01
Diagnose
We talk to managers and leadership, look at what exists, and work out why it stopped being used. Most performance problems are design problems.
Service
Performance Cycle
Performance management fails for one of two reasons: nobody defined what good looks like at each level, or the process was designed for the People team rather than for the manager who has to run it on a busy Tuesday afternoon.
The problem
Signals you will recognise
- 01Every manager evaluates their own way, and ratings do not compare across teams.
- 02Review conversations keep being postponed until they stop happening.
- 03Nobody can explain what exceeding expectations actually means.
- 04Two people with similar performance got different ratings, and nobody can justify why.
- 05The last process was abandoned by the second cycle.
How it works
What we do
02
Design the cycle
Calendar, stages, evaluation criteria and a rating scale where one makes sense — sized to the company you are, not to a corporate reference model.
03
Templates and manager training
Goal setting, self-assessment, manager review and calibration, each with its template. Then we train managers on real cases from your company.
04
Run the first cycle together
We launch it with you and stay close through the first full cycle, correcting what real use reveals.
Topics covered
- Goal setting
- Feedback
- Evaluation criteria
- Calibration
- Performance conversations
- Manager guides
Deliverables
- The performance cycle: calendar, stages and owners
- Evaluation criteria, and a rating scale where one makes sense
- Templates for goals, self-assessment and manager review
- A calibration process managers can run
- A manager guide for the conversations, with real examples
- Internal communication for the launch
- Manager training and support through the first cycle
Typical outcome
The cycle runs on schedule, managers know how to lead it, and every rating can be explained to the person receiving it.
Eight to twelve weeks, with scope and price fixed before we start.
How it is delivered
01
Diagnose
02
Benchmark and principles
03
Design
04
Validate
05
Implement
06
Support
Often relevant for
Questions we are asked
We decide that with you during design. The cycle can feed promotions and salary decisions, and we recommend making the link explicit — it is the first thing people ask.
No. The cycle works with the tools you already have. If you adopt a platform later, the design transfers.
That is the main design constraint. The cycle is built to fit the calendar of someone who manages a team, not to be complete on paper.
Better not to. We start from what exists and from what the company learned using it. Something in it worked; something made people stop.
Your company has changed. Has your organisation caught up?
The People Diagnostic establishes where the organisation is constrained, and what to fix first.