Best Practice Institute is integrating the power of social networking with performance management.
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What Is Social Performance Management?
Social Performance Management (SPM) is the use of a social network platform—whether cloud-based or on a corporate intranet—to optimize workplace performance and execute human resources and talent management functions. This approach represents a significant shift from traditional management hierarchies to a more collaborative, productive, and fast-paced way of working.
While many companies use social media for external marketing, they are only beginning to apply its transformative power internally. The core idea is to move beyond social platforms as separate tools and integrate them into the essential business of how people work together. Common applications of SPM include goal management, employee alignment and engagement, professional development and coaching, talent mapping, and recognition.
The Evolution of SPM
The concept of applying social technologies to business strategy (Enterprise 2.0) has been evolving since the late 1990s. While early uses focused on marketing and recruitment, the application of social principles to internal performance management is a more recent development.
The first SPM providers emerged around 2008 with platforms like Yammer and Rypple (re-launched as Work.com). In subsequent years, other companies like Saba, MangoSpring, 7Geese, Globoforce, WorkSimple, and Best Practice Institute (with its Skillrater platform) introduced their own social-based solutions for performance, goals, and recognition.
This shift is driven by widespread dissatisfaction with traditional performance management systems. A 2010 study found that over half of senior HR executives graded their own company's systems with a C, D, or F, indicating a clear need for a new approach.
8 Key Functionalities of Social Performance Management Platforms
SPM solutions offer a range of features designed to make work more connected and effective. Here are eight common functionalities found in the first wave of these tools.
1. Centralized Communication
SPM platforms transform workplace communication by replacing private, one-to-one email chains with one-to-many and many-to-many discussions. This allows anyone with a relevant solution or idea to contribute immediately, creating a shared understanding and collective ownership of outcomes. One study estimated this shift could increase employee productivity by 25% by making knowledge currently hidden in private emails accessible.
- Yammer: Acquired by Microsoft, Yammer functions as a "Facebook for business," allowing employees within a company to connect and interact freely.
- 7Geese: This platform is designed to give every employee a voice, moving from a top-down management culture to a "We organization" where everyone feels heard and valued.
2. Enhanced Collaboration
Unlike casual social networks, SPM platforms are dedicated work environments. They provide tools for team members to collaborate directly on tasks and projects to achieve company goals.
- MangoApps: This platform provides a suite of collaborative tools, including project management (MangoProjects), task management (MangoTasks), document sharing (MangoDocs), and idea generation (MangoIdeas).
3. Employee Engagement
SPM fosters intrinsic motivation by focusing on human connections. People are driven by a sense of belonging to a valued group, not just by a mission statement on a slide. Social business platforms are powerful tools for cultivating this connection, allowing employees to share, encourage each other, and see their direct value within the organization.
4. Continuous Training and Coaching
Social platforms provide an ideal environment for real-time, practical learning that moves beyond traditional classroom-style training. Employees can access information as needed and connect with knowledgeable coaches and mentors to understand and apply it.
- Work.com: Owned by Salesforce, this platform offers real-time coaching features for sales, service, and marketing teams.
- Skillrater: BPI's platform enables continuous, employee-driven mentoring. Employees can request ratings on specific skills, receive targeted feedback, and track their improvement over time.
5. Social Goal-Setting and Management
Productivity is optimized when individual goals align with team and company objectives. On an SPM platform, employees can share their goals, turning personal objectives into "social goals." This transparency invites feedback and encouragement from coworkers, fostering mutual support.
- WorkSimple: This platform was built around the concept of "social goals" to ensure employees understood expectations and could see how their work impacted larger company objectives.
6. Peer-to-Peer Recognition
Acknowledgment is a key driver of workplace productivity. Most SPM solutions incorporate features that allow coworkers to recognize each other for good work.
- Globoforce: This company pioneered "Social Recognition," a system enabling a continuous stream of recognition activity tied to company goals. Recognition can range from a simple "Thanks!" to formal badges and rewards.
7. Real-Time Feedback and Appraisal
Many agree that the traditional annual performance review is a flawed and often negative process. SPM provides a modern alternative: continuous, real-time feedback. Positive feedback is delivered when it is deserved, and constructive criticism is timely and focused on specific tasks, not saved for a single, high-pressure meeting.
While some companies have replaced annual reviews entirely, others use the stream of documented feedback from the social platform to inform a more balanced and fair year-end conversation.
- Saba: This tool tracks goals and achievements, intending to "incorporate social feedback into formal performance reviews."
- Work.com: Offers an anonymous feedback option, which it claims can make giving and receiving honest input easier.
- Skillrater: In contrast, this platform does not permit anonymous feedback, believing that knowing the source is critical for effectiveness and preventing a toxic environment. It emphasizes positive, future-focused feedback.
8. Dynamic Talent Mapping
Many organizations have "hidden talent" on their payrolls—employees with valuable skills that go unused because they are not officially part of their job description. Social performance platforms help uncover these hidden gems.
By combining talent mapping technology with a social network, companies empower employees to highlight their own skills or recommend peers who have the right expertise for a specific need.
- Saba People Cloud & SilkRoad's Point: These are two examples of social platforms geared toward talent management.
- Skillrater: This platform uses a social rating system that both identifies and quantifies talent. Numeric ratings on any skill provide measurable data, allowing the company to search for and discover qualified internal talent. '''