News

Meaningful measures?

The finance sector is without a doubt one of the sectors that operates with highest frequency of performance measurement systems and have become a part of leadership strategies in our sector. A recent study conducted by the Norwegian Work Research Institute (WRI) on behalf of The Finance Sector Union – Norway (FSU-NO) shows that 90 percent of employees in the Norwegian finance sector are being measured on both individual and team-level performances.

The study showed that employees who are measured on long-term goals are more content with this than employees that are measured on short-term sales targets. Young employees with university degrees seem to find performance measurement systems less intrusive than their older co-workers. The sample also showed that the employees are generally more positive to performance measurement on a team level rather than on the individual level.

However, many of our members experience that they are measured by wrong parameters.  If an employee is constantly supervised by a parameter he or she cannot relate to it can easily be perceived as a surveillance system.

There is a strong correlation between co-determination and motivation. If employees experience that they are included in setting the standards and goals of performance measurement systems, it will be easier for them to accept the terms and conditions of the parameters.

The intention of the study has been to question if implementing performance measurement systems is the right way to motivate your employees and try to shift the focus in certain leadership practices. The study has been widely distributed to members and shop stewards in FSU-NO so they can actively use this knowledge when talking to top management.

-Performance measurements systems will never replace a well-functioning leadership model. The best results are retained through motivating and including your employees, not by placing rigid parameters on them, says FSU-NO president Pål Adrian Hellman.