Performance management quotes can come in handy when you or your employees need that little push to chase performance goals. Read on to learn about the importance of consistent performance, why companies need to implement performance management programs, and get your hands on an extensive list of effective performance management quotes.
All successful businesses have a process for performance management in place. It assists them in aligning their workforce, resources, and systems to fulfill their strategic objectives and goals. It also serves as a dashboard, alerting the management to potential problems and letting them know when changes are to be made to keep the business on track.
Performance management programs enable employees to be more productive, obtain positive feedback and suggestions from management, and eventually improve the company's overall performance.
Why Performance Management?
According to statistics, 98% of businesses believe that performance management is important, but only 64% say they have a systematic approach to it. An effective approach could mean having a set system or standard practices and procedures customized for your company. This involves implementing a performance-management system that is designed to help the organization avoid pitfalls such as poor metrics, setting poor targets, lack of transparency, etc.
Learn more: Make excellence a habit with the performance management module by Darwinbox
Alongside structured performance management processes, HR teams can also share informative, motivating quotes from time to time, so employees can take inspiration from successful people and strive to improve their performance.
Performance Management Quotes From Business Leaders
Here are 101 performance management and work-related quotes that HR leaders can choose from and use to motivate their teammates to perform to the best of their abilities:
1. “Performance management involves embracing employees’ strengths and being open to innovative ideas – even ones that change the status quo.”– Steve Jobs, Co-founder, Apple Inc.
2. “A total commitment is paramount to reaching the ultimate in performance." – Tim Flores, former American football coach.
3. “The fundamental task of management remains the same: to make people capable of joint performance through common goals, common values, the right structure, and the training and development they need to perform and to respond to change.” – Peter F. Drucker, Educator and Author.
4. “Performance management is so tightly integrated with the business that business has no option but to do it on its own.” – Harjeet Khanduja, Author.
5. “Performance management continues to be an important cornerstone of business and individual growth and development.” – Sameer Nagarajan, Global President- HR, Cadila Pharmaceuticals
6. “An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.” – Mae West, Author.
7. “Don’t lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations.” – Ralph Marston, Author.
8. "Being relaxed, at peace with yourself, confident, emotionally neutral, loose, and free-floating – these are the keys to successful performance in almost everything.” – Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Author.
9. "Transparency and openness are key to any effective performance management system.” – Vinod Bidwaik, Author.
10. “We all know business financial performance improves when more women are in senior levels of management and leadership.” – Beth Brooke, Public Accountant.
11. “The “self-driven” talent performance management is pursuing the digital way to run a purpose-driven organization.” – Pearl Zhu, Author.
12. “A performance management system is very critical to keep an ongoing track on the returns of the enterprise on its investment in people resources.” – Adil Malia, CEO and Partner, The Firm.
13. “Good performance accountability is about having a positive conversation between manager and employee. A manager is a coach and communicator, not command and controller.” – Dave Ulrich, Author.
14. “A really effective performance management program is closely entwined with the needs of the organization and looks at talent development as central to the conversation, as well as embracing regular discussion and feedback.” – Kevin Lyons, Former cricketer.
15. “Performance management should be measured by the potential to stay in business, to protect investment, to ensure future dividends and jobs through the improvement of product and services for the future, not by the quarterly dividend.” – W. Edwards Deming, Engineer and Statistician.
16. “What we can control is our performance and our execution, and that's what we're going to focus on.” – Bill Belichick, General Manager, The New England Patriots.
17. “As much as we think of performance management as numeric and thus perfectly quantifiable, it is as much a product of context and social science as the products we design and develop.” – Steven Sinofsky, Former president, Windows Division at Microsoft.
18. “Research indicates that workers have three prime needs: interesting work, recognition for doing a good job, and being let in on things that are going on in the company.” – Zig Ziglar, Author.
19. “Performance management starts from the top by tailoring strategies which can be translated into meaningful targets, and trickles down to managers for setting goals & making this process effective by helping them understand the big picture and owning up careers of their team members.” – Colin Mendes, Head HR, VoltasBeko.
20. “Performance management is about getting employees engaged & imbibing in them a sense of ownership & pride.” – Rohit Sahu, Head HR, Hughes Systique Corporation.
21. “The true measure of the value of any business leader and manager is performance.” – Brian Tracy, Motivational Speaker.
22. “In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” – Warren Buffett, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway.
23. “I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among men the greatest asset I possess. The way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement.” – Charles R. Schwab, Founder and chairman, the Charles Schwab Corporation.
24. “A manager of people needs to understand that all people are different. This is not ranking people. He needs to understand that the performance of anyone is governed largely by the system that he works in, the responsibility of management.” – W. Edwards Deming, Eminent Professor, Author, Lecturer, and management consultant.
25. “When companies create ridiculous and demoralizing rules to halt the outlandish behavior of a few individuals, it's a management problem. There's no sense in alienating your entire workforce because you don't know how to manage performance. It makes a bad situation that much worse.” – Travis Bradberry, Bestselling Author.
26. “Best-practice performance management opens channels of communication and gives all parties the freedom to disagree with each other.” – Margaret Heffernan, Entrepreneur and Writer.
27. “Most organizations fail to manage performance effectively because they fail to look into the system holistically.” – Pearl Zhu, Author.
28. “The pace and rhythm of performance management need to be in line with the pace and rhythm of the business.” – TN Hari, Head HR at Bigbasket.
Learn more: Dialogue with Darwin with TN Hari
29. “When rewards ignore individual performance, the incentive to strive for excellence is lost.” – Frank Sonnenberg, Author.
30. “When you prohibit failure, you kill innovation.” – Dan Pallotta, Entrepreneur and Speaker.
31. "Curious that we spend more time congratulating people who have succeeded than encouraging people who have not.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist.
32. “True leadership lies in guiding others to success, in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do, and doing it well.” – Bill Owens, Attorney.
33. “Performance management by philosophy needs to be more developed for employee development and to monitor and track performance and development, and not really a tool to decide employee salary revision.” – Ajay Ambewadikar, People Lead, APAC.
34. “Performance keeps the business running, and potential moves the business to the next level of the growth cycle.” – Pearl Zhu, Author.
35. “Good execution of performance appraisal is not the solution. More people are realizing that improving how performance appraisal are done is an attempt to do the wrong thing better. If you insist on doing the wrong thing, I suppose you might as well do it better but how about just not doing the wrong thing at all?” – John Hunter, Surgeon.
36. “In business, the idea of measuring what you are doing, picking the measurements that count like customer satisfaction and performance… you thrive on that.” – Bill Gates, Founder, Microsoft.
37. “The organizational design is part of digital strategy management which needs to go neck-in-neck with performance management for improving organizational effectiveness and maturity.” – Pearl Zhu, Author.
38. “I don't believe in luck or in hard work without the so called ‘work smart’. It's not all about how you work hard but it's about how you manage your time, resources, mind to work together for a better output.” – Jayson Zabate, Senior Security Consultant.
39. “Done well, performance management is the most effective tool for leaders to set challenges and deliver recognition – using tools like goals, feedback and coaching.” – Dan Ariely, Professor.
Learn More: Performance Management: Benefits, Challenges, Advantages and Future
40. “The only way to control chaos and complexity is to give up some of that control” – Gyan Nagpal, Author.
41. “A performance management system is the foundation of performance excellence in an organization and therefore it should be simple, straightforward, intuitive, aligned with organizational goals and have flavors of organization values.” – Kaustubh Sonalkar, Author.
42. “The desire of knowledge, like the thirst for riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it.” – Laurence Sterne, Novelist.
43. “There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.” – Jack Welch, Former Chairman and CEO, General Electric.
44. “If you believe people are fundamentally good and worthy of trust, you must be honest and transparent with them. That includes telling them when they are lagging behind in their performance. But having a mission-driven, purposeful workplace also requires that you approach people with sensitivity.” – Laszlo Bock, Author.
45. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” – Wayne Dyer, Author.
46. "To succeed… you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you." – Tony Dorset, Footballer.
47. “Performance yields compounded growth. Ordinary becomes outstanding just by an ounce of performance.” – Gagandeep Kaushal, Regional Manager, RANSME
48. “Performance management, when handled skillfully in an organization today, can increase job satisfaction, employee retention, loyalty, and overall performance of the organization.” – Soumyasanto Sen, Author.
49. “The real purpose of a performance indicator is to provide business insight and monitor the progress and performance.” – Pearl Zhu, Author.
50. “A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge.” – Peter Drucker, Educator and Author.
51. “If you are building a culture where honest expectations are communicated and peer accountability is the norm, then the group will address poor performance and attitudes.” – Henry Cloud, Author.
52. “At the core of effective performance management is successful communication. To deliver feedback that will be taken on board, it’s critical that you speak so that people around you want to listen.” – Julian Treasure, Orator.
53. “Very few managers know how to effectively tap the biggest source of performance improvement available to them, namely, the creativity and knowledge of the people who work for them.” – Alan G. Robinson, Author.
54. “A total commitment is paramount to reaching the ultimate performance.” – Tim Flores, footballer.
55. “Performance management goes a long way in developing better individuals, fostering teamwork that directly leads us to achieve our organizational objectives.” – Asha Poluru, Head HR, Coinbase.
56. “If you want it to happen, measure it. If you want it to be repeated, recognize it.” – H. J. Chammas, Author.
57. “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey, Author and Businessman.
58. “Past performance produces present privileges.” – Anonymous.
59. “When an employee truly understands the meaning of his work and gets recognition for his efforts, he performs the best.” – Abhishek Ratna, Author.
60. “Performance Management should focus on strengths & help employees develop these, rather than weaknesses.” – Shourya Chakravarty, EVP-HR, Aptech.
61. “For companies to be agile, feedback on performance must get closer to real-time.” – Karen Crone, Author.
Learn More: 360 Degree Feedback: A Complete Guide
62. “The fears we don’t face become our limits.” – Robin Sharma, Bestselling Author.
63. “A strong performance management system not only helps in getting everyone aligned on the over-organization mission and goals but also goes a long way in building a culture of trust and meritocracy.” – Saurabh Nigam, Vice President-Human Capital, Omidyar Network.
64. “Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.” – Donald Rumsfeld, Politician and Businessman.
65. “At heart, this is the purpose of performance management – to improve each other’s day-to-day experience at work.” – Drew Dudley, Author.
66. “Performance should be an expectation of employment and it is the leader’s job to create an environment where maximum performance is possible.” – Rob Burn, President, L & L Solutions.
67. “In the minds of great managers, consistent poor performance is not primarily a matter of weakness, stupidity, disobedience, or disrespect. It is a matter of miscasting.” – Marcus Buckingham, Author.
68. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle, Philosopher.
69. “If we really want high performance in our organizations, the solution isn’t to entice people with a bigger carrot or threaten them with a longer stick. We need to understand the intrinsic motivation.” – Dan Pink, Author.
70. “Difficult times disrupt your conventional ways of thinking and push you to forge better habits of thought, performance and being.” – Robin S. Sharma, Bestselling Author.
71. “The essence of performance management is that it is a feedback loop that allows people to assess if they are doing the right things and working well within the culture of the company.” – Ravi Bhogaraju, Global Head Talent & Development, Archroma.
72. “To waken interest and kindle enthusiasm is the sure way to teach easily and successfully.” – Tryon Edwards.
73. “The annual performance review is a retrospective and looking backward over a full year can be useful." — Michael L. Zirulnik, Director of Development, Western Spirit.
74. “A performance dashboard is a practical tool to improve management effectiveness and efficiency, not just a pretty, retrospective picture in an annual report.” – Pearl Zhu, Author.
75. “Your brain at positive performs significantly better than at negative, neutral, or stressed. Your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise. In fact, we’ve found that every single business outcome improves.” – Shawn Achor, Author.
76. “Organizations that are able to promote a performance management culture that is in keeping with their mission and values, whilst enhancing employee engagement will thrive.” – Kessar Kalim, Director of HR, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
77. “Performance management isn’t just up to the boss – employees (and leaders) shouldn’t be afraid to ask for feedback.” – Laura Trice, Author and Speaker.
78. “The bad news is that ignoring the performance of people is almost as bad as shredding their effort in front of their eyes. … The good news is that by simply looking at something that somebody has done, scanning it and saying, ‘uh huh,’ [you] dramatically improve people’s motivations.” – Dan Ariely, Professor.
79. “Performance Management is one of today’s most competent branding/benchmarking tools, but we need to continuously remind ourselves that our performance management system should be in line with our organization’s culture.” – Mahmoud Mansi, Human Capital Consultant, Protiviti.
80. “Best practice performance management is a continual process – focused on growth of the individual (not just the review cycle).” – Richard St. John, Poet and Speaker.
Learn More: How to Successfully Plan and Implement a Performance Management Process
81. “Performance management metrics aren’t just historical, but they are also forward-looking projections so that managers can know who has a positive trajectory.” – Dr. John Sullivan.
82. “A good performance management system is as crucial as a good management board of the organization.” – Anand Dewan, Group CEO, BYLD Group.
83. “Teams are the main building blocks of organizations, and HR practices [such] as performance management should become more team focused.” – Tom Haak, Author.
84. “Having a right and continuous performance management system helps an organization to convert, monitor, provide feedback and course correct, strategize the long-term objectives and its execution.” – Srinivas Chunduru, Founder and CEO, VANS.
85. “Change is inevitable Progress is optional.” – Wayne Dyer, Author.
86. “You’ve got to keep control of your time and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life.” – Warren Buffett, CEO, Berkshire Hathaway.
87. “When I hear people complaining about how hard life is I always ask them: compared to what?” – Sydney Justin Harris, Journalist.
88. “People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.” – Mary Kay Ash, Businesswoman and Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics.
89. “The secret to achievement is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then waste no time starting on the first one.” – Mark Twain, Writer.
90. “Prepare for every game like you just lost your last game.” – Lon Kruger, Basketball Coach.
91. “Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” – Wayne Dyer, Author.
92. “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” – Stephen R Covey, Author and Businessman.
93. “When you do more than you’re paid for, eventually you’ll be paid for more than you do.” – Zig Ziglar, Author.
94. “Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating.” – Denis Waitley, Motivational Speaker.
95. “They aren't roadblocks. They're signposts.” – Richie Norton, Author.
96. “Measure progress – not the time that you’re working.” – Frank Sonnenberg, Author.
97. “Consistency of performance is essential. You don't have to be exceptional every week, but as a minimum, you need to be at a level that even on a bad day, you get points on the board.” – Sean Dyche, Football Manager.
98. “The highest levels of performance come to people who are centered, intuitive, creative, and reflective – people who know to see a problem as an opportunity.” – Deepak Chopra, Author.
99. “Focus on being productive instead of busy.” – Tim Ferriss, Entrepreneur and Author.
100. “Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.” – Franz Kafka, Novelist.
101. “Efficiency is doing things right. Effectiveness is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker, Educator and Author.
Managers can use quotes such as these in their email communications from time to time to add color and weight to their message to the team. Feel free to use these quotes or personalize them for your employees!
Find out how Darwinbox can help you maximize the performance of your employees with its robust and modern performance management system – book a demo today!
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