SUPERCHARGE

EMPLOYEE
EXPERIENCE
THROUGH
PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
A Keka & People Matters Ebook
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Introduction 03

Experience through a
Performance Management lens 04

Reimagining Performance
Management for Better Experience 08

Strengthening the
Manager-Employee equation 16

Conclusion 18
Introduction
The growing importance of employee experience (EX)
has kept companies on their toes.

What was once limited to one-off initiatives and

employee-friendly practices like casual Fridays or end-year
retreats has today evolved into a more nuanced conversation on
adequate pay, work-life balance, and benefits like healthcare and
well-being.

HR leaders are looking at ways to transform the employee

lifecycle with a closer focus on their experience. This has meant
anchoring EX through key aspects like career progression, skill
development, and employee-centricity.

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 03

Efforts towards improving EX have accelerated
post the pandemic. And have gotten more
complicated to address. Companies across the
board went from facing global shutdown and
work-from-home in 2020 to now dealing with
return-to-office in 2024. Trends like the ‘Great
Resignation’ that reinvigorated the focus on EX
soon led to tightening labour market conditions
hiring freezes in the subsequent years.
A rapidly evolving ecosystem and tech-driven
disruptive forces has led to companies
rethinking their people processes and building
better experiences to engage their employees
and raise productivity.
And with good reason.
A Keka & People Matters Ebook
The benefits of improving the experience in
2024 remain central to enabling workforces to
tackle a changing business environment and
emerge from tech disruptions unscathed.
While for companies the challenge to build
better experience for their employees remains
a tough nut to crack, a vital mechanism, in
front of both large and small, is an impactful
performance management process.
To supercharge your efforts towards
improving employee experience, this
guidebook will explore how crucial
performance management is in shaping EX
and provide you with an in-depth
understanding of how you can embark on
this journey today!
04
Experience through
a Performance
Management lens
In today's dynamic and competitive business
landscape, the success of any organisation
hinges on the effectiveness of its workforce.
The 80/20 or the Pareto principle states that
80% of your business success hinges on 20%
of your employees. While hiring and skilling
remain central drivers of success, it is important
to focus on experience that engages 20% of
your top performers and motivates the rest to
become more productive.
Pareto Principle of Employee Productivity:
80% of the organisation’s work-
delivered by 20% of the workforce
And a robust performance management
process is key to building the right EX.
McKinsey research has shown that focusing on
EX is key to addressing issues of retention,
building resilience, and raising productivity. So
much so that in some cases it outperforms
compensation and benefits or provides basic
work-from-home flexibility as a tool to retain
top performers.
A Keka & People Matters Ebook
To explore how performance management
proves to be a vital link driving experience, it is
important to break down EX into different key
components that will help build, assess, and
align our initiatives with what employees
demand today.
A recent Mckinsey study with over 1000
employees, key employee demands from their
workplace could be summarised as:
Trust, social cohesion, and purpose
Contributions are fairly and timely
recognized
Clear responsibilities are established
and opportunities to learn and grow
are provided
Personal sense of purpose to align
with that of their organisation.
Looking at these different demands that today
form the bedrock of a positive, personalised
experience, it’s easy to see how performance
management helps you tick multiple boxes
through your timely intervention.
Let’s further understand this through a quick
quiz.
05
 Assess the state of EX in your company based on the following parameters:

Employee Value and Appreciation Goal Alignment

Based on your observations and feedback, Do you believe that employees have clear
do employees feel valued and appreciated goals and objectives that are aligned with the
for their contributions at work? organisation's mission and vision?

Not at all Strongly Disagree

Rarely Disagree

Sometimes Neutral

Often Agree

Always Strongly Agree

Feedback and Improvement Learning & Development Opportunities

Are employees receiving adequate and Are there sufficient opportunities for employees
regular structured feedback for their work to learn and develop professionally within the
that helps them raise their performance? organisation?

Not at all Not at all

Rarely Rarely

Sometimes Sometimes

Often Often

Always Always

Manager Support and Relationship Succession Planning

Do employees feel supported by their Are employees aware of a clear succession
managers and have positive relationships plan in place within the organisation that
with them? provides a clear growth trajectory?

Strongly Disagree Strongly Disagree

Disagree Disagree

Neutral Neutral

Agree Agree

Strongly Agree Strongly Agree

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 06

These questions are designed to help you assess the state of employee experience based
on the different crucial dimensions like trust, fair recognition, manager’s appreciation etc.
Here’s a closer look at how the questions link to your performance management process.

03
01 02 Feedback and
Employee Valu
e and Goal Alignment: Improvement:
Appreciation: the
This question ev
aluates the This question examines the
back
sesses how well effectiveness of frequency and quality of feed
This question as t process management proc
the performance
the per form ance
m an ag em en ess in setting provided through
performance employee s. It
acknowledges clear and aligned man age men t pro ces
recognizes and use OKRs
goals. It ular
mpanie s th at highlights the im emphasises the need for reg
contributions. Co ployee
portance of as well
es sfu lly lin k em ensuring that pe
rformance and constructive feedback,
and KPIs succ success, loyee
overall business objectives are lin as timely recognition of emp
contributions to os e w hil e organisation's mi
ked to the
anc e eng age men t
e of purp efforts, to enh
fostering a sens m ents which can enhanc
ssion and vision,
ye e ac hie ve and performance.
rewarding emplo e employee
el appreciated. motivation and co
ensures they fe mmitment.

04 06
Learning and 05 Succession Plann
ing:
Development Manager Support and This question ad
dresses the
Opportunities: Relationship: importance of pr
oviding
employees a clear
impact career growth
This question focuses on the
role of the This question evaluates the trajectory and a
ment succession
performance management proc
ess in of the performance manage planning framewo
ee rk. An impactful
providing opportunities for emp
loyee process on manager-employ performance ma
s the nagement
development. It highlights the relationships. It underscore process is the be
and drock of a
importance of incorporating
learning importance of a supportive successful succes
tion ship bet wee n sion plan and
and growth opportunities into
the positive rela leads to better EX
which ,
performance management proc
ess to managers and employees,
effective
foster employee skill develop
ment and can be facilitated through
man age men t
career advancement. performance
practices.

Based on your answers for each key building block, identify areas of improvement.

Through a host of measures like total rewards, career progression, better retention,
aligning personal aspirations with the company’s growth priorities etc. performance
management today is inextricably linked to improved employee morale, engagement, and
overall experience in the workplace.

As we move ahead we will look more closely at how different dimensions of the
performance management process like creating SMART goals, leveraging OKRs and
creating a continuous feedback process impact EX.

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 07

Reimagining
Performance
Management for
Better Experience
The hallmark of an impactful performance
Effective performance
management process isn’t just the timely
management strategies, such
execution of appraisal or rewards. Neither is it
solely limited to the identification of top
as setting Objectives and Key
performers and addressing productivity gaps. Results (OKRs), establishing
While these remain critical components of SMART goals, conducting
what a robust performance management regular assessments, and
process delivers, its potential lies in
fostering better
strengthening your employee experience and
manager-employee relations,
raising overall alignment and engagement with
the organisation.
are instrumental in elevating
the overall employee
Businesses today are reimagining their experience.
approach to performance management.
Traditional methods of annual reviews and rigid By focusing on continuous improvement,
goal-setting structures are giving way to more personalised development, and regular
agile, continuous feedback-driven approaches, feedback, organisations can create a more
and SMARTer goals, all fueled by technological engaging and fulfilling work environment.
advancements like AI and analytics.

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 08

Let's take a closer look at how performance management in 2024 can help you raise
employee experience:

01
Alignment with
Organisational Goals
Strategic Alignment: Through robust KPIs and
SMART goals, performance management
ensures that employee goals are aligned with
organisational objectives, fostering a sense of
purpose and direction.

Transparency: Clear alignment helps

employees understand how their contributions
impact the company's success, increasing
engagement and motivation.

02
Recognition
and Rewards
Merit-based Recognition: Anchoring
performance management on SMART
goals, clear KPIs and OKRs helps improve
the recognition and reward of high
performance, thus increasing morale and
motivation.
Fairness and Equity: Transparent reward
systems promote fairness and equity,
leading to higher levels of trust and
satisfaction among employees.
03
Continuous Feedback
and Coaching
Regular Check-ins: Frequent feedback
sessions allow managers to provide
ongoing support and guidance, enhancing
performance and development.
Skill Development: Feedback helps
employees identify areas for improvement
and develop new skills, boosting
confidence and job satisfaction.

04
Career Growth
and Development
Personalising Career Paths:
Performance management processes are
a vital tool to identify and tailor career
paths and development opportunities,
helping employees see a future with the
organisation.

Skill Enhancement: By aligning

development plans with employee goals,
organisations can enhance skills and
competencies, enriching the employee
experience.

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 09

 05 06
Employee Well-being Employee Engagement
and Work-life Balance and Motivation
Workload Management: Performance Goal Setting: Setting challenging yet
management can help identify and address achievable goals can motivate employees
workload issues, ensuring a healthy to perform at their best, driving
work-life balance. engagement and commitment.

Well-being Initiatives: Organisations can Feedback Culture: A culture of feedback

use performance management to promote and recognition promotes a sense of
well-being initiatives, such as mental health belonging and appreciation, enhancing
programs and stress management, motivation and loyalty.
fostering a supportive work environment.

07
Data-driven
Decision Making
Performance Analytics: Performance
management systems provide valuable data
for making informed decisions about talent
development and organisational strategies.

Predictive Insights: By analysing

performance trends, organisations can
anticipate future needs and proactively
address challenges, improving overall
employee experience.

Reflection Corner

How would you rate the effectiveness of your

current PMS from an EX standpoint?
(1 being most effective and 5 being completely ineffective)

What are your top 3 challenges to revamping your

PMS to make it more impactful?

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 10

Making employees part of the solution
Perhaps the most important
link between a robust
performance management
process and EX is enabling
employees to feel part of the
company’s growth journey.
Performance management and goal setting
mechanisms are a key component of listening
to your employees, aligning their aspirations
with organisational goals and building their
deliverables through a collaborative and
engaging effort.
Employees today demand a greater sense of
purpose and a dynamic performance
management process enables companies to do
just that.
A Keka & People Matters Ebook
OKRs for greater impact
A key component of modern-day performance
management is to establish Objectives and
Key Results( OKRs). OKRs today help break
down business goals and provide employees
with clarity and alignment, ensuring that
employees understand how their work
contributes to the organisation's objectives.
This alignment fosters a sense of purpose and
direction, which are key drivers of employee
engagement.
Moreover, OKRs promote transparency and
accountability. By setting ambitious yet
achievable goals, employees are motivated to
push their boundaries and strive for excellence.
This sense of accomplishment boosts morale
and enhances the overall employee
experience.
11
Steps on leveraging OKRs
for a better experience
01
Align OKRs with Company
Purpose and Values:
Ensure that OKRs are directly linked to the
organisation's mission, vision, and values.
This alignment helps employees see how
their work contributes to the larger goals of
the company, fostering a sense of purpose
and engagement.
03
Encourage Collaboration and
Accountability:
Foster a culture of collaboration by setting
team-based OKRs in addition to individual
ones. This promotes teamwork and mutual
support, creating a more engaging and
positive work environment. Additionally,
hold employees accountable for their OKRs,
ensuring that everyone is committed to
achieving their goals.
05
management and Reflect
Regularly:
Conduct regular reviewsto track progress
towards OKRs and reflect on what is
working well and what could be improved.
Use these insights to make adjustments
and realign priorities as needed, ensuring
that OKRs remain relevant and meaningful
to employees.
A Keka & People Matters Ebook
02
Set Transparent and Ambitious
Goals:
Establish clear and transparent OKRs that
are challenging yet achievable. This
encourages employees to stretch their
capabilities and fosters a sense of
accomplishment when they achieve their
goals, leading to higher levels of
engagement.
04
Provide Regular Feedback and
Recognition:
Use OKRs as a tool for regular feedback
and recognition. Managers should provide
ongoing feedback on progress towards
OKRs, highlighting achievements and areas
for improvement. Recognizing employees'
efforts and successes reinforces positive
behaviour and boosts morale.
12
SMART Goals for Smarter Results
Measurable Relevant

Specific Achievable Time-bound

Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals is another essential
element of effective performance management in 2024. SMART goals provide employees with clear
expectations and a roadmap for success, which is crucial for maintaining motivation and focus.

By setting specific and measurable goals, employees can track their progress and celebrate their
achievements, enhancing their sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Moreover, SMART goals
help employees prioritise their tasks and allocate their time and resources effectively, leading to
higher productivity and performance.

To leverage SMART goals for enhancing employee experience, organisations should ensure that
goals are aligned with employees' skills, interests, and career aspirations. This alignment not only
enhances engagement but also fosters a sense of personal growth and development, which are key
drivers of employee satisfaction.

Regular recognition through

continuous management
Regular assessments play a crucial role in performance management, providing employees with
feedback on their performance and areas for improvement. In 2024, organisations are moving away
from traditional annual performance management towards more frequent and informal check-ins.

These regular assessments enable managers to provide timely feedback and support to employees,
helping them course-correct and improve their performance. This continuous feedback loop is
essential for fostering a culture of learning and development, which is highly valued by employees.

To enhance employee experience through timely recognition and feedback, organisations should
ensure that feedback is constructive, specific, and actionable. Additionally, managers should create a
safe and supportive environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their challenges and
seeking guidance.

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 13

Embracing the New Performance
Management Process

Traditional performance management relies on backward-looking assessments in the form of annual or

semi-annual reviews, and structured feedback cycles. This approach fails to help employees in real-time
and continuously, two aspects that can vastly improve employee experience and performance.

Problems with traditional performance management systems:

One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Lack of real-time feedback

Not built for scale

Prone to biases

Cumbersome and tedious due to its manual nature

These drawbacks today impact employee experience and while they might be familiar to companies
who are yet to make the jump to newer, more tech-driven PMSs, it can hold back the engagement
and productivity of their employees.

A benefit of the evolving world of digitalization, we today have performance systems that make the
entire process more robust, data-driven, bias-free and easy to navigate for employees and managers.
Employees who once saw performance management as a way of the company exerting a
‘command-and-control exercise’ today have the opportunity to rather build themselves, improve in
key areas, and be further engaged with the organisation’s vision of progress.

To embark on this journey, companies have to evolve from older, more archaic ways of conducting
performance management and focus on areas like EX while designing their performance management
processes. This today acts as a launchpad for driving better performance and optimising employee
effectiveness. Instead of focusing solely on results, this approach dives deeper, helping employees
connect with their work, align expectations and be more engaged in their work.

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 14

Enabling Change Through Technology
While reimagining performance management becomes crucial for companies to explore
newer ways of improving employee experience, technology remains central to how you as
business and HR leaders can enable this shift.
New-age performance management technologies leverage AI, automation, analytics, and
other advanced capabilities to enhance employee experience.
Here's how these technologies can make your performance
management process enhance employee experience:
AI-powered
01 Performance management
AI can analyse performance data, feedback,
and other relevant information to provide more
accurate and unbiased assessments. This helps
tackle recency or gender bias and makes EX
better during performance management.
The ability to offer personalised
recommendations for development based on
individual strengths and areas for improvement
makes AI-powered performance management
more effective.
Predictive
03 Analytics
Predictive analytics can identify high-potential
employees and predict future talent
requirements by analysing performance data
and trends.
This can enable organisations to proactively
develop and retain top talent, enhancing the
overall employee experience.
Skill Development
05 and Learning Platforms
AI and analytics can be embedded into
performance management processes to better
personalise learning paths for employees
based on their performance data and career
goals.
This can help employees acquire new skills and
advance their careers, leading to a more
fulfilling employee experience.
A Keka & People Matters Ebook
Continuous Feedback
02 and a Culture of Learning
AI and analytics-driven feedback tools can
provide real-time inputs to employees, helping
them improve performance on an ongoing
basis.
These tools can also improve managers' and
leaders’ effectiveness at driving productivity
while ensuring employees can grow and
improve fostering a culture of continuous
learning and growth.
Automated
04 Performance Monitoring
Automation can streamline tracking and
monitoring employee performance, reducing
administrative burden and ensuring
consistency.
This can free managers to focus on coaching
and development, improving the overall
employee experience.
Enhanced Recognition
06 and Rewards
AI can analyse performance data to identify
employees who have made significant
contributions and deserve recognition.
Automated systems can also streamline the
process of rewarding employees, making it
more timely and impactful.
15
Strengthening the
Manager-Employee
equation
While an impactful performance management process can
help companies tailor EX and ensure employees feel their
contributions are recognised and rewarded, they also improve
a different, yet crucial, touchpoint in the employee life-cycle:
the manager-employee relationship.

Fostering better manager-employee relations is a cornerstone of effective performance

management in 2024.

Moreover, organisations should encourage open and honest communication between

managers and employees, creating a culture of feedback and transparency. This open
dialogue fosters trust and mutual respect, key ingredients for a positive employee experience.
Managers and leaders are critical to improving EX through the performance management
process. Here's how they can contribute:

Setting Clear Expectations

Providing constructive and regular Feedback

Listening to employees to provide better coaching

and development

Using data-backed insights to recognise and reward

employees and reduce biases

Encouraging Two-Way Communication

A Keka & People Matters Ebook 16

To further improve these aspects of PMS here’s how
both managers and leaders can create a better impact
Key intervention
Setting Clear Expectations
Providing Regular Feedback
Coaching and Development
Recognizing and Rewarding
Performance
Encouraging Two-Way
Communication
Aligning Individual Goals with
Organisational Objectives
Empowering Employees
Succession Planning
By actively engaging in these practices, managers and leaders can significantly enhance the employee
experience through the performance management process, leading to higher levels of engagement, motivation,
and satisfaction among employees.
A Keka & People Matters Ebook
Managers
Communicate performance
expectations and goals to
employees at the beginning of
the management period.
Provide ongoing, constructive
feedback to employees
throughout the management
period, not just during formal
management.
Identify areas for improvement
and provide guidance and
support to help employees
develop their skills.
Acknowledge and reward
employees for their achievements
and contributions, both formally
and informally.
Encourage open and honest
communication with employees,
listening to their feedback and
addressing any concerns they
may have.
Help employees understand how
their individual goals contribute
to the overall goals of the
organisation.
Empower employees to take
ownership of their performance
and development, providing
them with the autonomy to set
and achieve their goals.
Work with employees to create
clear career paths and goals.
Understand business needs and
groom talent to support these
key areas.
Leaders
Ensure that managers
understand the importance of
setting clear expectations and
provide them with the necessary
tools and resources to do so
effectively.
Encourage a culture of feedback
and recognition within the
organisation, emphasising the
importance of timely and specific
feedback.
Invest in training and
development programs to help
managers become better coaches
and mentors to their teams.
Ensure that recognition and
rewards are aligned with
organisational values and goals,
and promote a culture of
appreciation.
Lead by example, demonstrating
the importance of communication
and transparency in the
performance management
process.
Ensure that performance
management criteria are aligned
with organisational objectives,
and provide guidance on how
employees can contribute to
these goals.
Create a culture of
empowerment and trust, where
employees feel supported in
taking risks and trying new
approaches to improve
performance.
Establish a clear framework of
growth and succession within the
company. Equip managers to
identify top performers and
remove biases to provide the right
opportunities to the right people.
17
Conclusion
Reimagining performance
management is a powerful
tool with HR and business
leaders today to transform
employee experience. Its
ability to link business
objectives to personal
aspirations, provide fair and
timely recognition, build a
sense of purpose and
personalise career and skill
development pathways is a
definitive way of
supercharging EX.
A Keka & People Matters Ebook
To do so with success, however, companies
need to shed their old, often cumbersome
ways of conducting performance management
and embrace the potential of digital
technologies like AI, automation, and
cloud-based HCM solutions that make
performance management transformative.
Supporting these technologies with the focus
on setting clear SMART goals, conducting a
continuous management process, and
streamlining KPIs and OKR all help HR leaders
improve EX through performance
management.
Finally, relooking at how the
employee-manager relationship can be
strengthened through a robust PMS is another
crucial dimension of strengthening EX. With
the ability to make performance management
more data-based, fair, and continuous, PMS
enables managers to create better EX. What
remains is their ability to listen to their
employees better and create the right
environment to help them grow within the
organisation.
18
 SUPERCHARGE
EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
THROUGH PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT

A Keka & People Matters Ebook