Annual performance reviews are a thing of the past, as more businesses are seeing that incessant performance management and coaching techniques can help to increase efficiency and effectiveness of employees. However, a majority of managers don’t possess the skill set needed to accurately coach, and in many scenarios executives don't fully realize the benefit of managing performance levels.

These are just some of the findings released in a report by Bersin & Associates, a research firm based in Oakland, Calif., over the summer. The survey consisted of over 275 managers and human resources leaders entitled, “High-Impact Performance Management: Designing for Effectiveness,” found that 70 percent of organizations no longer utilize competitive assessments, instead deciding to implement a "coaching and development model" to improve performance management. In fact, that percentage has grown 60 percent since 2008, a recent article featured in Crain’s Detroit Business stated.

According to the article, a major factor driving the expansion of performance management and coaching is the younger work generation who tend to ask for constant feedback and one-on-one interactions with managers and mentors.

"Organizations have less money to compensate people, so they're looking at coaching and development as a way" to increase engagement and retention, Stacia Sherman Garr, a Bersin analyst and the report's author said in a statement.

 Companies also want to ensure that a company’s individual goals coincide with important business objectives, with that being noted as the second most important reason driving performance management, the study revealed.

Kelly Services, Inc. hopped on the performance management and coaching bandwagon back in 2009, through completely eliminating performance ratings for its 8,000 employees. However, this dramatic change caused fear among employees and managers Terry Hauer, Kelly's senior manager of talent management and leadership development commented. Hence, the company ultimately came to the conclusion that they should enable employees to have a larger amount of control over the process and are now expecting employees to start discussions with their managers -- one at the start of the year to define goals and one midyear in regards to the progression of their career and additional training that is needed, the article stated.

Most managers want to become proficient coaches, E. Michael Norman, a senior vice president in Los Angeles for Sibson Consulting, a division of Segal Co, added. "Supervisors are willing to spend more time on coaching, but they get sucked into a vortex of day-to-day firefighting." That’s where Envision, a provider of a suite of performance management and coaching solutions, comes in.

Envision helps companies better integrate all aspects of critical business operations including the people, processes and technologies within the organization. The company combines the features of Click2Coach and Envision Workforce Management on a completely Web-based workforce optimization (WFO) technology platform. This provides ROI-driven efficiency   that was designed to meet even the most highly specified goals and objectives of customer-focused organizations around the world. Envision Click2Coach significantly expands performance management capabilities by capturing, aggregating and displaying valuable information at all levels.