Performance Management

 What is Performance Management?

Performance management is an ongoing process of communication between a supervisor and an employee that occurs throughout the year, in support of accomplishing the strategic objectives of the organization. The communication process includes clarifying expectations, setting objectives, identifying goals, providing feedback, and reviewing results.(UC Berkeley)

Six Steps to Effective Performance Management.

1) Commitment from the top

Performance management is for everyone in the organization. The minute it looks like senior managers are somehow ‘exempt’ from the process or are not interested in the outcomes, the process will lose credibility.

To prevent this it is essential that managers lead by example and go through the process themselves. They should also be held accountable for leading the process with their employees. A simple way of doing this is to include effective performance management as one of their objectives.

2) Clear objectives

Objectives should describe desired outcomes rather than tasks. Tasks are the way in which you achieve the outcome and may change whereas the outcomes remain unchanged unless the business priorities shift. Let us explore this in more detail. If I ask you to sweep the floor, dust the surfaces and clean the windows of a room, I am giving you a list of tasks. However if I ask you to clean the room so that all surfaces are free of dirt, I have described an outcome and you would then complete the previously described tasks in order to achieve that outcome. Outcome language is important because it explains what the desired future state is.

3) Balanced feedback

Feedback is essential information that tells the performer what to do more of or less of in order to improve their performance. To have the desired impact on performance it should be given immediately or as close to the situation that warrants feedback as possible. It should NOT be stored up during the course of the year and presented as evidence for a poor performance rating. Not only is this demotivating for the employee, it also represents a list of missed opportunities for performance improvement as well as missed opportunities for reinforcing good behavior.

4) Regular progress reviews

Any activity considered important will be reviewed in order to ensure that it happens. Imagine managing a project without review meetings? How do you know that you are still on track a few months down the line? How do you take into account changes in priorities? How do you know what progress has been made? What support will you need and when? For the same reasons, employee objectives and development plans must be reviewed on a regular basis.

5) Development plans

Part of improving performance is establishing where the shortfall is and finding a way to close the gap. Not only that, but you might be expecting employees to take on greater responsibility or new tasks (perhaps the job has changed or new technology has been implemented). Their performance reflects on you and it is logical that you would put a development plan in place to ensure that they are able to cope with the new challenges. Longer-term development goals not only increase employee motivation but also make good business sense, as it is more cost effective to grow your own skills rather than recruiting them in.

6) Capable managers

The best process will fail if managers do not have the skills to have effective performance management discussions. A productive discussion where employees feel listened to and part of the process will encourage employees and spur them on to achieve their objectives and more. On the other hand an inadequate discussion where employees feel ignored and treated unfairly will demotivate them and at worst persuade them that there is nowhere else for them to turn leading to resignations and high cost turnover.

(Gary Watkins. May 23, 2013)

CONCLUSION

Performance management is a corporate management tool that helps managers monitor and evaluate employees' work. Performance management's goal is to create an environment where people can perform to the best of their abilities to produce the highest-quality work most efficiently and.

References

UC Berkley. Available at https://hr.berkeley.edu/hr-network/central-guide-managing-hr/managing-hr/managing-successfully/performance-management/concepts

Gary Watkins. Available at http://www.workinfo.org/index.php/articles/item/573-six-steps-to-effective-performance-management