Can universities do better? A people based approach to digital performance management

Managers in UK universities increasingly use digitally generated performance management and measurement systems to monitor and benchmark teaching, research and administration. Digital platforms are used to collect, maintain and manage an immense amount of data about academics, students and managers, for example Heidi-Plus and HESA Benchmarking. The danger is, of course, that once the system of extraction, analysis and control of data becomes seen as normal its use could become coercive, adding more stress and strain than before. It is one thing for key performance measures to be discussed in an annual review, another for them to be continually updated and monitored on dashboards. This might work in a sales environment, say, but has potential unintended consequences in an educational environment.