Expert Interview: Teresita Villanueva, Managing Director, TAV Systems, Inc., Philippines

Written by Adelina Chelniciuc on April 24, 2014. Posted in Consultants, Interviews, Organisational performance

For the report Performance Management in 2013, The KPI Institute conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with practitioners, academics and consultants from 18 countries, who offered a detailed image of Performance Management as a discipline in the analyzed year.

An important editorial rule followed in the development of the content is that a discipline can only evolve through the combined efforts of practitioners, academics and consultants. Teresita Villanueva, Managing Director at TAV Systems, Inc., Philippines was one of the consultants that The KPI Institute interviewed.

1. What does the term Performance Management mean to you? 

It means the whole process of performance planning and commitment, performance review and monitoring, performance evaluation, developmental action planning and rewarding performance.

2. What drives interest in Performance Management?

The desire of companies to measure organizational performance through the performance contribution of every individual and teams in achieving corporate goals.

3. What are your thoughts on the relationship between Performance Management at organizational, departmental and individual level?

At the organizational level, top management sets the corporate objectives which are geared towards the attainment of the strategies for the year. At the departmental level, every department or team sets their department objectives that should be linked towards the attainment of the corporate objectives. At the individual level, depending on the role of every individual in the organization, their objectives are likewise linked towards the attainment of their team objectives. In the end, every individual’s performance links to the attainment of the team/department’s performance that in turn supports the attainment of the organization’s overall performance based on the corporate objectives that the top management sets for the year.

4. What are 2013 key trends in Performance Management from your point of view?

• Performance Management system should use the right KPIs to ensure objectivity in performance measurement;
• Performance Management system should not only measure KPIs attainment but also competencies and corporate values. Actual performance based on KPIs however carry the biggest weight in determining an individual/team’s actual performance in the organization;
• Performance Management system is most effective when the organization implements the whole PMS phases as mentioned in item 1 above.

5. What aspects of Performance Management should be explored more through research?

a) Rewarding individual and team performance – What is the relationship between rewards to individual and team performance? What is more rewarding to the individual or the team – is it monetary or non-monetary rewards?

b) Composition of the Performance Appraisal Form – Objectives? KPIs? Competencies? Corporate Values? – What is the common composition among companies?

6. Which companies would you recommend to be looked at due to their particular approach to Performance Management and subsequent results?

Business Process Outsourcing organizations because every output is timed and measured per person.

7. Which are main challenges of Performance Management in practice today?

It is monitoring performance, more particularly making it easy for managers as well as for the employees themselves in how to monitor their performance based on the KPIs that are set for the year. How can performance monitoring be made easy for them so that they don’t waste their time in doing this.

8. What do you think should be improved in the use of Performance Management tools and processes? 

It is setting the formula to be used in monitoring actual performance vis-à-vis actual targets.

9. What would you consider best practice in Performance Management?

Using well-defined KPIs with a tracking system for monitoring performance year round.

Managers who practice performance coaching and performance feed-backing as often as possible tend to increase the actual performance of their people.

10. Which aspects of Performance Management should be emphasized during educational programs?

How to develop the right objectives, KPIs and levels of performance. People should know when is their performance poor, below satisfactory, satisfactory, very satisfactory and excellent at the very start that they are agreeing with their managers as to what are their performance targets for the year.

11. Which are the limits in order to achieve higher levels of proficiency in Performance Management among practitioners?

They should be experts in all the skills and knowledge required in implementing all the phases of the Performance Management system as mentioned in item 1 above.

12. If you are to name in few words the main aspects governing Performance Management today, what would they be?

• Performance Planning and Commitment;
• Performance Review and Monitoring;
• Performance Evaluation ;
• Developmental Action Planning.
• Rewarding Performance – Pay for Performance

13. As a consultant, what are the most common issues that your customers raised related to Performance Management?

a) How objective is the tool in measuring performance? It is important that baseline data are set so that performance targets are realistic;

b) Who should monitor actual performance? Employees and managers should be able to come up with a monitoring system that enables them to measure how they are performing on a regular basis;

c) How should we reward individuals and teams based on the result of their actual performance? Often times we would look at company practices for benchmarking. It would be good if The KPI Institute can share best practices along this area for reference.

For more interviews with professionals from all over the world, access Performance Management in 2013

Tags: Performance in Philippines, Performance Management in 2013, TAV Systems, The KPI Institute