Flowcharting: The Three Common Types of Flowcharts
KPI Dictionary Vol. 2: Industries
1.
2. RELATED PUBLICATIONS FROM THE KPI INSTITUTE
The KPI Dictionary - 4,800+ KPI Definitions Vol. 2: Industries
Select the right KPIs for your business by understanding their definition and calculation formula!
KPI Dictionary Vol. II focuses on presenting key performance indicators structured on 25 Industries:
• Agriculture
• Arts and Culture
• Construction % Capital Works
• Customs
• Education & Training
• Financial Institutions
• Government – Local
• Government – State / Federal
• Healthcare
• Hospitality & Tourism
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• Manufacturing
• Media
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The KPI Dictionary - 3,200+ KPI Definitions Vol. 1: Functional Areas
Stay ahead of your competition by measuring the right KPIs!
KPI Dictionary Vol. 1 focuses on presenting performance indicators grouped into 16 functional areas of
a business, each having several subcategories. The book covers KPIs from the following areas:
• Accounting
• Corporate Services
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Finance
• Governance, Compliance and Risk
• Health, Safety, Security and Environment
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
The KPI Dictionary Vol. 1 can be used in the early stages of implementing a performance
management framework, in the process of selecting and documenting KPIs, but also to improve
an existing performance measurement system. Start selecting the most suitable KPIs for your
business!
Access the The KPI Dictionary - 3,200+ KPI Definitions Vol. 1: Functional Areas at:
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The KPI Compendium
Explore the most comprehensive catalogue of documented KPIs examples!
The KPI Compendium is a concise, but comprehensive work that presents over 20,000 Key
Performance Indicators that have been identified as being used in practice. It provides practitioners
with a powerful tool to weigh together or to compare practical examples of KPIs coming from
hundreds of business areas.
The main three categories under which KPIs are listed are:
Global – containing sub-categories such as Administration, Quality of Life, Environment and
Pollution and many others;
Organizational – further clustered into sub-categories based on industries and functional areas;
Personal – addressing personal productivity and well-being, divided into sub-categories such as
Home Economics, Personal Development, Fitness and Work-life balance.
The Compendium was designed to facilitate the identification and usage of KPIs in practice. The
importance of these indicators in the decision making process turns this Compendium into an
indispensable tool for both individuals and organizations.
Explore the greatest guide to identifying the best KPI selection for your organization!
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• Non-profit / Non-governmental
• Postal and Courier Services
• Professional Services
• Publishing
• Real Estate / Property
• Resources
• Retail
• Sport Management
• Sports
• Telecommunications / Call Center
• Transportation
• Utilities
• Knowledge and Innovation
• Management
• Marketing & Communications
• Online Presence – eCommerce
• Portfolio & Project Management
• Production & Quality Management
• Sales and Customer Service
• Supply Chain, Procurement, Distribution
TheKPIDictionary
The KPI Dictionary
TheKPIDictionary
esearch and education, providing through
KPIs. It runs five main research programs,
nisational strategy. The main program,
ted in the establishment of www.smartKPIs.
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KPI examples
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ISBN 978-1483912462
The KPI Dictionary
Volume 2: Industries
ors (KPIs) research and education,
w to measure and learn with KPIs.
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KPIs Reports by Industry
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ategories. The dictionary not only
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oduction. Global Perspectives. Practitioners’. Perspectives. Academics’
napshot. Country Profiles. Country Legislations. Trends in Search. 2013
ams. Main Events in the field. Job Trends. Salaries. Bestselling Books.
s. Communities. Corporate Performance Management Software. Business
Management Software. | Interviews. Argentina. Australia. Brazil. Bulgaria.
. Netherlands. Nigeria. Philippines. Qatar. Saudi Arabia. Thailand. Uganda.
d Scorecard. Business Intelligence. Business. Performance Management.
d.Employee Performance.Employee Performance Management.Enterprise
nce Plan.Individual Performance Management.KeyPerformance Indicators.
ment.Performance Appraisal.Performance Criteria.Performance Evaluation.
Management. Performance Management Plan. Performance Measures.
e Review. Scorecard. Strategy Execution. Strategy Implementation Strategy
ment. | Educational Degree Institutions. Aston University. University of
University College Dublin. Erasmus University Rotterdam. ESCP Europe.
eriot-Watt University Edinburgh Business School. University of Leicester.
ce.MIP Politecnico di Milano.Monash University.NewYork University Stern
University of Liege HEC Management School. University of Pennsylvania
o. University of Sydney. European University Cyprus. Maastricht School of
alermo.Universityof Bradford-Bradford UniversitySchool of Management.
iversity of Oxford. University of Ottawa - Telfer School of Management.
roll School of Management. Davenport University. Georgetown University.
ne. The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong University of
hool. National University of Singapore. University of Cape Town Graduate
. | Performance Management Events. 2013. Vancouver, British Columbia,
Al Bustan Rotana - Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Sao Paulo, Brazil. San-
Kenya. Istanbul, Turkey. New Delhi, India. Barcelona, Spain. Lucca, Italy.
eorgia. Loch Lomond, Scotland, UK. London, UK. Rydges Lakeland Resort,
h, Saudi Arabia. San Francisco, California. Brussels, Belgium. | Job trends
ager. Performance Management. | Industry salaries analyzed. Automobile
rvices Charitable Organizations. Chemicals. Computer Services. Computer
nsumer Services. Education. Food. Manufacturers. Electronics. Energy &
ent. Health Care. Leisure. Media. | Book Categories. Business Performance
ement. Employee Performance Management. Enterprise Performance
ment. Operational Performance Management. Performance Management.
er Reviewed Journals. Top 15. | Portals. Top 10 Most Visited. | Communities
lligence. Corporate Performance Management. Employee Performance
ftware. Corporate Performance Management. Overall Satisfaction versus
omparisons. Business Intelligence Software. Magic Quadrant for BI 2013.
adrant for Talent Management Suites. | 203 countries reviewed. 66 with
Afghanistan.Albania.Algeria.American Samoa.Angola.Anguilla.Antarctica.
a. Australia. Austria. Azerbaijan. Bahamas. Bahrain. Bangladesh. Barbados.
n. Bolivia. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Botswana. Brazil. British Virgin Islands.
Cambodia. Cameroon. Canada. Cape Verde. Cayman Islands. Central African
olombia. Comoros. Congo. Cook Islands. Democratic Republic of the. Costa
mark. Djibouti. Dominica. Dominican Republic. Ecuador. Egypt. El Salvador.
Islands (Islas Malvinas). Fiji. Finland. France. Gabon. Gambia. Georgia.
sey. Guyana. Honduras. Hong Kong. Hungary. Iceland. India. Indonesia. Iran.
pan. Jersey. Jordan. Kazakhstan. Kenya. Kiribati. Korea, North. Korea, South.
n.Lesotho.Liberia.Libya.Lithuania.Macau.Macedonia.Madagascar.Malawi.
.Mauritania.Mauritius.Mexico.Micronesia,Federated States of Micronesia.
Morocco. Mozambique. Mozambique. Namibia. Nauru. Nepal. Netherlands.
orfolk Island. Norway. Oman. Pakistan. Palau. Panama. Papua New Guinea.
land. Portugal. Qatar. Romania. Russia. Rwanda. Saint Helena. Saint Kitts
Grenadines. Samoa. Sao Tome and Principe.
. Seychelles. Sierra Leone. Singapore. Saint
South Africa. South Africa. Spain. Sri Lanka.
d. Taiwan. Tanzania. Thailand. Timor-Leste.
nisia. Turkey. Turkmenistan. Tuvalu. Uganda.
ed Arab Emirates. United Kingdom. United
Virgin Islands.West Bank.Zambia.Zimbabwe.
PERFORMANCEMANAGEMENTIN2013
E
T
2ne
Organizations use principles, tools
and techniques of Performance
Management to ensure that the
purpose of their existence is fulfilled.
RESOURCES
Best selling books . Latest published books
and articles . Portals . Communities
SOFTWARE
Corporate Performance Management
. Business Intelligence . Employee
Performance Management
9 781478 181019
Interviews
4,800+
Key
Performance
Indicator
definitions
6. 4
INTRODUCTION
Visual Summary
7 13
22 1314
20 41
14 61
15
41
Number of performance-related events in 2014;
Number of institutions offering performance-related degrees;
Number of institutions offering Performance Management sub-
jects.
7. 5
INTRODUCTION
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
to obtain graphic data regarding key word
search operations performed on Google’s
search engine.
This section is a graphic representation of the
media exposure rate of selected Performance
Management-related keywords over a period
of time spanning from 2000 to 2014.
The Education section reveals the complete
range of universities across the six countries
that have at least one degree dedicated to
Performance Management. Compare and
review the diversity of subjects they have to
offer, together with the duration of studies
and tuition fees. The data was collected
from each university’s official website.
Some of the world’s most important
performance related events are held in the
GCC region. This section presents a list of
the most relevant conferences held in 2014,
together with announced events for 2015.
All of them have been selected based on the
event’s main theme.
This section of the report is dedicated to
books which have either Performance
Management, or a closely-related subject,
as the main theme. The chapter is split into
two distinct sections: one centers on best-
selling books, while the other focuses on the
latest published books.
Articles relevant to Performance
Management have been selected and
compiled into a list of 88 items, all relevant
to the field. The search was conducted using
The report Performance Management in
2014: GCC Special Edition is developed
as a qualitative study which reflects the
performance management reality across
a specially designated region: the Gulf
Cooperation Council. The study was
conducted by The KPI Institute over a
period of 4 months (December, 2014
– March, 2015) and it focuses on data
available in the January 2014 – January
2015 timeframe. Both primary and
secondary sources were used to compile
the report.
Explore the Perspectives section to see what
Performance Management academics,
practitioners and consultants from the GCC
have to say regarding this field, what the
future has in store for it, and also what areas
need improvement. Additionally, see what
experts think about Personal Performance
and how they measure and improve their
daily performance, outside working hours.
The section encompasses all GCC nations
as they were in 2014, namely the Kingdom
of Bahrain, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman,
Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates. The main
concern regarded changes that 2014 might
have brought to each country’s legislation
regarding performance management
systems, their implementation process and
immediate outcomes. Sources considered for
this were governmental websites, strategic
development plans and official reports.
Continuing the tradition of past years’
Performance Management reports, in 2014
thesametool,GoogleTrends,wasemployed
Google Scholar and sciencedirect.com. Key
words used during the selection process
included: performance management,
organizational performance, performance
measurement, operational performance,
employee performance and personal
performance.
The Portals section was created with the
intention of providing necessary guidelines
for online orientation in the Performance
Management field. Thus, it comprises two
tables which provide different rankings
of the ten most accessed Performance
Management related websites.
What online community can one visit
in order to grasp the most valuable
Performance Management insights? This
section of the report was compiled with the
intention of answering this question.
The section provides an overview of the
job and salaries trends, as they evolved
in 2014, across all six of GCC’s member
states. Additionally, the independent
regional overviews of each country enable
a comprehensive view upon the situation of
the discipline and allow comparisons across
countries.
In order to help readers make informed
decisions about their software solutions,
this section presents two different ranks,
offered by distinct entities and compiled in
a different manner. For both rankings, the
software solutions are roughly clustered
into solutions for Corporate Performance
Management, Business Intelligence and
Human Resources.
About the Report
Perspectives
Media Exposure
Education
Portals
Career
Events
Communities
Software
Books
Articles
Legislation
Trends in Search
9. 7
PERSPECTIVES
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
Jihan Al Sherif
Ameen Al-Afari
Mohammed S. Hyder
Said Elbanna
Mohamad Yassine
Sami A. Khan
Software AG
Bahrain
SABIC
Saudi Arabia
Etihad Etisalat Mobily
Saudi Arabia
Qatar University
Qatar
Gulf University for Science &
Technology
Kuwait
King Abdul Aziz University
Saudi Arabia
Jarlath Fernando
Neeti Adish Chauhan
Dubai World – Imdaad
United Arab Emirates
New York University Abu Dhabi
United Arab Emirates
10. 8
dvancements in any field of research
cannot be attained without the
collective effort of specialists. For that
purpose, the interviews that ensue
in this section gather the expertise of
Performance Management professionals
from three areas of activity: practitioners,
academics and consultants.
What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
What drives interest in Performance
Management?
What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Managementatorganizational,departmental
and individual level?
What are the 2014 key trends in
Performance Management from your
point of view?
What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored
more through research?
Which companies would you
recommend to be looked at, due to
their particular approach to Performance
Management and subsequent results?
Which are the main challenges in
today’s Performance Management
practice?
What do you think should be
improved in the use of Performance
Management tools and processes?
Whatwouldyouconsiderbestpractices
in Performance Management?
Which aspects of Performance
Managementshouldbeemphasized
during educational programs?
Which are the limits in order
to achieve higher levels of
proficiency in Performance Management
among practitioners?
If you are to name, in a few words,
the main aspects governing
Performance Management today, what
would they be?
What is your opinion on the
emerging trend of measuring
performance outside working hours?
Are you using any kind of personal
performance measurement tools? If
yes, please describe how this has influenced
your life.
Do you have any tips for
successfully managing one’s
work-life balance? What are your thoughts?
PERSPECTIVES
A 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
10 interviewees, from 5 countries within the GCC answered the same 15 questions, plus a specific one,
addressing a precise issue from their field of activity.
Academics: We are developing
a database of Performance
Management subjects and degrees. Which
are the subjects/degrees you have come
across and at which university? (i.e. subjects
or degrees such as the Masters in Managing
Organizational Performance).
Practitioners: Which are the
recent achievements in generating
value as result of Performance Management put
inpracticeinyourorganization?
Consultants: As a consultant,
what are the most common
issues that your customers have signaled,
related to Performance Management?
16b
16a
16c
11. 9PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
Which are the main challenges in
today’s Performance Management
practice?
7
What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
What drives interest in Performance
Management?
What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Management at organizational,
departmental and individual level?
An aspect that every expert in the field
agrees with is the difficulty of thriving
in today’s very competitive business
environment. An integrated Performance
Management system will ensure that the
company remains agile and competitive,
while improving various aspects across all
organizational levels.
What is specific for the Middle East
business market is a recognized need
for accountability and transparency,
both of which are guaranteed by the
proper implementation of a Performance
Management system.
On an extended scale, interest in such
a system is held at high levels by the bare
nature of humans, as intelligent beings,
forever on a mission to improve themselves,
together with their surroundings.
Performance Management may be a
difficult notion to pin down, as there are still
differences of perspective among experts in
thefield.Thesedivergencesmainlyarisefrom
assigning different meanings to Performance
Management and measurement. However,
the invariable of this equation is that
Performance Management is a framework
that seeks to enhance processes and align
them to the business strategy, in order to
obtain better outcomes at all levels. The
notion of alignment is one of the strong suites
of Performance Management, as it enables
the transmission of strategic goals from top
management to departments, units and
employees. A new, but frequently associated
with, feature of Performance Management
is its migration and integration into personal
life, as a tool of improvement through
constant measurement and informed
decision-making.
What are the 2014 key trends in
Performance Management from
your point of view?
By implementing an effective Performance
Management system, a company is able to
cascade its vision, mission and goals down
to all levels. This, in turn, ensures that all
entities within a company are collectively
working towards a common goal, and not
in contradiction to each other. Mainly, the
system creates synergy across organizational
levels, making it possible to envision it as a
single entity, united and undivided, chasing
the same goals.
What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored
more through research?
The 2014 trends with the biggest toll on
Performance Management developments
were related to IT advancements, Big Data,
as well as enhancements in the usage of
different performance-related tools. All the
above-mentioned cases are trends which
are becoming, with every passing year,
increasingly more specific and dedicated
to performance frameworks. Essentially,
companies have understood that a
Performance Management system cannot be
adopted from elsewhere and implemented
as such. Its specificity is determined by
the nature of the company and, in turn,
the system must reflect and serve these
very own determinants. Ultimately, such
customization actions have led to adopting
even more specific scorecards, and to a
rigorous KPI selection.
If up until a certain point, it was important
to define Performance Management systems
based on common features, now the focus
has shifted on describing the same systems
by taking into account what sets them apart
from one another. The goal is to isolate what
can be defined as best practices in every
individual domain, industry, nature and size
of certain companies. This same specificity
further reflects into the elements employed
in each company, from Balanced Scorecards
to KPIs and Business Intelligence software
solutions. Thus, research needs to focus
on highlighting how to improve each of
these aspects so as to find the most suitable
one for each business and functional area.
This mission is, however, challenging, as
companies activating in the same industry
may differ exponentially from one region
to another. As such, clustering companies
according to one feature or another may,
ultimately, prove to be a flawed strategy.
The companies which are recommended
by Performance Management experts can
be clustered into two groups. The first
ones are global leaders in their industry.
Here, we can include organizations such as
Google, Apple and Intel. The second group
are companies that are leaders in their
GCC PERSPECTIVES
1
2
3
4
5
Which companies would you
recommend to be looked at,
due to their particular approach
to Performance Management and
subsequent results?
6
region and, among those mentioned, there
are Mobily, Zone Foundation and Comic
Relief. Public institutions are also worth
mentioning as they are good examples for
successful implementations and usage of
Performance Management systems with
limited resources. In addition, more than
one expert recommends that organizations
that have failed to adopt a Performance
Management framework should not be
overlooked, as probably valuable lessons
can be drawn from another’s mistakes.
All three categories of experts, namely
academics, practitioners and consultants,
agree that the most difficult challenge to
tackle in Performance Management today
is dealing with people, especially with those
who oppose change. In their opinion, it is in
our nature to resist changes, as they push us
outside of our comfort zone. In this sense,
Performance Management systems must
overcome this obstacle and the first step
towards achieving this is for it to be regarded
as essential to the well-being of the company
and its employees.
Further challenges are represented by
the wrongful implementation of systems
that focus only on monetary gain but
ignore crucial aspects such as incentives,
alignment, transparency and accountability.
An immediate consequence in such cases is
that the system will be regarded, throughout
the company, as just another tool of control
forced upon employees by top management
representatives.
What do you think should be
improved in the use of Performance
Management tools and processes?
The line of agreement among experts, as far
as improvement is concerned, is centered
on the lack of transparency regarding
decisions made by top management. Lack
of transparency is translated by employees
as proof of a hidden agenda. Ultimately,
they fail to be engaged in reaching their
activities and overlook, or are not aware of,
their contributions within the company.
Other important aspects that may need
improvement are related to the level of
implementation across an organization: it is
of outmost importance that a Performance
Managementsystemshouldbeimplemented
thoroughly, across the entire levels of
the company, and that incentives and
compensation programs should be clearly
linked with performance practices.
8
12. 10
PERSPECTIVES
What would you consider
best practices in Performance
Management?
As complex as it might be as a system,
PerformanceManagementbasicallyreduces
at one, underlying principle that governs
all other: communication. Although it
may be too difficult to assess best practices
within such a complex system, because
there are too many variables playing in this
game, the plain, simple and up-front act of
communication surfaces as a best practice,
viewed as such by academics, practitioners
and consultants, on the whole.
Ofcourse,therearemanycrucialaspects,
such as setting the most appropriate KPIs,
together with SMART goals, alignment not
only across company levels, but also across
business markets and other organizations.
However, as complex as these processes
may appear it is, nonetheless, necessary that
they should be kept as simple as possible so
that reluctance towards adopting them will
be avoided.
The focus, when talking about educational
programs related to Performance
Management, is centered on graduate
degrees mostly which are believed to add the
most value to a comprehensive preparation
for future performance-related careers.
Among these, one particular specialization
stands apart: Change Management. Because
of so many failures registered during change
processes in organizations, it proves to be
necessarytogetfamiliarizedwiththissubject
early on. Other important subjects are Total
Quality Management and Information
Systems Management.
Above all, the important matters that
should be provided through education,
regardless of the degree, are leadership skills
and a comprehensive understanding of the
complexity of an integrated Performance
Management system.
9
Which aspects of Performance
Management should be
emphasized during educational
programs?
10
Which are the limits in order
to achieve higher levels of
proficiencyinPerformanceManagement
among practitioners?
As long as this system is defined and
understood differently by people within
the same organization, higher levels of
proficiency will remain too distant to be
grasped. Attaining a high level of proficiency
in this field can become a realistic goal only
once all differences are cleared out and
everyone has a similar perspective on what
Performance Management implies.
11
If you are to name, in a few
words, the main aspects
governing Performance Management
today, what would they be?
What is your opinion on the
emerging trend of measuring
performance outside working hours?
Areyouusinganykindofpersonal
performance measurement tools?
If yes, please describe how this has
influenced your life.
Do you have any tips for
successfully managing one’s
work-life balance? What are your
thoughts?
1
1
1
1
2
3
4
5
Other limitations refer to the lack of
implication coming from top management,
which results in a lack of employee
engagement,resistancetochange,and,lastly,
use of unsuitable objectives and/or KPIs.
Academics: We are
developing a database of
Performance Management subjects and
degrees. Which are the subjects/degrees
you have come across and at which
university?(i.e.subjectsordegreessuchas
the Masters in Managing Organizational
Performance).
Practitioners: Which are
the recent achievements in
generatingvalueasresultofPerformance
Management put in practice in your
organization?
Consultants: As a
consultant, what are the
mostcommonissuesthatyourconsumers
have signaled, related to Performance
Management?
Performance Management degrees,
especially postgraduate degrees, are
offered by both the United Arab Emirates
University and the Abu Dhabi University.
Most recent activities have to do with
alignment, so that coherency and synergy
are achieved across all levels of an
organization. In addition, practices such
as setting KPIs, improving the usage of the
BSC or establishing a clear compensation
framework have been listed as aspects that
add value to organizations.
According to the interviewed professionals,
the world of Performance Management
is governed, today, by the methodologies
and tools employed during the process
(Balanced Scorecard, Dashboards etc.), as
well as, partly, by the processes themselves
(strategic planning, usage of rewards
and compensation, decision making
and alignment). However, Performance
Management is highly influenced by
external aspects as well. Elements such as
geographic location, political situation,
financial possibilities and technological
advancements are variables that can cause
a shift in the direction of a Performance
Management implementation.
Measuring personal performance outside
working hours has begun, for some
time now, to grasp the interest of many
professionals. Although some admit that
the entire process might be seen as tedious,
it can, nonetheless, improve any aspect
in which it is applied. The important
factor, which is often overlooked, is that
performance-related tools and practices
can be implemented only within the desired
areas of your personal life. Thus, people
can better manage their personal finances,
their family relationships or their children’s
education. Therefore, all the interviewed
experts regard measuring performance
outside working hours as a very beneficial
process, overall.
Experts show us that, basically, any tools are
useful if they suit you and help you improve
performance within desired processes.
From MS Outlook, to setting personal
KPIs, to using gadgets and even creating a
mind-map for yourself, these tools have a
high value when it comes to the input they
provide during performance measurement
and assessment processes, according to
the professionals that The KPI Institute has
interviewed.
Some of the most common issues that
consultants in Performance Management
have come across are related to change
management, as mentioned before, lack of
buy-in, the implementation of a system that
neither reflects, nor reports accurately the
actual performance of the organization,
misuse of specific tools and lack of top
management engagement, among others.
1
1
1
6
6
6
a
b
c
When it comes to properly balancing your
work life and your personal life, prioritization
is the key. Experts in the field of Performance
Management advise to seek and set your top
priorities and, then, act accordingly.
The best CEOs I know are
teachers, and at the core of
what they teach is strategy.
Michael Porter,
Harvard Business School
”
“
13. 11
PERSPECTIVES
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
From the interviewed practitioners’
perspective, Performance Management is
an ongoing process applied within all levels
of an organization, from top managers to
bottom employees, in order to monitor
and evaluate performance across the
entire company or institution. As to why
organizations are willing to go the distance
and implement such extensive systems, the
reasons are represented by profitability, of
course, alongside alignment, accountability,
competitiveness, prioritization, efficiency
and effectiveness and so forth. A
Performance Management system ensures
that the decisions made at top levels are
Practitioners’ Perspectives
cascaded down to the ensuing departments
and units not as an order, but as a common
goal towards which the entire company is
working together as one entity.
Practitioners urge organizations to
either implement, or improve their existing
Performance Management framework and
tools as competition in 2014 is harsher than
in 2013 and the one in 2015 will be even less
forgiving. Focus is to be put onto the tools
used, the compensation methodologies
employed and, last but not least, Business
Intelligence software solutions.
Recommended companies to be taken as
models are, firstly, renowned international
leaders in their industry, followed by
regional leaders and, lastly, companies
that failed in implementing a Performance
Management system, as these cases offer
valuable insights about mistakes that are to
be avoided.
For the interviewed practitioners,
performance tracking travels beyond their
organizational boundaries and into their
personal lives. By applying performance-
related tools and techniques onto their
personal lives, practitioners are better at
prioritizing, at managing their finances,
future plans, target achievement status and
so forth.
For academics, Performance Management
is part of a larger vision, it represents the
means to achieve a desired ideal state
any organization has imagined for itself.
Additionally, such a system covers not only
the measurement and evaluation processes,
but it goes further on, involving everyone
from top managers to bottom employees. The
harsh business environment, together with
the increased need for transparency, have
determined many organizations to adopt a
Performance Management system.
In 2014, they see Performance
Management research efforts heading
Academics’ Perspectives
towards specific and technical areas such as
software solutions enhancements, as well
as the development and use of KPIs that
are suitable for specific types of business
organizations, like non-profit or charity.
In order to achieve a higher status in
Performance Management, academics
recommendtolearnfromthemodelsprovided
bypublicinstitutionsanduniversities,asthese
organizations work with reduced budgets
while they are also constantly pressured to
perform increasingly better.
However, the interviewed academics
warn about hurrying to integrate a
Performance Management system within
the organization without proper planning,
as resistance to change is one of the biggest
obstacles standing against this process.
When it comes to personal performance,
the advice coming from academics is
to allocate your priorities wisely and to
respect them. Tools are always a plus
when measuring performance. Therefore,
anything that might be useful, from a
wristband to a calendar and even to a
whiteboard, can be employed to help in
assessing your personal performance and in
taking the needed measures to improve it.
Nowadays, running an organization
without a Performance Management
system in place is similar to driving at night
without your headlights on. It is simply
a matter of time until you crash and, the
faster you are going, or the faster your
organization is growing, the harder you
will crash. However, one must keep in mind
that, having such a system implemented
only on the surface, generates the same
resultsashavingnosystematall.Itiscrucial
for Performance Management systems to
embrace all levels of an organization.
Consultants’ Perspectives
2014 brought, within the Performance
Management area, the use of Big Data and
data visualization as valuable tools when
integrating the generated numbers with
the story behind them. However, this trend
needs to be pushed forward in the next year
towards the direction of predictive analysis,
whosebenefitsarecrucialduringthedecision
making process.
Although many important steps have
been taken, so far, in terms of Performance
Management implementation strategies, the
process is far from being over and needs to be
taken further on through specific legislation
and national measures, not only through
organizational decisions. Education can also
bring valuable input into this equations,
by focusing intensively on the somehow
neglected, yet very complex aspects, such as
change management.
As for personal performance, the main
idea behind the consultant’s perspective is
that, in one way or another, every person
has his/her own performance measurement
methodology which, of course, changes and
alters across time and goals
14. 12
The following interviews are alphabetically arranged with regards to the interviewees’ last names within each of the three categories:
Practitioners, Academics and Consultants.
INTERVIEWS
Practitioners
Interviewee name: Rasha Rafiq Abualhasan
Title: Strategy and Business Performance Specialist
Organization: Aspire Zone Foundation
Country: Qatar
1. What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
Performance management is a discipline
adopted by organizations to make sure
they are on the right track to achieve
the set objectives, and to better manage
the expectations of the stakeholders,
management and staff. It is about proper
planning, proper alignment, and proper
prioritization and management of efforts
and resources in the intended direction.
2. What drives interest in Performance
Management?
On an organizational level I would say,
alignment, competition, profitability,
prioritization and proactivity. On the
employee level, it is self-realization, the
sense of importance in each when they
know exactly what value they add, and the
level of contribution they have in achieving
a higher level goal.
3. What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Management at organizational,
departmental and individual level?
I believe the relationship is vital and strong;
any objective cannot be achieved unless
some sort of initiatives are associated
to it, and some actions are taken by the
departmentand,eventually,theindividuals.
The cascading process is important so
that people know exactly where they are
heading, and the level of contribution they
have and are held accountable for.
4. What are the 2014 key trends in
Performance Management from your
point of view?
Many things come to my mind, such as
Balanced Scorecard, benchmarking, and
change management.
5. What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored more
through research?
Innovation, and how it could be part
of performance management, and best
practices in measuring innovation.
6. Which companies would you
recommend to be looked at, due to their
particular approach to Performance
Management and subsequent results?
On a global level I could think of Google
which has a great focus on its human
resources, talents and skills. Google allows a
considerableamountoftheiremployees’time
to be spent coming up with, and explore, new
ideas, new opportunities that are assessed
seriously and, in many cases, have been
turned into real business. Google involves its
staff in the strategic planning process.
Locally, Aspire Zone Foundation is an
interesting model; due to the diversity
of its Business Units; Aspire Academy (a
sports academy), Aspetar (a hospital)
and Aspire Logistics (an event and venue
management company). Another reason is
the nature of the model adopted by Aspire,
which combines KPIs and high level project
management by monitoring progress on
milestones.
7. Which are the main challenges in
today’s Performance Management
practice?
Senior Management sponsorship,
communication, commitment, timeliness/
availability of reports.
8. What do you think should be improved
in the use of Performance Management
tools and processes?
First of all, selection of the appropriate tools
suitable for the needs of the organization
and flexible to handle the evolvement
and development of the organization.
9.Whatwouldyouconsiderbestpractices
in Performance Management?
Not only monitoring progress on set
objectives, but also finding an integrated
approach to monitor key projects, risks,
financials, and all of this shouldn’t be done
in isolation of the staff. Ongoing awareness
and communication is the key.
10. Which aspects of Performance
Management should be emphasized
during educational programs?
One aspect is strategic planning. Other
are related skills: leadership, negotiation,
critical thinking, analysis and even
marketing skills!
11. Which are the limits in order to
achieve higher levels of proficiency
in Performance Management among
practitioners?
Some people still believe that performance
management is time consuming, it requires
a great deal of planning and reporting which
is unneeded as they know exactly what
should be done. This resistance is a trap
through which people and organizations
are dragged into being reactive, rather than
proactive.
12. If you are to name, in a few words,
the main aspects governing Performance
Management today, what would they be?
Nationalvisioninadditiontoenvironmental,
political and financial situation and
technology.
13. What is your opinion on the emerging
trend of measuring performance outside
working hours?
Setting personal objectives and monitoring
them in non-work life is an interesting
practice that I would call life changing.
14. Are you using any kind of personal
performance measurement tools? If yes,
please describe how this has influenced
your life.
Yes, I have started a while back and the effect
isnoticeable.Usingsuchtoolsmotivatesmeto
adopt new habits, and to get rid of unneeded/
negative ones. Examples of tools are smart
phone apps or simply a paper and a pen.
15. 13
PERSPECTIVES
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
1. What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
Performance management, in my opinion,
is a framework that can be applied in the
entire firm, or in specific departments,
units, or on individual employees. Simply
put, it is a process that starts with setting
strategic objectives, developing operational
plans, selecting measures indicators,
executing plans, monitoring progresses
against defined targets, determining
improvement opportunities, identifying
chronic performance issues, rewarding on
achievements, and so on.
The above-mentioned steps vary in terms
of weight and importance, depending on
the scope of the performance management,
and the nature and size of the entity where
it is implemented. For example, you will not
spend much time in the rewarding step if
the framework is implemented in a charity
organization, where people decide to spend
freely their own time and never expect
rewards from the organization, while this
step is very important in profit corporations.
I would like to focus on the word
“Management” in the sense that people keep
using the term Performance Management
when they are referring to Performance
Measurement! This confusion must be
cleared out, because it is important for
top management to understand that
implementing a performance management
system is not about setting KPIs and
measuring them! It needs changes in the
way the business is run, in the culture, in
employees’ behaviors, and relationships
inside and outside the organization.
It is a journey, not a quick-win project!
Setting personal objectives
and monitoring them in non-
work life is an interesting
practice that I would call life
changing.
”
“
Practitioners
Interviewee name: Ameen Al-Afari
Title: Director, Performance Governance &
Measurement
Organization: SABIC
Country: Saudi Arabia
16. Which are the recent achievements
in generating value as result of
Performance Management put in
practice in your organization?
Better alignment is achieved and a holistic
decision making tool is in place with focus
on areas of improvement / challenges and
recognition of achievements.
15. Do you have any tips for successfully
managing one’s work-life balance? What
are your thoughts?
-family life is a priority;
-finding interests / hobbies will help create
this balance;
-avoid working from home as much as
possible;
AnothermistakeiswheneverthePerformance
Managementtermismentioned, peoplethink
about employees’ performances, appraisals
etc., while measuring the employees’
performance is one aspect of the complete
performance management framework.
2. What drives interest in Performance
Management?
Clarity, Efficiency, Effectiveness, and
Satisfactions! I believe these are important
drivers behind the interest around
performance management recently; it is
a way – if implemented well – to run your
businessstartingfromthevision,andending
with individuals’ performances. The main
reason behind failing strategy – assuming
it was developed correctly – is the gap
between strategic objectives and operational
plans, ending up with different units, in the
same organization, moving in different
directions, sometimes fighting for the same
resources and working against each other. I
see performance management as a vehicle
that helps firms on running their businesses
more efficiency and effectively, by linking
the daily operations with the strategic goals,
and setting a kind of fair system for rewards,
where employees understand fully their
contributions in achieving their companies’
goals. It adds transparency to the picture,
and raises awareness inside the organization
around the importance of working together
towards common goals.
3. What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Management at organizational,
departmental and individual level?
I believe there is no such differentiation
between the three levels, if we discuss
Performance Management, than it is across
the organization. However, if our focus is on
Performance Measurement, then I can see
the possibility to have isolated performance
monitor implementations in different levels.
Nowadays, many organizations suffer in
terms of financials results and objectives’
achievements because they measure their
performances based on ad-hoc analysis,
trying to cascade the objectives of top
individuals in management levels to below
individuals, focusing mainly on the units
or departments’ objectives that are not
very well aligned with the organization’s
strategic objectives, and forgetting the
overall picture.
Performance Management is a discipline
that ensures alignments across different
levels in the organizations, how these
alignments are done depends on the
size, nature and maturity level of the
organization, either bottom-up or top-
down. Even so, in my opinion, I see the
combination between both approaches as
a reasonable approach, meaning that it
always starts from the top, where strategic
objectivesaredefinedinordertoachievethe
vision, and then cascades down to certain
levels in the organization (departments and
some individuals in managerial positions).
Then, each manager collectively works with
his subordinates to define their objectives,
and how to measure them periodically,
ensuring that they either contribute or
support the achievement of his objectives
that were cascaded down from the top. This
is what we can call the “Top-Up” approach;
it comes from the top and, similarly, goes up
from the bottom.
AnotherthoughtIwanttoshareregarding
the implementation of a Performance
Management framework or discipline in
any organization is the following: I would
advise to think big and act small, meaning
to not impact the individuals’ rewards and
compensations from the beginning. It is
obvious that the majority of employees
will resist the changes just because they
refuse to change, but it will be even worse
if these changes are going to affect their
16. 14
PERSPECTIVES
incomes negatively. Therefore, it is better to
focus first on cascading the objectives, and
monitoring the progress, and gradually link
it to the compensations of the employees.
4. What are the 2014 key trends in
Performance Management from your
point of view?
I would choose the focus on the importance
of setting strategic objectives. There is
evidence that what used to be done today,
will not allow us to compete tomorrow, so
the major focus was on developing and
setting clear strategic objectives, aligned
with the defined visions. Another one is the
continuous improvement of the existing PM
frameworks: I see the BSC evolves from time
to time and never stops, which is a healthy
sign that improvement is going on.
5. What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored more
through research?
I would recommend focusing more on
showing the roadmap towards excellence
in a Performance Management culture.
The research must provide insights on
the differences in implementing such
frameworks in different organizations,
depending on its public, its nature (private,
profitable, or charity), also on the different
industries, and its size (small, midsize and
large corporations).
6. Which companies would you
recommend to be looked at, due to their
particular approach to Performance
Management and subsequent results?
Iwouldsuggestthatyoufirstsplititbyindustry,
then pick the top two players in each industry
(globally and regionally) to do the researches
on. Also look at the regional top players which
have implemented PM, and analyze their
stories, even if they are not successful, people
like to know about the lessons learned, more
than about the rosy pictures.
7. Which are the main challenges in
today’s Performance Management
practice?
If I am going to choose a main challenge,
I would choose the resistance to change:
people like to keep doing things as they
used to do and always fear change. This
challengeis an importantoneinmyopinion.
There must be a way – as part of change
management practices - to overcome this.
Another less complex challenge is about
people: there should be a clear direction
coming from top management (who must
first believe the need for change and
support it) toward all employees, that
introducing performance management
is not an option anymore! It is a must for
survival and, as the famous quote says, “If
you always do what you’ve always done,
you’ll always get what you’ve always
gotten.”
Anotherchallengeisthemisinterpretation
of the term Performance Management by
different people. Except for the balanced
scorecard, which introduces the PM as an
entire framework, I see others use the term
to refer to different things, for example
BI solutions, Planning Processes, KPIs,
Dashboards, Employees’ Performances, and
soon.Itwillbemorevaluableifweallagreed
on one meaning in order to help the firms in
the efforts to adopt it.
8. What do you think should be improved
in the use of Performance Management
tools and processes?
There is always room for improvements
so, looking at today’s practices, I think
organizations must forget the tools and focus
ontheprocesses,asImentionedbefore,think
bigandactsmall,developalong-termplanon
implementing the PM, and start in applying
it in small stages. Do not overspend on tools
in the early stages, and utilize the existing
software tools like Excel and Reports in the
firstyears,thenmovetotheverysophisticated
PM tools. Another important piece here is
the involvement of each employee in the
organization in the PM practices as the
processes of PM are not to be developed
and discussed on the top floor only!
9.Whatwouldyouconsiderbestpractices
in Performance Management?
I don’t believe in the term “best practices.” I
think there is no one size fits all, especially
in the processes related to topics such as
PM. There are many factors impacting the
implementation of PM in any organization,
like culture, maturity level, size,
stakeholders, organization structure, and
so on. So I couldn’t point to one practice
and say it is the best one. However, I believe
the framework of the BSC is one of the
more evolving PM frameworks recently.
The advice is to look at it and try to shape
it in a way that fits the organization. At the
same time, select KPIs that really highlight
real performances.
10. Which aspects of Performance
Management should be emphasized
during educational programs?
Emphasize on how to start and show
real cases. Another aspect is to highlight
and clearly explain that it is not a ready-
made meal that can be purchased and
implemented. It will add more value if it is
possible that, within educational programs,
to introduce guidelines on the sequences of
things that must exist or happen during the
journey of implementing the PM.
11. Which are the limits in order to
achieve higher levels of proficiency
in Performance Management among
practitioners?
The lack of high-level support from the top
management and weak position of the PM
team within the organization’s structure,
especially during the first two / three years
of implementation, in addition to ignoring
the importance of change management
plans across all the levels. Additionally, the
availability of qualified talents.
12. If you are to name, in a few words,
the main aspects governing Performance
Management today, what would they be?
Clear strategy, well-defined strategic plan,
unified monitoring system, ability to change
based on feedbacks, and link pay and
compensations to performances. All of these
can be used for governing PM, as long as
there is a PM culture program running in the
organization to allow the shifts in thinking
towards a complete PM environment.
13. What is your opinion on the emerging
trend of measuring performance outside
working hours?
PM, as a concept, is applicable to any activity
in life. Its trends and techniques can be
easily applied outside the organization’s
works. I see that the concept of PM can be
used in achieving personal goals similar
to organizational goals. This could be
somethinglikeeducation,marriage,building
a house, investing money, and so on. As long
as there are clear objectives, you can utilize
the PM practices to manage the progress of
achieving these objectives, monitor it and
correct the direction, if needed.
14. Are you using any kind of personal
performance measurement tools? If yes,
please describe how this has influenced
your life.
Ihavedifferentprojectsinmylifethatdeserve
[…] implementing a
performance management
system is not about setting
KPIs and measuring them! It
needs changes in the way the
business is run, in the culture,
in employees’ behaviors and
relationships inside and
outside the organization. It
is a journey, not a quick-win
project!
”
“
17. 15
PERSPECTIVES
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
mentioning, one of them is about the savings
project for my children’s educations. I have a
plan to deduct a percentage amount monthly
tobeusedforthekids’educationinthefuture.
The percentages are changed every year,
according to the changes in the kids’ ages. At
the end of each year, I review the project and
howitgoes,andadjustitbasedontheanalysis
on the educational programs and options
expected in the future. The lesson here is that
I do this in a full alignment with my wife and,
recently, with the children themselves, I see
the benefits of such alignments as they help
us in managing our spending on other things
because we all have the same understanding
of the values of what we plan to achieve with
this project.
15. Do you have any tips for successfully
managing one’s work-life balance? What
are your thoughts?
The balance between work and life is the
most difficult part in today’s working
environments. Some people focus too
much on their work and spend most of
their time trying to achieve success in their
career, while they are losing a lot in terms of
their personal lives. Oppositely, others are
not able to achieve the required successes
in their work because they are afraid of
losing control on their personal lives, so
they decide to play minimum roles in their
career and spend more of their time and
effort on getting satisfactions with their
families. I see both approaches as wrong, it
is not a secret that we say the balance is not
an easy task to manage and, sometimes,
you have to trade-off. However, I always
believed that, on the long-term, a person
must develop his own strategic objectives
in his life (work and personal), discuss
and share them with his family to be sure
there is always alignment all the way. As
long as all parties see the final goals, and
work towards achieving them, the family
will offer support during the different
phases of achieving these objectives. It is
all about being open and transparent, as
the fire-fighting approach will not help and
will result in losing either the work or the
personal life, or maybe both.
16. Which are the recent achievements
in generating value as result of
Performance Management put in
practice in your organization?
I am not in a position to mention all the
ongoing activities. However, we are on
the way to follow some BSC practices
such as strategy maps and smart KPIs’
identifications, linking the individuals’
performances to strategic objectives.
1. What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
To me, Performance management is an
ongoingprocessbywhichanorganizationcan
identify, measure, and develop the efficiency
and effectiveness of its employees, teams and
various other work structures, in alignment
with the strategic goals of the organization.
2. What drives interest in Performance
Management?
Similar to a coin which has two sides, interest
in Performance Management also has two
aspects which are closely integrated.
The first aspect is the organizational
perspective on value creation. Organizations
believe that, in order to ensure long
term sustainability and competitiveness,
it is imperative to have an established
performance management. It has received
even more attention in the recent times
of globalization, high competition and
economic turmoil across the globe, due to
which organizations are becoming more and
more vigilant about the effective resource
utilization and retaining high performing
employees for greater revenue generation. All
Practitioners
Interviewee name: Neeti Adish Chauhan
Title: Compensation, Benefits and HRIS
Organization: New York University Abu Dhabi
Country: United Arab Emirates
of this drives the interest of organizations in
Performance Management.
The other aspect is focused around
employees’ perspective. In line with Dan
Pink’s study, employees need purpose in their
jobs. Through performance management
systems, employees are able to see their
contribution in the organization, which
makes them realize how they fit into the
bigger organization picture.
Thus, keeping a systemic approach,
the interest in Performance Management
is driven by the fulfillment of the above
two factors, both leading to enhanced
organizational performance and its longer
term sustainability. The organizations have
begun to understand that having an effective,
strategically aligned, and well executed
Performance Management system is an
inimitable competitive advantage.
3. What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Management at organizational,
departmental and individual level?
Performance Management acts like a
binding glue which brings alignment,
coherency, and synergy across levels in
an organization, both horizontally and
vertically. It ensures that every employee
contributes towards organizational success
and provides visibility to their contribution.
Cascading organizational strategy down to
departmental and individual level through
specific objectives, and KPIs, ensures all
organizational entities work in tandem
towards organizational success. It’s like
different parts and components start working
together, while reinforcing and supporting
each other, to make this large machine called
organization function successfully for the
achievement of its purpose and goals.
4. What are the 2014 key trends in
Performance Management from your
point of view?
I think one of the most significant trends
is that organizations are beginning to
realize the significance of Performance
Management. Now, they see it as an essential
element for ensuring employee motivation
and organizational success. Although some
are still contemplating implementation of
performance management system, others
have already gone ahead with doing it.
However,Ifeelthatthereisstillalongwaytogo
as, in most of the performance management
systems,organizationsarestillstrugglingwith
achieving internal and external alignment.
Additionally, predominantly it is still seen as a
measurement mechanism, rather than a tool
for continuous monitoring and enhancement
of performance. This paradigm shift, along
with ongoing engagement of leaders and
employeecommunity,isstillworkinprogress,
18. 16
PERSPECTIVES
which would require an extensive amount of
effort and communication.
5. What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored more
through research?
I have witnessed that one of the greatest
challenges in any Performance Management
System is setting the right objectives
and KPIs. There is often a debate around
subjective versus objective KPIs. I believe
this field requires some more work
through research and industry practices.
Additionally, performance management
is still seen as being relevant for profit-
making organizations only. More research
and case studies demonstrating the ROI of
performance management for non-profit
organizations is required. This will facilitate
seeking buy-in, and being more confident
about putting organizational efforts and
resources in this direction.
Finally, the linkage between performance
and rewards should also be explored further
through research in order to develop best
practices around it, as currently some
studies confirm it is essential to have tangible
rewards, but others suggest intangible
rewards are more effective.
6. Which companies would you
recommend to be looked at, due to their
particular approach to Performance
Management and subsequent results?
I would be highly keen to look at the
performance management process for several
fastgrowing,highlyreputed,andtopemployer
ratedorganizationsacrosssectorslikeGoogle,
Apple, Microsoft, FedEx, Harvard University,
UAE Government, etc. I would be curious to
see the common themes in these different
organizations, industries and sectors. For me,
these themes would be the best practices for
the body of performance management. In
addition to this, I would also be keen to know
the ‘worst practices’ as a way to learn from the
mistakes of others and to be a step ahead by
knowing where NOT to put efforts.
Finally, I am highly interested in knowing
how The KPIs Institute, an authority in
the field of performance management,
manages this process internally, within the
organization. That would be a great learning
opportunity for performance management
practices.
7. Which are the main challenges in
today’s Performance Management
practice?
As I mentioned before, the most
fundamental challenge in today’s
performance management practice is to see
it as an essential organizational practice.
Most of the organizations do not see it as
crucial as it is in reality. They focus more
on routine operations which, to them, are
bread and butter for the organization. So, the
first obstacle to cross is to achieve focus and
commitment (of time, resources, people, etc.)
for Performance Management systems. Once
this is achieved, half the battle is won.
Other challenges include setting effective
objectives and KPIs, lack of sufficient best
practices and knowledge sharing across
organizations and sectors, and keeping the
rigor and engagement as a continuous and
never-ending process.
8. What do you think should be improved
in the use of Performance Management
tools and processes?
I think the first thing that needs to be
improved in the use of Performance
Management tools and processes is the
paradigm shift in organizational culture.
Thisrequiresenhancedfocusonperformance
management in every single pocket of the
organization through extensive leadership
support and a seasoned change leader.
Further still, the system will produce
results only if the objective and KPIs are
cascaded down from organizational strategy
and are mutually reinforcing, not conflicting.
Also, the KPIs must be well-communicated to
employees so they understand and embrace
themwell.Thiswillrequireenormousamount
of efforts around communication, not just to
the leaders and managers, but also down to
the front-line employees.
In a nutshell, after designing effective
tools and processes, the key prerequisite,
which needs to be improved for the success
of a performance management system,
is - Communication, Communication and
Communication!!! - which is open, free and
multi-directional.
9.Whatwouldyouconsiderbestpractices
in Performance Management?
As I mentioned before, I feel there is still
great amount of work needed to develop
best practices in Performance Management.
However, based on my learning and
experience, I would consider the following
as some of the existing best practices which
can be adopted universally:
Internal Alignment: Vertical alignment
with organizational strategy and
horizontal alignment with other processes,
departments, units and peers.
External Alignment: Alignment with the
changeshappeninginexternalenvironments
e.g. changes in customer preferences, labor
market, economic conditions etc.
Effective Communication: Well
communicated processes ensure
understanding and buy-in. There must
be sufficient caution applied to ensure
that the communication is transparent,
free, open and multi-directional so all
employees can freely share their thoughts,
doubts and feedback.
Dynamic Process with On-going Focus:
Once designed, the process should not be
considered as carved in stone. There must
be on-going follow-up, monitoring, feedback
seeking and flexibility to modify the KPIs and
process based on any of these valid reasons.
Thisensurestheorganizationisalwaysinsync
with its internal and external environment, as
loosing this alignment would be detrimental
for its growth and sustainability.
10. Which aspects of Performance
Management should be emphasized
during educational programs?
I think one of the key components that must
be emphasized during educational programs
is its significance for organizational success,
and alignment with other components of
the organization. Performance management
does play a pivotal role in providing inputs to
other areas like learning and development,
promotions, career development,
recruitment, rewards management etc.
It is essential for young professionals to
understand this linkage and leverage on
it. Also, I have noticed that most of the
educational programs focus on designing an
effective performance management system.
I believe this is just half the story. In order
to be successful, performance management
professionals must know the other half as
well, i.e. system mechanics comprising of
the real challenge of execution, which needs
extensive change management efforts. A
recent literature study by Payyazhi Jayashree
and Syed Jamal Hussain (2011) suggested
that 70% of Change management efforts
fail. Hence, it is essential for professionals
to understand the practical aspects of
challenges encountered, and commitment
needed to execute successful performance
management.
11. Which are the limits in order to
achieve higher levels of proficiency
in Performance Management among
practitioners?
There are several factors that act as
[…]the key prerequisite,
which needs to be improved
for the success of a
performance management
system is: Communication,
Communication and
Communication!
”
“
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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
limitations to achieve higher levels of
proficiency in Performance Management
among practitioners.
Practitioners are provided a mandate
by the senior management to implement,
or manage a performance management
system. However, the required top-down
support is often missing. Due to their busy
schedule, leaders fail to commit sufficient
ongoing time and focus required to
achieve higher proficiency in performance
management. Unless there is perceived
leadership support through regular
communication, rewarding desired results
and behaviors etc., desired outcomes are
not achieved.
Another factor which does contribute
to insufficient success of performance
management is an out-of-sync system
whereby the KPIs and objectives are not
linked with the organization’s strategic goals
andarenotbalancedfromvariousqualitative
and quantitative perspectives. This becomes
even more challenging in current times of
instability and constant flux which requires
constant changes in the strategic direction.
Sometimes, obsolete objectives and KPIs
may also start acting counter-productively
to organizational success. Performance
management professionals should choose
to partner with employee community to
establish more relevant and realistic KPIs.
Another key challenge is the lack
of employee engagement in driving
performance management. However, this
can be achieved by fulfilling the above
mentioned factors.
12. If you are to name, in a few words,
the main aspects governing Performance
Management today, what would they be?
The main aspects governing Performance
Management these days are Strategic
Alignment and Balanced Performance.
Organizations are looking for a system
which generates positive results. When we
saypositiveresults,wemeanvaluegeneration
which is in line with the strategic and
operational goals of the organization. Thus,
havingasystemwhichdrivestheachievement
of organizational goals is the key governing
principle of Performance Management.
Secondly, in today’s highly competitive
environment, achieving only the bottom-
line results is not sufficient. Organizations
are compelled to adopt a more balanced
approach towards organizational growth.
Balanced Scorecard is a perfect example for
this, whereby organizations explore several
dimensions like revenue generation,
customer service, people development
and process improvement, for evaluating
overall success.
In a nutshell, contemporary practices
around performance management are
focused on value creation and contribution,
rather than just a measurement tool.
13. What is your opinion on the emerging
trend of measuring performance outside
working hours?
Again, as I mentioned before, to be able
to achieve maximum benefit from any
performance management system, it must
be seen from a balanced perspective.
In terms of best practice i.e. Balanced
scorecard, various factors are considered,
like setting objectives and KPIs e.g.
Customers, Revenue, People Development
and Internal Process improvement. If
we, and we should, extend the definition
of balanced performance, we do realize
that the employee’s life beyond working
hours, including physical and mental
well-being, family life, social life and
community work, does contribute to his/
her productivity and, ultimately, affects
the overall organizational performance.
This aspect of an employee’s performance
has been ignored so far. However, with the
diminishing boundaries between personal
and professional life, and the need for
retaining and developing employees with
the right attitudes and personal attributes,
this aspect does require more focus and
must be kept in consideration while
evaluating one’s performance.
Having said this, we are yet to understand
the practical implications of this. It would
require great amount of judgment and
caution to determine where to draw the
boundaries. It should be enough just to help
employees in keeping their personal goals.
Thedownsideisthatitcouldgettooinvading,
and impact their privacy. It might appear as a
burdentothem,anditmightalsobackfireand
start acting counter-productive to employees’
well-being and overall performance. Still, a
long way to go in this area!
14. Are you using any kind of personal
performance measurement tools? If yes,
please describe how this has influenced
your life.
I think I have been doing this since my
childhood. I have always had a set of
personal goals for myself, earlier as a
student, daughter and sister; and now also
as a working professional, mother and wife.
I understand that each of these areas has
been equally important to me, and I never
had any option to put one over the other.
Thus, personally, keeping a set of goals for
each area helps me set the right priority
and be successful in every area of my life.
Keepingvariousgoalsonmyradarfacilitates
regular monitoring and modification in my
approach, or action plan, if needed.
In addition to meeting my goals, it has
also helped in maintaining my mental
and physical health by reducing stress,
enhancing personal fulfillment, enriching
social life, enhancing self-esteem and
personal development. Overall, a more
accomplished and happier me!
15. Do you have any tips for successfully
managing one’s work-life balance? What
are your thoughts?
From my personal experience, the key
to manage work-life balance is, firstly, to
see them both as holding equal priority in
your life. It is extremely essential to draw
boundaries and not allow them to get
intermingled, unless sometimes, when it
becomes critical to do so. I believe mixing
them both results in not being able to focus
and commit fully to any of these.
My recommendation is to dedicate
yourself fully to every significant part of
your life. For example, when you are at
work, commit 100% to it and when you
are with your family and friends, give them
your 100% time and attention – they have
the right to get that. I believe that if you
manage your time and set priorities well,
you are able to achieve this. Someone once
said to me, “you have time for everything
which is of priority to you.” It has stayed
with me since then. Set your priorities right
and you would focus better, commit better
and contribute more.
16. Which are the recent achievements in
generatingvalueasresultofPerformance
Management put in practice in your
organization?
Performance Management has been
instrumentalinbringingclarityanddirection
to employees, through effective objective
setting, measurement, and feedback. We
haverevieweditseffectivenessinmoredetail,
and a great amount of work is being done to
strengthen the link between organizational
strategy and employee contribution.
The aim is to achieve greater harmony,
coherency, and synergy across various
organizational components. The intention is
to adopt performance management system
as a management tool which would feed into
Talent Management, Resource Allocation
and Management, Budget and Finance
management, Employee Engagement etc.,
all of which would contribute towards
long term success and sustainability of the
organization.
20. 18
PERSPECTIVES
Practitioners
Interviewee name: Jarlath Fernando
Title: Analyst - Strategy Planning
Organization: Dubai World - Imdaad
Country: United Arab Emirates
1. What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
Performance Management is a combination
of methods, tools and processes used to
align the individual, departmental and
organizational levels within a company,
in order to ensure the achievement of the
organization’sstrategicobjectives.Itinvolves
formulating and defining clear objectives,
well-defined and well-articulated goals,
setting up of relevant KPIs and monitoring
the achievement of clearly-specified targets.
The ultimate objective of Performance
Management is to make informed decisions,
take corrective actions and make relevant
adjustments to continuously improve the
overall performance of an organization.
2. What drives interest in Performance
Management?
As an upcoming practical discipline in
the organizational arena, factors that
drive interest in the field of Performance
Management would be as follows:
a) Improving organizational performance:
aimed at increasing efficiency, productivity,
processimprovements,andtheneedtomake
informed decisions by taking corrective
actions.
b) Alignment to the organizational strategy:
alignment of individual and departmental
objectives to the overall strategy, in order to
ensure all activities and resources are in line
with set targets.
c)Extreme pressure from external
competitive forces: in order to cope with
increasing dynamism and competitiveness,
Performance Management should be seen
as an advantage enabler in the form of
informed decision making by availability of
analytical data and increased commitment
from the leadership team.
3. What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Management at organizational,
departmental and individual level?
In theory, organizational, departmental
and individual levels need to be aligned
leading to superior performance. However,
in reality, this may be challenging in terms of
aligning different objectives and measures
between different levels.
All too often, it has been observed
that there are various practical and
implementation difficulties between setting
up of mutually agreed objectives, putting in
place the designed measures and tracking
their performances. As a result, employee
involvement in the whole performance
management exercise fails, leading to a
hostile culture. Thus, it is very important
that there is alignment between the differing
levels in an organization and coherence in
the various objectives and measures used in
achieving organizational strategic goals.
4. What are the 2014 key trends in
Performance Management from your
point of view?
Introduction of innovative tools in the
performance management field, data
analytics, increased focus on customer-
centric issues & interest in the strategic
planning area.
5. What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored more
through research?
Optimal KPI selection & review practices,
data gathering via software integrations and
effectively dealing with the various cultural
aspectsinvolvedinimplementingPerformance
Management techniques in an organization.
6. Which companies would you
recommend to be looked at, due to their
particular approach to Performance
Management and subsequent results?
Apple, Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Barclays
Bank, TCS, Abu Dhabi Govt. are some of the
organizations that I would recommend.
7.Whicharethemainchallengesintoday’s
Performance Management practice?
The main challenge observed is slowness in
the adoption of performance management
systems, caused mainly by resistance to
change and misunderstanding of the tools
and processes involved. Another challenge
observed is that there is often more focus
on financial aspects only. In regions such as
the GCC, it is often difficult to obtain data for
benchmarking purposes as well.
As mentioned above, other common
challengescomefromKPIselection,alignment
of objectives and measures, target setting or
Individual Performance Management.
8. What do you think should be improved
in the use of Performance Management
tools and processes?
Heightened awareness and exposure of the
tools and processes, coupled with creating a
proper environment in the organization by
nurturing a performance-oriented culture in
the organization and mutual involvement of
the employees in the whole exercise.
9. What would you consider best practices
in Performance Management?
Using well defined KPIs, Balanced Scorecard,
effective data analytics, 360 degree
evaluation, setting clear performance targets
etc.
10. Which aspects of Performance
Management should be emphasized
during educational programs?
Emphasis should be on areas such as
Strategic Planning, Strategic Management,
project alignment, data analytics, change
management etc.
11. Which are the limits in order to achieve
higher levels of proficiency in Performance
Management among practitioners?
The barriers to achieving high levels of
proficiency would be mainly two-fold, as
follows:
a) Management : lack of commitment from
the leadership team, lack of expertise and
experience, focus on the achievement of
financial metrics;
b) Employees: low level of awareness, lack
of adequate managerial training, resistance
to change, defensive culture.
Other major factors could also relate to
financial and budgeting restrictions, poor
time management & rapid changes occurring
in business environment.
The ultimate objective of
Performance Management is
to make informed decisions,
take corrective actions and
make relevant adjustments
to continuously improve the
overall performance of an
organization.
”
“
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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
12. If you are to name, in a few words,
the main aspects governing Performance
Management today, what would they be?
SincePerformanceManagementisyettoevolve
as a widely practised management skill, the
main aspects could be considered as follows:
1. Organisational level: strategy planning,
strategy formulation & well trained
performance managers;
2. Operational level: formulation of relevant
KPIs, implementation of BSC, data analytics;
3. Individual level: performance reviews,
monitoring, evaluation and feedback.
13. What is your opinion on the emerging
trend of measuring performance outside
working hours?
In my opinion, it may not be a healthy trend,
as measuring performance outside normal
working hours may lead to disturbances in
the work-life balance, which is highly craved
these days by modern-day employees. In the
absence of any well-defined policy set by
the organisation, measuring performances
beyond regular hours would lead to stressed
and burnt out employees.
14. Are you using any kind of personal
performance measurement tools? If yes,
please describe how this has influenced
your life.
Yes, I am using BSC as part of performance
appraisal methods in our organisation.
This whole approach has bought focus and
emphasis on continual improvements in my
role in various aspects, as well as the need to
continuouslyupdatemyknowledgeandskills.
15. Do you have any tips for successfully
managing one’s work-life balance? What
are your thoughts?
Good time management skills, along
with effective communication, as well as
supervisory skills are highly essential in
managing one’s work-life balance, besides
having the requisite technical knowledge.
It is also important that every employee
should be made well-aware of his roles and
responsibilities and be given enough power
to make decisions.
16. Which are the recent achievements in
generating value as result of Performance
Management put in practice in your
organization?
I would suggest that the biggest step towards
achievement has been the continued
improvement in employee culture towards
performance management. Now, the BSC
is being used to drive actions within the
organisation, and it is the central focus for
achievement of results. Projects have been
identified and aligned to with the Balanced
Scorecard, enhanced understanding of all
metrics, improved and quicker decision
making is today possible, mainly due to the
implementation of the Balanced Scorecard.
1. What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
Performance Management basically means
managing performance of an employee, or a
function, by constantly monitoring the pre-
assigned KPIs, and providing timely reports.
Itgivesinsightintotheactualcontributionsof
employees in the corporate achievements. It
is a tool that helps in enhancing productivity
and efficiency.
2. What drives interest in Performance
Management?
Results and rewards.
3. What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Management at organizational,
departmental and individual level?
Performance management at organizational
level is a broader scope, looking at a holistic
picture, focusing on the organizational
achievements. At Departmental level,
it is very specific to the departmental
performance, yet still aligned with the
corporate strategy. It acts as a tool to
align the individual performance with the
departmental objectives. At individual level,
it is purely focused on the performance of the
Practitioners
Interviewee name: Mohammed S. Hyder
Title: Executive Manager, Decision Support &
Performance Management
Organization: Etihad Etisalat Mobily
Country: Saudi Arabia
individualandenhancingthecompetenciesto
meettheoverallobjectivesofthedepartment.
4. What are the 2014 key trends in
Performance Management from your
point of view?
Personal Scorecards, new appraisal model,
helping managers establish a better coaching
mechanism.
5. What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored more
through research?
Individualcontributionsintheorganizational
achievements.
6. Which companies would you
recommend to be looked at, due to their
particular approach to Performance
Management and subsequent results?
Within the region we have Mobily as
an excellent example of implementing
Performance Management.
Intel is another good example to look at on
the international arena.
7. Which are the main challenges in
today’s Performance Management
practice?
Buy-in of top management, educating and
creating a culture for implementing PM.
8. What do you think should be improved
in the use of Performance Management
tools and processes?
Feedback and reporting of results should
be constant ongoing processes. We should
not wait for the end of period to report
performance results.
9.Whatwouldyouconsiderbestpractices
in Performance Management?
Expectation is described at the start of the
evaluation process (performance contract).
Targets are SMART.
10. Which aspects of Performance
Management should be emphasized
during educational programs?
The importance of measuring performance.
Setting the right KPIs, targets and assigning
appropriate weights to each KPI is also very
important.
11. Which are the limits in order to
achieve higher levels of proficiency
in Performance Management among
practitioners?
Lack of proper tools and lack of awareness in
top management.
12. If you are to name, in a few words,
the main aspects governing Performance
Management today, what would they be?
Review and evaluation of the Top Level
Management.
13. What is your opinion on the emerging
trend of measuring performance outside
working hours?
It is the complete package that really matters
when looking at an extra ordinary talent.
Employees spend 2/3 of their time outside
of working hours therefore, it is important
to measure the overall performance and not
22. 20
PERSPECTIVES
just within the working hours. Furthermore,
for the sake of better brand representation, it
is important that performance is maintained
constantly.
14. Are you using any kind of personal
performance measurement tools? If yes,
please describe how this has influenced
your life.
I have developed a couple of personal KPIs
and I keep track of my performance. It really
helps me excel in all aspects of my life and
gives me a heads up on information for
better decision making.
15. Do you have any tips for successfully
managing one’s work-life balance? What
are your thoughts?
MakesurethatyoudeveloptherightKPIsand
set the most optimum targets, otherwise you
can ruin your own work-life balance easily.
16. Which are the recent achievements in
generating value as result of Performance
Management put in practice in your
organization?
Better CSI results, motivated employees
and good insight into employee’s role in
corporate performance.
I have developed a couple
of personal KPIs and I keep
track of my performance. It
really helps me excel in all
aspects of my life and gives me
a heads up on information for
better decision making.
The ever fast changing
environment requires us to be
agile and, hence, the interest
in Performance Management
is becoming even greater.
”
”
“
“
Academics
Interviewee name: Shadi Abouzeid
Title: Director of CEPPS and Professor of Decision
Sciences
Organization: American University in Dubai
Country: United Arab Emirates
1. What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
The ability to monitor strategy execution
and, hence, act at an early warning if there
are any deviations.
2. What drives interest in Performance
Management?
The ever fast changing environment requires
us to be agile and, hence, the interest in
Performance Management is becoming
even greater.
3. What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Management at organizational,
departmental and individual level?
They should all be linked together in a
smart way so that each individual is able to
measure his / her contribution towards the
achievement of the overall strategy.
4. What are the 2014 key trends in
Performance Management from your
point of view?
The liaison between Performance and
Results Indicators and how to really identify
which of them are the real KEY.
5. What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored more
through research?
Measuring the negative impacts of some
measures imposed on businesses i.e. we set
someindicatorsinthehopeofimprovingand
the end results turns up being more negative.
6. Which companies would you
recommend to be looked at, due to their
particular approach to Performance
Management and subsequent results?
Innovative driven organizations are the
best nowadays, since they need to be
extremely agile.
7.Whicharethemainchallengesintoday’s
Performance Management practice?
The ability to measure in a fast, reliable and
actionable manner.
8. What do you think should be improved
in the use of Performance Management
tools and processes?
Create the link between Strategy, Operations
and IT.
9. What would you consider best practices
in Performance Management?
Having organizational workshops to identify
indicators instead of using a top down
approach.
10. Which aspects of Performance
Management should be emphasized
during educational programs?
Demystifying Performance Management
and how it can be used to really drive
positive actions and results.
11. Which are the limits in order to achieve
higherlevelsofproficiencyinPerformance
Management among practitioners?
Organizational inability to change.
12. If you are to name, in a few words,
the main aspects governing Performance
Management today, what would they be?
Negative aspects: Ego, Short-term thinking.
13. What is your opinion on the
emerging trend of measuring
performance outside working hours?
Social Media.
14. Are you using any kind of personal
performance measurement tools? If yes,
please describe how this has influenced
your life.
Using a white board.
15. Do you have any tips for successfully
managing one’s work-life balance? What
are your thoughts?
Always a tough question, but self-realization
only happens by identifying what you want
first and then go and get it.
16. We are developing a database of
Performance Management subjects and
degrees. Which are the subjects/degrees
you have come across and at which
university? (i.e. subjects or degrees such
as the Masters in Managing Organizational
Performance)
Post Graduate Diploma in Performance
Management at the American University in
Dubai.
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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IN 2014: GCC SPECIAL EDITION
1. What does the term Performance
Management mean to you?
Performance management is an integrated
system which ensures that organizational,
departmental, and individual objectives
are achieved as planned, which can help
organizationstomeettheirstrategicobjectives
and reach their vision. This system should be
a part of a bigger strategic planning system.
2. What drives interest in Performance
Management?
What drives interest in Performance
Management may vary from one country
/region to another, or even from one
organization to another. Considering the
area in which I am working, the Arab Middle
East, I think that the lack of accountability
and double standards in many organizations
are crucial drivers to develop efficient and
effective performance management systems.
3. What are your thoughts on the
relationship between Performance
Management at organizational,
departmental and individual level?
Effective systems of Performance
Management should be cascaded down to
address organizational performance at both
departmental, and individual levels. At the
end, the performance of any organization
is a function of the performance of its
organizational units and employees. Hence,
highly effective performance management
systems should reflect the performance
of employees. What should we expect, for
example,ifdifferentorganizationalunitsand
employeesareworkingindifferentdirections,
orusingvariantcriteriatoassesstheirwork?In
conclusion, we should have harmony among
theabovethreelevels,namely,organizational,
departmental and individual level.
4. What are the 2014 key trends in
PerformanceManagementfromyourpoint
of view?
Let me address this question from two
perspectives, namely, the professional and
academicperspectives.Regardingtheformer,
and based on my experience in the United
Arab Emirates public organizations, I have
Academics
Interviewee name: Said Elbanna
Title: Associate Professor of Strategic Management
Organization: Qatar University
Country: Qatar
noticed that public organizations are giving
moreattention,nowadays,tosomeaspectsof
performancethatarenoteasytomeasure,such
as return on training. Developing measures
for assessing the success of organizations in
implementingtheirstrategicplansisanother
research interest which some professionals
are trying to address. Such research efforts
reveal real needs in organizations, and
reflect positive development of Performance
Management efforts in such organizations.
From an academic perspective, Performance
Management, as a research discipline,
is receiving increasing attention from
researchersduringthelastdecade.Oneofthe
main avenues for research on Performance
Management is the role of balanced
scorecards in organizations (see, Hoque, Z.
2014. 20 years of studies on the balanced
scorecard: Trends, accomplishments, gaps
and opportunities for future research. The
British Accounting Review, 46(1): 33-59).
AnotheravenueisincorporatingPerformance
Management-related variables with those
relatedtostrategicplanning,asdeterminants
of organizational performance. Although
academics’ research efforts concerning
Performance Management in the Arab
Middle East are rare, some researchers
have started to address the impact of
strategic Performance Management models
such as Balanced Scorecard, and business
excellence models, on organization-specific
and community-specific performance (see,
Elbanna, S., & Abdel-Maksoud, A. 2014.
Public organizations’ performance in an oil-
richLDC:Resource-basedviewapproach,The
StrategicManagementSociety(SMS)Special
Conference. Sydney, Australia).
5. What aspects of Performance
Management should be explored more
through research?
Researchersneedtoexaminetherelationship
between strategic planning and balanced
scorecard, in addition to their mutual impact
on organizational performance. The role of
the balanced scorecard in the public sector
reforminGCCcountriesisanotherinteresting
avenue for future research, since balanced
scorecard is widely adopted in the public
sectororganizations,inparticularduringthe
lasttwodecades.Moreover,thisisthetimefor
researcherstoobjectivelyassessPerformance
Management practices, particularly after
heavily investing on adopting such practices
in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, for example.
Researchers also need to give more attention
to different aspects of performance, such
as community-specific performance, since
organizational performance is a multi-
dimensionalconstruct.Finally,thepracticeof
Performance Management and its outcomes
vary from one region to another, even within
the same country, such as Dubai and Abu
Dhabi. Hence, we need to highlight such
differencesandtheirreasons,inthehopethat
wecanimprovethepracticesofPerformance
Management.
6.Whichcompanieswouldyourecommend
to be looked at, due to their particular
approach to Performance Management
and subsequent results?
Public sector organizations in Dubai will be
a good benchmark to examine and follow.
I contend that the practice of Performance
Management in Dubai can be viewed as the
bestpracticeintheregionand,consequently,
it can be followed by other public institutions
intheUAE.Forexample,Dubaiwasapioneer
in applying the balanced scorecard model
since early 2000. During the last 15 years,
Dubai organizations went through several
cycles of learning by practice, which would
save time and resources of other public
organizations in the region if they study the
case of Dubai, before adopting the balanced
scorecard model, or other Performance
Management systems. Public organizations
in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in addition to
Federal UAE organizations, are other quite
good examples to study. Although their
journeywithstrategicplanningpracticesand
Performance Management systems started
later, in 2008, some organizations there,
such as Alain Municipality, have done good
progress which similar organizations can
learn from.
7.Whicharethemainchallengesintoday’s
Performance Management practice?
Once more, my answers reflect my
experience in the Arab Middle East. A main
challenge is how to integrate Performance
Management systems with other related
systems in organizations, such as that of
strategic planning. A reflection on several
organizationsintheregionisthatPerformance
Managementandstrategicplanningpractices