Beliefs and Principles of performance management

Many readers of this volume will not be able to escape the thought that performance management should be based on some common beliefs and principles. Although the field does not have a consensus about such core beliefs and principles, the following are offered for consideration.
Optimism. Performance management is based on the stubborn belief that improvement is possible and, indeed, important to the betterment of human and organizational conditions.

Performance management requires this act of faith. Such optimism stands in contrast to the detached skepticism of many observers, including some of the writers whose work is included in this volume; they take a dim view about the possibility of performance improvement. Is optimism or pessimism warranted? In the final analysis, both points of view reflect attitudes about an uncertain future.

These different perspectives also color the assessment of past efforts. Whereas skeptics, for example, consider Total Quality Management (TQM) a failure (after all, it has been largely abandoned by managers and consultants in recent years), optimists point to the TQM legacy of significant increases in public agencies' attention to customer needs. Optimists also believe that TQM represents an evolutionary learning experience that is being continued under different names, such as reengineering. It seems that performance management is by necessity optimistic; otherwise, why bother with change if it cannot lead to something positive?

A Realistic View of Performance Management

Balancing Analysis of Performance Management with Politics

Use of Science for Analysis of Performance Management

Inspired Leadership of Performance Management

Managing people is critical to performance management