In today's ever-changing business world, companies are always trying to figure out how well their employees are doing and how to reward them. One way to make employees perform better is to give them chances to grow and to make sure everyone feels included and works together. 

Ganapathi Subramanian, an HR Leader at Sundaram Home Finance, noted that if you treat your employees well, they'll do a good job for your company in a live webinar on the topic "Pay for Performance: Talent Strategies to Accelerate Innovation and Impact," hosted by People Matters and Keka.

A high-performance culture

Creating a workplace where everyone performs well involves two main things. First, there are the goals the company wants to achieve. Second, there are the ways we measure if these goals are being met. 

Leaders need to figure out the company's goals and how they relate to making employees happy. This helps make a good deal for employees and spreads it throughout the company. 

Using technology can help a lot with this. It can help set the right goals and measure if they're being reached. This ties into the second part, which is figuring out the right things to measure, like KPAs, Balanced Scorecard, or OKRs. 

Varun Ramakrishnan, Group Product Manager, Keka explains, "OKRs have made things simpler because they show everyone, from the CEO to the newest intern, what's important. That's why more companies are using OKRs—they make goals clear for everyone and encourage questions and ideas." Technology can help with all of this.

What drives organisational high performance?

- Alignment with Business Goals: Employers need to understand their industry and business. They should decide what a great work culture looks like and how each employee can help achieve the company's goals.

- Clear Communication: Companies should clearly explain goals and how performance is measured. This should be an ongoing conversation, not just once a year. Keeping everyone informed helps them do their best. "Employees should understand why we do what we do," says Ganpathi.

- Transparency: Evaluations should be fair and transparent. Everyone should know why someone is considered a top performer. This helps avoid unfair treatment. For example, clear rules on how performance affects pay can help.

- Diversity and Inclusion: Companies should care about having a diverse workforce. They should use tools like games and virtual reality to connect with younger workers. Younger employees like feeling part of a community.

- Regular Check-ins and Recognition: Recognizing good work every month, not just every few months, keeps people motivated. Regular check-ins also help keep everyone focused on the company's goals.

- Using Technology: Companies should use technology to share information about job opportunities. This helps employees plan their careers. In today's world, using technology to manage performance is important.

- Connecting Performance with Rewards: Tying rewards to performance helps create a culture where everyone works hard. It makes people more mindful of their tasks.

- Coaching-based Approach: Managers should act as coaches. They should help employees understand their career goals and support them in reaching them. This makes employees want to work hard for themselves and the company.

- Feedback: After performance reviews, it's good to ask employees how they felt about the process. This helps improve things. HR should make sure both managers and employees take feedback well.

Integration between tech and touch

Using technology with artificial intelligence (AI) can really improve how we handle performance at work. For instance, an AI coach can give employees personalised advice about their careers, helping them match their goals with what the company needs. 

Also, AI can analyse things like rewards and feedback to see how people are doing. It can even make plans to help employees get better at their jobs based on feedback they receive. But even though technology is great for this, we still need humans involved. 

Managers, mentors, and coaches need to understand the data and help employees keep learning and growing. They make sure the learning tools we use actually help people learn. Also, leaders need to make sure everyone knows the company's goals and vision. 

Technology can help with setting goals, but it's humans who help employees understand what they need to do to succeed. So, it's not just up to the HR department to handle this—it's a team effort involving everyone in the business.

The role of HR

HR is in charge of the process—what needs to happen, where, and how. For instance, employees might wonder things like "What are my job goals?" or "How will I be judged?" or "How often does this happen?" or "How do I give feedback?" 

HR leaders need to think like employees and use that feedback to make the performance review process better. Varun says, "Listen to what employees need and keep making things better each time we review performance. It's always changing."

As the workplace keeps changing, so does how we manage performance. But change can be scary for people. That's why it's important for HR leaders to explain why we're making changes and how they'll help everyone. They need to make sure people know that new tools and technology are meant to help, not replace them. 

When people see how these changes can make their work easier and better, they'll be more likely to accept them. Sharing success stories can also inspire others to try new things. Varun says, "To have a really great workplace, we need to embrace change and be ready to take risks." It all starts with top management recognising the need for change and guiding the way forward.

Watch the complete conversation here: