People Strategy | Episode 7 | Katie Woods-Ruddick

Navigating Performance Management

In this insightful episode of Navigating Performance Management, we had the pleasure of speaking with Katie Woods-Riddick, Chief People Officer at PX Limited. With over two decades of HR experience, Katie shared her valuable perspectives on integrating performance management into a company's people strategy.

Key Takeaways:

• Performance Management as a Strategic Tool: Katie emphasized that performance management goes beyond ensuring employees do their jobs. It's about setting meaningful objectives aligned with the company's strategy and helping individuals understand their contribution to the company's success.
• Aligning Objectives: At PX, the process starts with board objectives, which cascade down to senior leadership and further into business units, eventually reaching individual employees. This ensures everyone's goals are interconnected and contribute to the company's overarching aims.
• The Importance of Timeliness: Katie acknowledged the challenge of timely execution in performance management. PX addresses this by setting strict deadlines and using their performance management system to facilitate the process.
• Personalisation at Scale: The flexibility of the Appraised platform allows PX to cater to the diverse needs of their workforce, from apprentices to seasoned professionals. Not everyone is looking for career progression or development at the same time, and the system accommodates this variety.
• Feedback and Development: The system at PX enables personalised feedback and development requests, which are crucial for individual growth. It allows employees to seek specific feedback that can help them improve in their roles.
• Senior Leadership Buy-In: Katie shared advice for HR leaders looking to get their senior leadership team on board with performance management. She suggested framing it in terms of business metrics like employee engagement, retention, and productivity, rather than as a compliance exercise.
• Continuous Evolution: Katie and the PX team are committed to evolving their performance management processes to stay ahead and be an employer of choice. The Appraised system supports this by facilitating meaningful conversations and adapting to the organisation's changing needs.

Conclusion:

Our conversation with Katie Woods-Riddick was a testament to the value of a well-integrated performance management system. It's clear that when executed strategically, performance management can be a powerful tool for aligning individual goals with company objectives, fostering employee development, and ultimately driving business success.

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