“We are not going to let technology drive the process.”
Company manufactures and markets chemicals, fibers and plastics
worldwide and is the world’s largest producer of PET polymers for
packaging and a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers. It
developed its performance management process as a way to ensure growth
in the face of competitive threats from China and other countries. The
company was founded in 1920 and wanted its 11,000 employees to develop
into high performers who would remain with the company and fuel its
growth. In 2006, the company had sales of $7.5 billion.
Eastman’s performance management process has been a work in progress
for a number of years. The company’s attempts to use off-the-shelf
solutions from a variety of vendors met with failure because the
processes did not fit the corporate culture and practices.
Eastman is now proceeding with a home-grown system that was conceptualized several years ago.
What is key for the company is the output of the process – performance
improvement and an indicator of the employee’s performance. Software
solutions were too far apart from Eastman’s process, though a lot was
learned by piloting TEDS and looking at other systems, like
SuccessFactors, before going to the company’s own system. Eastman’s
system is simple and user-centric and avoids much of the HR-speak that
managers find hard to deal with.
Conceptually, the integration of all the pieces that comprise talent
management into one technology solution makes sense, and it is a goal
for the future. But that isn’t standing in the way of creating a
performance management process that makes a difference.
The Organization
Eastman’s Talent Management group (TM) which reports to the senior vice
president of human resources, is concerned with the whole range of
efforts involved in selecting, developing, rewarding and recognizing
people throughout their careers. The Leadership and Business Skills
Development group that is part of TM is responsible for performance
management, leadership development & succession planning, and
learning and development. This group also focuses on performance
consulting, or taking a systems approach to performance improvement.
