Curriculum Information

Systematically decide and communicate strategic performance aims, objectives, priorities and targets.

The aim and role of performance management in supporting the strategic objectives of the organisation in different sectors and business environments; unlocking the ‘black box’: the link between corporate performance and employee performance, HR’s contribution to organisational performance; promoting a can-do culture that supports achievement and creating a climate that encourages high-performance work systems; approaches to performance management in ‘multicultural and international contexts’;; underpinning competence and capability: the development and motivation of employees to bring about high-performance working.

Plan effective performance management policies and practices to improve organisational and employee performance. The process of performance planning, monitoring and review owned by all participants – managers, teams and individuals; the design and development of the performance management process; performance appraisal and performance management; creating a fair and ethical review process that manages diversity, prevents discrimination and promotes equal opportunity; performance management training programmes; the role and skills of line managers in measuring and assessing performance outcomes and the metrics involved.

Devise and sustain arguments for using appropriate performance management techniques, rewards and sanctions to improve performance and an analysis of the relationship between the environment strategy and systems of reward management. Leadership and management style in handling performance review meetings. Promoting capability: high-performance working; encouraging and supporting continuous personal development to meet individual learning needs; preparing, agreeing and implementing personal development plans; the role of the team leader in coaching, counselling and mentoring. Promoting challenges: setting objectives, priorities and targets; the role of line managers in the continuous appraisal process; the value of 360-degree feedback. Recognising and rewarding talent: the use of non-financial rewards to improve performance; incentivising and paying for performance: contingent, competence and contribution schemes; performance management and discipline; arguments for and against performance management.

Critically evaluate the effectiveness of performance management and key issues in reward management. The impact of high-performance working on organisational commitment, work-life balance and the management of diversity; performance management as a developmental process and as a basis for performance-pay decisions; the advantages and disadvantages of pey-for-performance systems; measuring and assessing people’s performance: problems and consequences; critically evaluating the performance management process: opportunities and limitations of the appraisal scheme, 360-degree feedback, coaching and mentoring; the impact of work and organisation on performance outcomes:job design, organisational design and organisational culture. Including an understanding and analysis of how strategic is pay? The influence of employee voice on pay determination; legal regulation and pay: pay review bodies and the minimum wage; local pay and national pay; rewarding the person or the job.

Demonstrate the communication skills required when managing achievement and underachievement. The importance of employee involvement and high levels of ability in communication to gain commitment to performance goals; the ability to recognise achievement and progress and use collaborative communication to solve problems at individual, team and organisational levels; use of formal and informal methods of communicating achievement; relating behaviour to results and communicating potential; managing and communicating underachievement and the use of performance improvement plans; use of IT to administer and communicate performance management processes and learning.

Theoretical and normative approaches to reward management. The strengths and limitations of approaches to reward in promoting individual and organisational performance in a fair, reasonable and equitable way. The foundations for pay and benefits management in modern organisations in the private, public and third sectors. The relationship between traditional, contingent and developmental choices of rewards. The use of diagnostic and evaluative skills in designing flexible approaches to reward. The challenges of international and executive pay arrangements. The relationship between the external environment, business strategy, HRM strategy and systems of reward management.

Conceptual frameworks, theoretical debates and research informing reward management practice relative to both relational and transactional rewards; including The relevance of theory in reward management; Economic theories of reward: labour market, human capital, efficiency wage, agency, internal labour market, union mark-up, tournament; Social psychological theories of reward: the psychological contract, expectancy and equity; Institutional theories of reward: economic democracy and financial participation, collective bargaining and pay determination.

The strategic and regulatory requirements facing organisations

(This module is mapped to the following CIPD unit(s):

7 PFM – Performance Management)