How do you measure whether or not your managers are having a positive impact on your business? Do you give a performance rating and, if so, is this value calculated differently from how you measure the performance of individual contributors?
Definitely calculated differently - I think one of our greatest downfalls is to continue measuring manager performance the same way as we measure individual contributors, but our expectations are completely different. Managers need to be skilled in things like coaching, creating an inclusive environment, and discussing performance/career development with their team. There are a lot of different resources out there that outline different assessments that will help managers continue to develop - this one is my personal favorite!
Thanks @anonymous7! Another question that comes to mind — how about measuring performance of different types of managers? For example, a manager in engineering might need to be skilled in very unique ways compared to a manager in sales.
Awesome question and I totally agree. Not all managers need to have the exact same skillset.
You can take two approaches (in my opinion):
- Cater your performance appraisals to each department, unit, team (or whatever you see fit)
- Only measure performance based on universals across your different departments (e.g., being a good coach, discussing development opportunities)