Hasan is a Managing Consultant & Founding Partner at Tuscan Consulting. He has expertise in advising, consulting and working collaboratively with the Board Members & Senior Management teams on organizational transformation projects through conceptualization, delivery, and implementation of strategic and tactical HR initiatives. 

Hasan is an Assoc. CIPD, SHRM-SCP, GPHR and an MBA with 12+ years of experience in the Middle East. Hasan has broad experience in advising and consulting with several start-ups to mature organizations, including local, multinational, private and government organizations across the Middle East.

Before starting his consulting practice, Hasan has worked with reputable corporate organizations for more than 7 years. 

Hasan is experienced in delivering specialized training courses and coaching HR professionals at all levels. 

How important is Performance Management (P.M.) in today’s high-flux organization?

Current business scenario across the globe is characterized by technological transformation, cross-border competition, younger workforce and economic uncertainty. Today’s organizations need to be agile in order to succeed. People are the most valuable asset for any organization so for any organization to succeed it must ensure that its people capabilities are at an optimum level. Employee performance has a direct link to organizational performance. In a high-performing organization, the entire business value chain becomes more agile to adapt to the changing business environment which makes it easier for the organization to succeed. It is true in business, as in any sport, the team with the best players wins.

Whose responsibility is Performance Management?

Every employee in an organization should take ownership to manage and improve own performance. Every line manager should be responsible for the performance of their team or department and should be involved in continuous coaching and be providing feedback to employees to elevate their performance. The HR department should facilitate the entire process, ensure a consistent and fair process, train managers and employees and ensure they know their roles, and support performance improvement and training & development.

What are the key gaps in current industry practices in managing employees’ performance?

Although a majority of organizations have an appraisal process very few organizations have an effective performance management model. One of the biggest gaps I have seen is the lack of continuous coaching and feedback by line managers. Whilst usually there are many informal conversations on a day to day basis between the manager and the employee, organizations mainly fail to put down a process to ensure “structured conversations” which makes it difficult to measure performance at the end of the year. I would attribute this to lack of training which can substantially improve this aspect. Another gap that I have noticed is many organizations do not link the performance management results to any reward i.e. cash or non-cash. It’s like winning a game and not getting a trophy in the end. All performance management programs should end with a clear link to reward in the form of recognition or increments or bonuses etc. the more clear is the link, the higher is the employee motivation to perform well.

Other than better pay or job roles, what are the main reasons why people change jobs?

The Manager – would be the number one reason for any employee to leave. The importance of the job for the employee would be the second reason for them to leave.

What makes a really effective P.M. programme? Any best practices to share.

A good P.M programme should be strategically aligned with an organizations strategy. Goals should cascade down from organizational strategy to departmental and then individual goals. The process should be simple yet comprehensive and fair and consistent for all participants. It should encourage continuous coaching and feedback. Should have clearly defined processes to reward high-performers and develop under-performers. Should support learning and development across the organization. Should be supplemented with regular training for new joiners, employees, managers, and leaders.