When you hear the words “performance management", what comes to mind?

Disciplinary action? Performance plans? Warnings? Dismissal?

 

That’s what most managers say and that's the problem. Performance management has become associated with punishment, conflict, and fallout. It’s got a bad reputation.

 

What It Actually Means

But performance management was never meant to be just that. It’s everything you do as a manager to manage performance. Every standard you set. Every objective you agree. Every conversation you have.

All of it. It includes:

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• Standards — job descriptions, values, operating standards, attendance

• Tools — objectives, KPIs, notes, appraisals, development plans, improvement plans

• Procedures — induction, reviews, appraisals, improvement processes, disciplinary and grievance

 

There’s a lot more to performance management than most people realise.

 

So Where Does “Raising the Bar” Come In?

This is where things change.

Raising the Bar is the modern interpretation of performance management.

It shifts the mindset. Instead of something that feels:

• Formal

• Administrative

• Personal

 

It becomes something that is:

• Constructive

• Practical

• Objective

 

Not about the person. About the standard.

 

Understanding “The Bar”

The Bar is simple. It’s the required level of performance. The level someone needs to operate at to do the job properly and earn their pay. In most cases:

 

The Bar = the job description.

 

Once that’s clear, everything becomes easier to manage. People are either:

• At the Bar

• Above the Bar

• Or Below the Bar

 

Your job as a manager? To raise it.

 

The Reality Most Managers Walk Into

Here’s what usually happens.

You inherit a team. Standards are below the bar. Poor performance has been tolerated. Expectations are unclear. Over time, that becomes the “normal”.

 

Then you arrive… and try to raise the bar.

That’s when you hear:

• “It was fine before”

• “No one’s ever said anything”

 

That’s not resistance to you. That’s the reaction to the bar being raised.

 

Why Most Managers Struggle

This is the part most organisations miss. Raising the bar is one of the most important things a manager does. And one of the most difficult.

Yet most managers:

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• Receive little training

• Little guidance

• Little support

 

And are expected to just get on with it. Then organisations wonder why standards don’t improve.

 

The Raising the Bar Way

The Raising the Bar Way brings everything together:

Standards, tools, processes. Into one clear, structured system.

Nothing ad hoc. Nothing left to chance. No patchwork approach.

Just a practical way to:

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• Raise performance

• Develop people

• Correct issues early

• Take formal action properly when needed

 

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👉 If you want to understand how this works in practice, start the programme.

— Coach