Managers Are Sliding Back to Pre-pandemic Behaviors, Reveals Study of Performance Management Trends by RedThread Research

A new report from RedThread Research, Modern Performance Management Trends, compares data on performance management practices from fall 2019, fall 2020, and fall 2021, to reveal how performance management has evolved in terms of philosophies, practices, and approaches. There are several positive changes to be noted, such as employees having a clearer understanding of their goals and performance. However, after showing remarkable improvement in 2020, managers have slipped back to pre-pandemic behaviors when it comes to openness to new information, supporting non-traditional work hours, and employee autonomy, which indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done on improving performance management.

A new report from RedThread Research, Modern Performance Management Trends, compares data on performance management practices from fall 2019, fall 2020, and fall 2021, to reveal how performance management has evolved in terms of philosophies, practices, and approaches. There are several positive changes to be noted, such as, employees having a clearer understanding of their goals and performance. However, after showing remarkable improvement in 2020, managers have slipped back to pre-pandemic behaviors when it comes to openness to new information, supporting non-traditional work hours, and employee autonomy, which indicates that there is still a lot of work to be done on improving performance management.

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Key findings from the report reveal that:

• • Manager behaviors are sliding back to pre-pandemic levels. Almost all manager practices declined in 2021 after spiking in 2020. For example, in 2019, 59% of managers were open to new information. That increased to 70% in 2020, but has now declined to 61% in 2021.

• • 37% of orgs redesigned their PM practices over the past 2 years to focus on managing performance for productivity and engagement, instead of only evaluating performance.

• • Employees have greater clarity on their goals, on current performance, and about the future than in 2019. 42% orgs are sharing data-based performance insights with employees in 2021 as compared with 33% in 2019. Almost 50% of orgs are also encouraging employees to update their goals regularly, and provide clarity to help them succeed.

• • Managers and employees are talking more now than before the pandemic. The frequency of both informal and formal check-ins between managers and employees has increased significantly over the past 2 years.

• • Orgs are providing greater transparency and broadening their assessment methods, but trust in the fairness of performance management remains low. Just under half (48%) of employees in 2021 indicate their performance evaluation process is fair and consistent, although that percentage is an improvement over 2019 (42%).
• Orgs are increasingly investing in developing skills―both for employees and managers.

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“The shift to hybrid work models, accelerated by a global pandemic, forced orgs to dramatically change their practices, especially when it comes to performance management. This study helps us understand exactly how performance management has evolved over the last two years and reveals that managers had made some major steps forward in terms of supporting employees—but are now sliding back, especially when it comes to openness to remote work and new ideas,” said Stacia Garr, Co-founder and Principal Analyst of RedThread Research, and co-author of the report. “These data point to the need for orgs to step up even more in supporting managers and employees. Workers put in heroic efforts across the last few years, but we need to figure out how to help them sustain and even improve their efforts in 2022.”

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