Performance Management: At the Brink of Evolution
Q. There have been increasing conversations about
focus on performance-based rewards. Basis your
experience, do you actually see a lot of companies
questioning the bell curve model and trying to
re-engineer performance management?
A. If you refer to O'Boyle's research on 'Revisiting the
Norm of Normality of Individual Performance'1, it calls
into question the validity of the bell shaped curve and
suggests that there are very few elite performers who are
not only extremely valuable but also extremely rare. This
is probably the most provocative challenge to the thinking
today about the use of a bell shaped performance
curve. That research is also careful to point out that their
research may not be applicable to all types of businesses.
The study is based on the performance of lead athletes,
entertainers, politicians, etc. There are several categories
and it is believed that while the data does correspond
to business, it may not to all types of businesses.
Ken Abosch, is a partner and leader
of Aon Hewitt's North American
Broad-Based Compensation
Practice. He has over 30 years of
experience consulting in all facets
of human resources including
linkage to business strategy,
globalization, engagement,
incentive design, broadbanding,
and employer branding.
Prior to joining Aon Hewitt, Ken
worked for Eli Lilly and Company in
the areas of compensation, employee
relations, and pharmaceutical
sales. Ken holds an MBA from the
J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of
Management at Northwestern
University and a BA in Psychology
from Northwestern University
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