," Butterworth adds.
Fostering employee connections
ServiceNow, a digital workflow company with more than 8,100 global customers, focuses on helping employees thrive, so performance management is critical to the growth, development, and success of its employees. The company strives to function as an enabler, providing tangible, real-world support for all staff. As ServiceNow evolves, the company's talent practices also progress.The TD team navigates a workforce of more than 22,500 employees. Given the company's breadth and depth, TD's main challenges lie in maintaining engagement and aligning skill development with evolving industry demands.
To provide visibility into growth opportunities and disseminate information regarding promotion criteria and compensation decisions, ServiceNow's TD function launched a new performance evaluation framework, aiming to boost transparency and provide employees the tools they need to perform their role at their best.
In rolling out the framework, TD took on a large piece of the change management required to shift the way a large company evaluates employees for both performance and potential. TD leaders thought through what it takes for staff to make the mental shift involved in embracing the framework; they created formal learning, job aids, and leadership connections.
TD enabled a successful transition to the performance evaluation framework from beginning to end. The team developed e-learning programs for employees and managers to understand the evolving model and the role they play in the new process; created a library of knowledge articles offering in-depth explanations of the framework; facilitated virtual training sessions featuring scenario-based exercises; and developed engaging videos portraying both suboptimal and highly effective performance conversations. In addition, employees participated in breakout activities to foster discussion and peer-to-peer learning.
The new performance evaluation framework ultimately enhances transparency in the performance management process, reduces ambiguity, and fosters greater engagement between managers and employees, the company reports.
Personalized development
Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA), based in Doha, Qatar, places a strong emphasis on competency-based performance management strategies to achieve various goals. Goals include implementing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives; enhancing team engagement; supporting career growth; recognizing high performers; and boosting productivity and efficiency, notes Fatima Al-Abdulla, the head of HR development.With a workforce of approximately 2,640 employees, the utility company is committed to attracting and retaining top talent while upholding its brand reputation. To support employee development and nationalization, KAHRAMAA implemented career development plans that offer employees a clear path for career progression, enabling them to plan their career movements and succession strategies. The company also has established procedures and outlined career progression programs within job families and related functional groups, facilitating horizontal and lateral transitions within the organization.
Career development plans identify competencies required for each position, aiding in evaluating employees, detecting competency gaps, and formulating personalized strategies for career development. Such initiatives have significantly enhanced corporate performance and productivity, according to Al-Abdulla.
By aligning staff with the company's mission and values, competency-based performance management contributes to employee retention. That process includes personalized career development discussions and establishes clear goals and objectives and key results frameworks.
An effective performance management system also assists the utility company in aligning employees, resources, and processes to achieve strategic objectives, Al-Abdulla says. By fostering a culture of autonomy and accountability, employees are empowered to take ownership of their work and make independent decisions, ultimately driving success within the organization.