How Sony Music is reimagining performance management

At Sony Music Entertainment, performance management is defined as an ongoing and collaborative process between managers and their people, creating an environment where happy employees can grow and thrive.

For some employees, the culmination of a year’s of hard work, and the accompanying rewards or lack thereof, continues to be dependent on a singular and one-off event called the annual performance review.

Having served as a critical component of an effective employee performance management programme for many years, is the annual performance review nevertheless beginning to lose its relevance in today’s rapidly evolving workplace?

Detractors point to annual performance reviews offering limited engagement because of their infrequency and the delayed feedback that managers provide. Employees also feel stressed and anxious, because many reviews tend to focus on weaknesses instead of celebrating achievements.

To alleviate these setbacks, forward-looking organisations are increasingly shifting towards a continuous performance management approach that looks to motivate, rather than demotivate employees.

At Sony Music Entertainment for instance, performance management is defined as an ongoing and collaborative process between managers and their people, said Marcela Esquivel, Vice-President People Experience (HR), Asia and Middle East, Sony Music Entertainment.

Speaking to HRM Magazine Asia, she explained, “We always put our artists first and that has always been the core of what we do, hence, that mindset starts with us. This process emphasises regular communication to review goals, expectations, and development plans.”

“Our objective is to empower our people to perform at their best by aligning their efforts with the organisation’s strategic objectives, thereby creating a positive and fulfilling work environment.”

To further enhance this approach, Sony Music launched their Global People Promise initiative, which is designed to shape the future by fostering powerful new ideas at the intersection of music, technology, and culture.

“Our objective is to empower our people to perform at their best by aligning their efforts with the organisation’s strategic objectives, thereby creating a positive and fulfilling work environment.” – Marcela Esquivel, Vice-President People Experience (HR), Asia and Middles East, Sony Music Entertainment.

It also includes a set of core values and behaviours that are fully integrated into Sony Music’s performance management process. Specifically, the values of Creator First, Fuel Excellence, Elevate Each Other, Imagine More, and Act Responsibly, serve as guiding principles to achieve the goals of employees across all markets.

“By incorporating these values into our performance management strategies, we ensure that every employee prioritise the work that matters most and champion positive change that reinforces a strong sense of purpose and accountability within our teams,” said Esquivel.

If it’s not broke, improve on it

With innovation and creativity being key buzzwords to ensure business continuity and growth, organisations have been compelled to move away from practices that have seen their relevance wane in recent years.

Where performance reviews are concerned, however, it is an opportunity to reimagine the traditional performance management process through innovative tools and more agile practices that help organisations to strike a better balance between reflecting on past performance and identifying areas to foster future growth. Sony Music, for instance, recently launched their in-house People Performance Tool.

Esquivel described, “The People Performance Tool promotes a culture of continuous feedback, engaging both our people and managers to focus on key priorities through real-time feedback on goals (the WHATs), the behaviours (the HOWs), and clarity in development plans and career paths.”

 “Open communication is key, making feedback a regular part of our culture to build transparency and trust across the organisation,” she added.

At Sony Music, clear objectives and KPIs are defined to align individual goals with company objectives. This reinforces the importance of values and behaviours, providing ongoing feedback from managers and different stakeholders, and creating tailored development plans for short, mid, and long-term career growth.

“While these steps might seem standard, embracing each with agility and a strong ownership mindset is crucial for evolving our business and meeting future challenges effectively,” said Esquivel.

The foundations of Sony Music’s approach to performance management are also supported by several key assessment pillars established by the new People Performance Tool.

• Goal setting: This is the first step where leaders cascade their own goals, discuss expectations with employee, and guarantee objectives are defined in an achievable and measurable way.
• Ongoing feedback and coaching: Ensuring continous feedback and coaching helps to improve employees professionally and personally, celebrate their successes and encourage them to discuss their career plans and development.
• Skills assessment: This analyses and addresses development needs in areas such as functional, leadership, and behavioural.
• Capability building: Fostering a better understanding of any organisational capabilities gap empowers Sony Music to build a platform to construct a talent pipeline for the future.
• People commitment: A people-focus remains paramount, and Sony Music is committed to enabling their people, collaboratively cultivating a unique organisational culture for all.

Data-driven approach reshaping performance management

Like many other HR and business functions, performance management is being inexorably transformed by technology.

Sony Music, like almost every other organisation, is leveraging on technology to elevate their performance management approach. The People Performance Tool automates processes, offering features like a performance goal tracker, scorecards that visualise team progress, and insights to identify strengths, skill gaps, and future performance trends.

It also provides continuous feedback loops through automated reminders and check-ins, ensuring that every employee stays aligned and informed throughout the process.

Esquivel highlighted, “Technology is essential across all phases of performance management, starting with automating the process to facilitate fact-based, meaningful conversations during regular feedback sessions. It enables real-time tracking of performance metrics, helping leaders make decisions in areas like development, recognition, and talent pipeline management.”

It is the convergence of technology and focus on people, and most importantly, organisations’ commitment, that is likely to drive the next evolution of performance management, where employees feel engaged, encouraged and empowered to grow together with their organisation.