Measuring and managing performance
K Ramkumar, Executive Director of ICICI Bank, talks about how ability combined with motivation brings forth performance. But you cannot manage ability; you have to manage motivation and commitment
15 April 2016· 1 min read
In this video from a session on ‘Measuring and Managing Performance’, held at the Baroda Management Association, and published on TheOtherView.in, K Ramkumar talks about how enterprises are born when financial capital meets human capital. Performance is this confluence of human capital and financial capital and it multiplies both.
He says, asking how good the performance is, is an appraisal question. Asking how can performance be improved, is a management question.
Appraisals are at the end of the day, is a judgement call. As long as the zone of subjectivity is narrow, and the zone of objectivity is gleaned out with the facts which can be mustered, go ahead and make the call. But have the humility to accept that all your judgements about human ability may not always be right.
When you accept this and try and correct it, you treat human capital with respect; otherwise, you treat them mechanically and you will fail to create motivation. Ability combined with motivation results in performance, for motivation brings commitment.
You do not manage by appraising people; you manage by showing respect by trusting their ability to perform in difficult times.
Join the conversation
K Ramkumar
Founder and CEO | Leadership Centre
K. Ramkumar is the founder and CEO of Leadership Centre, an institution dedicated to building world-class thought and practice in the domain of leadership consulting, research and development.
He is a retired executive director of ICICI Bank and retired president of ICICI Foundation. He has completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from Madras School of Social Work in 1984. He joined the Board of Directors with effect from February 1, 2009.
Prior to joining ICICI Bank in 2001, Ramkumar served companies such as Hindustan Aeronautics, Brookebond Lipton India Limited (now Hindustan Unilever Limited) and ICI India Ltd. His work in these companies has mainly been in the areas of Human Resources Management and Manufacturing.
While at ICICI Bank, he was passionately devoted to Leadership Development, Succession Management, building a supply chain for the Bank’s human resources requirements, leveraging technology to innovate, and driving operational excellence for world class service quality.
Institute for Finance, Banking & Insurance and ICICI Manipal Academy for Banking & Insurance were conceived and nurtured by him. The partnership Initiatives with SEBI – National Institute for securities management and with NIIT - the NIIT University, were also nurtured by him. He led the CSR project of ICICI Foundation on skilling youth and promoting livelihood. This is done under the ICICI Academy for Skills, which has 21 centers offering 13 skills to 25,000 youth per year.
He writes extensively on a range of topics on his blog www.theotherview.in. He invites you all to be active contributing members of this blog.
Beyond the noise is the signal.
FF Insights: Sharpen your edge, Monday–Friday.
FF Life: Culture, ideas and perspectives you won't find elsewhere — Saturday.
Founding Fuel is sustained by readers who value depth, context, and independent thinking.
If this essay helped you think more clearly, you may choose to support our work.
Founding Fuel is sustained by readers who value depth, context, and independent thinking.
If this essay helped you think more clearly, you may choose to support our work.
Loading comments...
Readers also liked
·Entrepreneurship, Startups & Innovation
Factories Without Formulas
India is investing billions in battery manufacturing. But without the capital to fund indigenous technology, the intelligence inside those factories may continue to be imported.
BK
Bharti Krishnan
Founder | Finetrain
Factories Without Formulas
India is investing billions in battery manufacturing. But without the capital to fund indigenous technology, the intelligence inside those factories may continue to be imported.
Founder | Finetrain
·Leadership & Organisation
The Battle Cry in the Boardroom
What looks like motivation—war footage, heroic narratives, calls to crush the competition—is often something else entirely: a system of thinking that rewires how organisations see markets, customers, and themselves
KA
Kavi Arasu
Leadership and Talent Development Professional
The Battle Cry in the Boardroom
What looks like motivation—war footage, heroic narratives, calls to crush the competition—is often something else entirely: a system of thinking that rewires how organisations see markets, customers, and themselves
Leadership and Talent Development Professional
·Artificial Intelligence
When Work Runs on Two Minds
As human and machine learning begin to intersect, work is no longer shaped by a single reinforcement loop, but by the interaction of fundamentally different ones. Part 2 of an ongoing series on the Future of Work and Agentic AI.
AB
Arjo Basu
Systems thinker & technologist | Entrepreneur
When Work Runs on Two Minds
As human and machine learning begin to intersect, work is no longer shaped by a single reinforcement loop, but by the interaction of fundamentally different ones. Part 2 of an ongoing series on the Future of Work and Agentic AI.
Systems thinker & technologist | Entrepreneur
Explore more
Dive into other themes from our network.
