The October 2010 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) conference asked the participants how they rated the effectiveness of their company's employee performance management system. The response was an expression of resounding disappointment in current performance management practices. And this is in the wake of highly admirable attempts over the last few years to link the various pieces of the performance jigsaw puzzle. The better systems seek to integrate strategy and planning, individual goals and objectives, employee development, succession planning and rewards and remuneration. In spite of these efforts, major challenges continue to befuddle the process. These challenges include poor feedback practices, inadequate managerial skills, lack of commitment from the top, overly complex processes and HR people being seen as process cops. I am very pleased to see The Institute for Employment Studies undertaking a number of case studies to elucidate how performance evaluation can be done better. Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer has articulated over a number of years the problems with the traditional performance review methods and well worth a read. You can also read some success stories here about companies using performance evaluation differently. How is your company using performance management to improve employee performance? What challenges are you facing? Tell us your story about what is working well and what can do with improvement. References Brown, Duncan. "Is performance management failing?", 26 October 2010 http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/10/is-performance-management-failing.htm Imperato, Gina. "How to Give Good Feedback", 31 August 1998 http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/17/feedback.html Pfeffer, Jeffrey. "Low Grades for Performance Reviews", 23 July 2009 http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_31/b4141080608077.htm