Creating a Performance Management Program to Drive Truly Inspired Performances
Case Study: Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

The Client
The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO), Indiana’s largest performing-arts organization, with more than 150 full-time musicians and staff members; the ISO produces more than 200 concerts and reaches more than 300,000 audience members each year.

The Situation
The ISO had developed new mission and values statements—with a goal to “inspire, entertain, educate and challenge through innovative programs and symphonic music performed at the highest artistic level”—and was seeking to infuse them into its day-to-day operations, including employee performance. The ISO had not revised its performance management program in many years, and the program was not effective. Employees and managers didn’t like the cumbersome process, and the generic performance factors were not connected to the ISO’s mission. The ISO’s leaders asked FlashPoint to help update the program, building it around behaviors that would support and reinforce the new mission and values.

FlashPoint's Approach
FlashPoint conducted focus groups with employees, managers, and the leadership team to explore what employees would need to do in order to achieve the ISO’s mission. Based on their input, we determined performance factors that would support the mission and values, and we identified specific behaviors that employees and managers should model for each of the performance factors. Once we established these, we built the ISO’s performance management program around them (including self-evaluation and peer review components). We then developed processes for conducting regular reviews. To help implement the new performance management system, we offered training sessions for staff members, helping them to understand and embrace the performance factors and behaviors, as well as the forms and procedures. We also conducted follow-up sessions with managers to help them improve their performance management skills.

FlashPoint's Impact
The ISO is now fully utilizing the performance management program, and both managers and employees are noticing the positive effects. The director of human resources actively promotes full participation and indicates that the utilization rate is high. Many employees have expressed appreciation for the opportunity to meet regularly with their managers and to receive ongoing feedback. They feel it is helpful that the program sets clear expectations around a common language, and they find value in knowing how their work helps support the ISO’s mission. As the ISO continues to grow the program, leaders eventually hope to tie it to rewards, creating a pay-for-performance culture that promotes the “highest artistic level” called for in the mission statement.