Klout is the Future of Performance Management

Hate them or love them Klout is here to stay. While we may all question Klout’s scoring algorithms, we can probably all agree on the value of the outcome; identifying people with the ability to persuade via social media.

So why not develop and reward employees based on a corporate driven type Klout score! Recent studies show most employers are oblivious to an employees impact within their company and outside the company as it relates to intangibles outside their normal job description. Many employees are devout advocates for their companies on many fronts: identifying great hires, mentoring employees, referring customers and much more. So why not reward these individuals?

Klout currently measures an individuals influence in the social network by their True Reach + Amplification + Network Impact. A corporate Klout model will likely continue to use these three areas but through the following possible corporate lenses:

1. Impact in their job

How well are they getting things done, independently and by influencing how things get done within and outside the company.

2. Impact on Sales

Are they referring customers, building positive goodwill, marketing products and services, attracting possible partners and suppliers.

3. Impact on internal social network (employees)

Are they helping to mentor employees, training others, retaining and convincing others to stay with the company, what are other employees saying about them.

4. Impact on Hiring

Are they referring good leads to recruiting, are they talking up the company positively outside the company, are they involved positively in professional forums, associations.

Great companies thrive by providing clear guidance and desired outcomes, so it's no less important when it comes to providing information to employees on how they can help the company beyond their day-to-day job. Companies who do so and properly reward their employees will thrive. Incompetent companies who want the results but do not do the proper care and feeding will fail as they already do. There are no magic bullets but measuring employee value more quantifiably and rewarding those employees for their true worth will go a long way in ensuring a company's future success.

Corporate Klout may not appear tomorrow but it's not far off. So love or hate Klout and their counterparts they have given us an opportunity to look beyond traditional employee value. The future looks bright for those that go beyond their day-to-day job. What do you think about Kloutifying performance management?

For more on this author visit:

Linked in - http://ca.linkedin.com/in/francoisguay

Blog - http://attackdefenddisrupt.wordpress.com/

Twitter - http://twitter.com/#!/GuayFrancois

Comment by Brian K. Johnston on November 10, 2011 at 10:01am: These are good comments... Thanks for sharing your insights... I could take or leave Klout, however your social media "reach" does not matter, because when use the platforms as "leverage" to get your message to a more larger targeted audience... (if you use SM for biz and opposed to a playground)... Thanks for the good article!

Comment by Brian K. Johnston on November 10, 2011 at 10:02am: I meant social media reach "does matter" (vs. Does not)

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on November 10, 2011 at 2:57pm: Here an interesting perspective on the whole Klout discussion - http://socialmediatoday.com/rohnjaymiller/385168/delete-your-klout-...

Apparently the CEO of Klout went so far as to say "When you think about it, the idea of measuring influence is kind of crazy. Influence has always been something that we each see through our own lens."

So there's that.

Comment by Jerry Albright on November 10, 2011 at 3:23pm: If I owned Klout I would sell it before people realize how stupid it is. Like other one that's already pretty much dead - Empire Avenue. There were a few "prominent" recruiters touting how big it was going to be. I laughed then - and I laugh now.

Klout? Phooey!

Comment by Sylvia Dahlby on November 10, 2011 at 7:09pm: Klout = Koolaid. Mostly water, with sugar for those who value form over substance. Nobody cares about your klout score more than YOU. And news flash, there are still MANY highly talented individuals who are not even on social media so they have ZERO klout but are very desirable candidates. Klout is not essential for success in many fields.

Comment by Sylvia Dahlby on November 10, 2011 at 7:14pm: PS - my klout score is higher than yours ;-)

Comment by Francois Guay on November 11, 2011 at 8:24am: @Brian your comment ie: social media matters is key. I have never said Klout scores matter or that Klout is the all end and be all. It's a futuristic piece and I do believe what others believe or say about you on social media will matter more than it does today although tell that to companies or individuals that are currently scandal ridden. How it is measured is another thing!

I will bet anyone above that disagrees $100 US that in two years some corporations will be using an internal application to measure social influence within and outside the company to measure contribution. How they measure it, I could not care less, although employees will.

"other future thought" I will go as far as say that how companies measure an employees influence using this tool will be a key decision factor in how employees choose their future employees.

Thanks for all the comments, this is what makes a healthy conversation, disagreements and all.

Comment by Nate Fischer on November 11, 2011 at 9:34am: I could bet, and I would lose. I'm sure that corporations will use something; however, I don't believe it a pertinent figure for most. Maybe people in marketing, maybe some in sales or communication. But what does a Java Programmer need a klout or some other similar score for, its a pointless metric for some.

Comment by Brian K. Johnston on November 11, 2011 at 12:39pm: @francois your on correct path (thought process/long term "vision") in my view... SM is a serious "game changer" if you leverage correctly... I have a Wife, Two Kids, a Dog/Cat to feed :) (In Southern, CA no less $$$)... So, I would not be wasting my time, unless the ROI was/will be their down road...

Comment by Jerry Albright on November 11, 2011 at 12:48pm: Very few things count in recruiting. I'll share one of my all time favorites in the "important" category:

Presentations: This means - someone (hopefully qualified to buy) considering what you have to sell.

If your reach, visibility, Klout score, traffic, Fan Page, Followers list, and any other new fangled number being pushed on us today INCREASES your daily (yes - DAILY) number of presentations - then stick with it. If not - well then, I guess you could just "hope" that the future will change all that for you.

Not sure this belongs in this discussion - but it's close enough for government work. ;)