Organisation-Wide Performance Management Training Course: Measures, Review Forums and Rollout

Programme Summary

Organisation-wide performance management is the subject of this one-week training course for directors, heads of strategy, performance and planning, and senior managers, ending in a performance system blueprint for one organisation. Many organisations hold strategy, targets, reports and reviews in separate hands, so measures multiply, data is disputed and review meetings produce no decisions. The programme works through system architecture, measure selection, data ownership, review forums and rollout, with each tool applied to the participant's own organisation. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on organisation-wide performance management to mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

A performance system that is built piece by piece tends to measure what is easy rather than what matters, and leaders then spend review time arguing about figures. Organisations that design the whole system together, from objectives to measures, owners, forums and escalation, can see where results slip and act while corrective choices are still cheap.

• Decision Speed: Improves as review forums receive agreed data and have clear authority to act.
• Reporting Effort: Falls as duplicate measures are retired and each measure has one data owner.
• Delivery of Objectives: Strengthens as results are linked to the people and units that can influence them.

Principles and Evidence Base

• Performance Management Cycle: The sequence of planning, monitoring, reviewing and improving gives Sessions 1 to 4 their order.
• Three Levels of Performance: Organisational, functional and personal performance, as framed in published training guidance, set how measures are cascaded and linked in Session 2.
• Integrated Performance Management Systems: Published case study work on the design and use of integrated systems informs the architecture review in Session 1.

Intended Participants

• Directors who sponsor an organisation-wide performance system and chair its reviews.
• Heads of strategy and planning who connect objectives to measures and targets.
• Performance and information leads who own measure definitions and data sources.
• Senior managers who answer for results and prepare their units for review.

Typical functions and sectors include corporate planning, transformation offices, public bodies, utilities and financial services.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to diagnose weaknesses in an existing performance system.
2. Participants will be able to construct a system architecture that links objectives, measures and owners.
3. Participants will be able to prioritise measures by decision value and data quality.
4. Participants will be able to design review forums with agendas, authority and escalation routes.
5. Participants will be able to evaluate rollout risks and adoption barriers.
6. Participants will be able to justify a system blueprint to an executive committee.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Organisation-Wide Performance Management Principles and Diagnosis

What does the current performance system do well, and where does it fail leaders?

• Performance Management Cycle Map
• Integrated System Architecture Review
• Three Levels of Performance Model
• Current System Diagnostic Checklist
• Stakeholder Pain-Point Register

Day 2: Measure Selection and Cascade

Which measures deserve a place in the system, and how do they connect across levels?

• Objective-to-Measure Linkage Table
• Measure Definition Sheet
• Decision Value Screening Matrix
• Cascade Map Across Units
• Retirement List for Duplicate Measures

Day 3: Data Ownership and Review Forums

Who owns each measure, and which forum decides what when results slip?

• Data Owner Assignment Register
• Data Quality Rule Set
• Review Forum Terms of Reference
• Escalation Path Diagram
• Meeting Cadence Calendar

Day 4: Rollout and Adoption Planning

How is the system introduced without losing the confidence of the units it serves?

• Rollout Wave Plan
• Adoption Barrier Assessment
• Dashboard Prototype Review
• Leader Briefing Pack Outline
• System Health Indicator Set

Day 5: Applying the Tools to One Organisation

Do the architecture, measure, ownership and rollout designs form one workable system?

• Applying the Session 1 Diagnostic Checklist
• Using the Session 2 Linkage Table
• Testing the Session 3 Forum Terms
• Checking the Session 4 Wave Plan
• Completing the Performance System Blueprint

Methodology

The programme uses a structured exercise method in which each participant redesigns the performance system of one organisation across the five sessions. Peer groups test measure definitions, forum designs and rollout plans against realistic scenarios, and facilitators give written feedback on each artefact before the next session builds on it.

• Suggested activity: Reducing a long list of reported measures to a short list with named owners.
• Suggested activity: Rewriting the agenda of a review meeting so that each item ends in a decision.
• Suggested activity: Presenting a rollout plan to a mock executive committee.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a performance system blueprint for one organisation. It holds a diagnostic summary, an architecture diagram, a measure and owner register, review forum terms of reference, an escalation path and a rollout plan. The blueprint is used at work to brief the executive team and to start the first design phase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is organisation-wide performance management suitable for leaders who have not built a system before?

Yes. Organisation-wide performance management assumes experience of planning or reporting work and builds system design step by step, from diagnosis to rollout.

Which models does organisation-wide performance management rest on?

It rests on the performance management cycle and on the three levels of performance, organisational, functional and personal, together with published work on integrated performance management systems.

How is the blueprint from organisation-wide performance management used at work?

You use the performance system blueprint to brief your executive team, agree measure owners and review forums, and plan the first rollout wave.

How does organisation-wide performance management differ from employee appraisal?

Organisation-wide performance management designs the system that links objectives, measures, data and review forums, while employee appraisal assesses the work of individual staff against agreed expectations.