A review of the Performance Management System (PMS) at United
Laboratories was necessitated in 2005 to determine its relevance
and effectiveness in addressing two major organizational
challenges: overcoming emerging business realities - growth in a
flat market, competition for share of wallet and budget, and new
competitors - in support of maintaining the company's strategic
thrusts and enhancing organizational capabilities with focus on
talent retention, development of future leaders, and dealing with
under performance.
To address the needs, a Performance Alignment and Management System
(PAMS) was developed to support the corporate strategy of
strengthening organizational excellence - building a high
performance, flexible, and learning organization that delivers
superior business results.
The design of the PAMS was a collaborative effort embarked on by
all of its program stakeholders, specifically senior management,
line management, supervisors, rank and file, and, the Labor
Management Council, and was mainly facilitated by the assigned PAMS
Program Champions through various sessions. Design considerations
for PAMS followed a systemic and holistic approach that internally
aligns with business and employee needs as well as externally
benchmarks with best run companies.
With an implementation timeframe of less than a year, the PAMS
design took into account the change implications to other HR
programs such as training and career development, development
assignments and transfers, competency assessment and development,
rewards and recognition, and the change management process employed
for program implementation. More importantly, the PAMS considered
change implications at the corporate planning level, which is,
aligning the Strategy Development and Deployment System with the
planning phase of PAMS.
Design inputs from performance management research findings and
benchmarking were also utilized to ensure competitiveness with best
practices employed by other leading companies. The final PAMS
Program design got the nod and support of the Executive Committee
for implementation based on the feasibility and soundness of the
recommendation.
Given the nature and extent of PAMS, its impact on the business cannot be downplayed. From a culture of entitlement, PAMS was able transform the organization into a highperformance culture that harnesses both the drive for superior business results and people development.
Positive impact on retention
PAMS contributes to the low 5 percent attrition rate versus the 12
percent industry figure in 2008. Identified must-keep employees
remain at 14 percent of total population from 2008 to July 2009
with PAMS A+ Ratings as a major qualifier. The percentage of
outstanding performance awardees steadily increased from 6.84
percent in 2006 to 8.30 percent in 2008.
Some major lessons gained from implementing PAMS are the need to
continuously communicate PAMS concepts and related program changes
to all levels of the organization; to ensure that needs and inputs
of all program stakeholders are heard and acted upon; to always
take the opportunity to ask for feedback on program implementation;
to focus on the performance management principles in engaging all
program stakeholders; and to execute program improvements swiftly
while ensuring effectiveness.