Strengthening Performance Management

One of the most common reasons why improvement gains are not sustained is a weakness in the Performance Management Processes. In fact research suggests that around 70% of manufacturing managers feel that their Performance Management Routines are not fit for purpose because:

• Daily management processes put too much emphasis on output and not enough on performance enablers and process stability.

• Data is primarily used for historical reporting, rather than driving proactive improvements.

• Process control focuses only on current output, missing opportunities for continuous enhancement.

In contrast, the 30% of organisations that have successful Performance Management processes take a joined-up approach that integrates day-to-day performance management with management processes to:

1. Capture issues early, minimising disruptions and preventing major failures.

2. Investigate root causes and implement sustainable corrective actions to prevent recurrence.

3. Deploy user-friendly improvements, making best practices easy to follow, hard to neglect, and simple to sustain.

Companies implementing this structured approach experience:

• 30% higher workforce engagement, driving improved productivity, quality yield, and cost efficiency.

• Fewer breakdowns and disruptions, ensuring smoother operations and reduced maintenance costs.

• A cleaner, safer work environment, aligning with operational excellence and ESG goals.

To assess how your Performance Management process stacks up against best practices, complete our on line diagnostic self assessment tool Tand we will send you a short report on how your organisation can build on existing good practices to ratchet up the long term performance management gains.

1.0 Improving Performance Management

Effective performance management requires a structured approach that integrates three key roles—Area Leadership, Execution, and Planning—across three planning horizons. When these roles work in alignment, they create a continuous cycle of improvement that enhances organisational performance.

• Area Leadership: Oversees delivery of planned goals while capturing lessons learned at each planning horizon. Their role is to provide direction, remove obstacles, and enable the smooth flow of information between teams.

• Execution: This role focuses on the detailed completion of tasks within each planning horizon, incorporating testing, data analysis, and feedback loops to refine future performance based on real-time insights.

• Planning: Applies lessons learned from execution to adjust tactics, optimise resource allocation, and guide progress along the improvement curve. Effective planning ensures that short-term actions contribute to long-term goals, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Integrating performance management planning horizons enhances leadership decision making, front line productivity and planning performance to create a dynamic and adaptive performance management system.

To achieve that, the TPM Centre of Excellence programme delivers a joined up Performance Management framework where:

• Front line engagement with early problem detection and actions to prevent the causes of unplanned downtime is achieved using Total Productive Maintenance (TPM).

• Reliability focussed actions to develop and refine lasting solutions to problems and optimise the production process is provided using Lean Maintenance.

• Lessons learned are captured as standards and used during the Project Management process to raise return on investment from capital projects and secure step out performance through Early Equipment Management

This provides senior leaders with the vehicle to drive operational excellence—delivering bottom-line impact while future-proofing capabilities using the following 4 steps.

1.1 Identify Strengths and Weaknesses

Start with an assessment of Performance Management processes to identify:

• What’s already working well and areas where improvements will have the greatest impact.

• The causal links between performance drivers for People, Processes and Procedures to surface and prioritise opportunities for improving Total Manufacturing Costs.

• Business drivers, improvement priorities and readiness to transition towards higher levels of operational excellence.

• Capability development roadmap to deliver strategic goals

Use the outputs from this assessment to set the agenda for a plan the plan working session with key personnel. Use this session to raise awareness of best practices from industry-leading organisations so that participants can develop a practical roadmap to enhance current practices and drive up performance.

As mentioned above, use our on line diagnostic self assessment tool. to identify strengths and pinpoint areas for improvement against best practice benchmarks.

1.2 Establish a Quarterly Improvement Cadence

Adopt a quarterly improvement cycle linked to annual business plans to balances the demands of day-to-day performance management with a medium-term focus on improvement. This approach facilitates:

• Delivery of annual business plans and strategy execution.

• Task transfer in line with demonstrated capability development,

• Systematic progress towards optimised operational capability.

It also provides a forum for recognition of team and individual achievements, reinforcing a proactive, high-performance culture.

1.3 Create an Improvement Pull Culture

Engage frontline teams in meaningful improvement projects to resolve problem hot spots. This approach builds ownership for:

• Enhanced work routines and workplace organisation protocols,

• Compliance with critical operational parameters,

• Standardisation and problem prevention mechanisms based on lessons learned.

1.4 Nurture an Improvement Leader Network

Establish an improvement leader network, consisting of Team Leaders, Specialists and Change agents to become the driving force behind:

• Capturing and sharing lessons learned,

• Fostering collaboration to release specialist time and facilitate task transfers,

• Prioritising and sponsoring data analysis to improve decision-making, error prevention and delivery of year on year improvement.

2.0 Next Steps

Use this guide to enhance Performance Management practices within your organisation by:

• Engaging cross-functional teams in projects to test and refine work routines,

• Using routine quarterly review cycles to assess progress and adjust improvement priorities as needed.

• Creating a formal internal improvement leader network to share insights and best practices across departments to accelerate adoption.

Ready to take the next step?

Your organisation doesn’t have to navigate this transformation alone. Our expert consultancy, facilitation, and coaching will ensure that TPM principles are embedded seamlessly into your operations, delivering measurable results. We can provide guidance on specific challenges, refine processes, and ensure successful implementation. Our team can assist in facilitating structured rollouts, upskilling internal leaders, and embedding best practices for long-term success.

Contact us to discuss how we can tailor the above 4 steps to your specific needs and accelerate your organisation’s journey to operational excellence.