All employees, whether it’s a junior level clerk of high-ranking senior official are subjected to one thing in work.
That is, performance management!
When employees are initially hired, they are given a list of responsibilities to undertake, which is normally outlined in their job descriptions. Recruiters look to find the best fit in order to ensure those responsibilities are being executed in the most efficient and professional manner. This is where the importance of an effective performance management system comes in. Performance management systems are put in place to essentially monitor and measure the effectiveness of the human resources within a company.
What is performance management?
Performance management takes a continuous look at the progress of an employee and assesses if they are performing at their optimum level to meet the expectations their job positions require of them. Performance management is therefore a system that constantly reviews and evaluates an employee’s contribution to their company. This system is often performed in stages.
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How performance management works?
The planning stage
When an organisation has a job vacancy, planning has to be performed in order to develop a job description with the duties the company expects the candidate to perform, as well as the type of person needed to fill that role, in terms of education, skills and experience. Performance management starts with building job descriptions, conducting necessary interviews and recruiting suitably qualified candidates to fill the vacancy.
The acting stage
Once a vacancy has been filled, performance objectives have to be set in terms of what tasks is this employee going to do? What sort of on-boarding is necessary in order to effectively train the employee about his/her responsibilities and the culture of the organisation? What are the expectations in terms of work performance and professional development?
The tracking stage
At this point, the employee has been trained and briefed on their job responsibilities. Now, it is essential to track their execution of the daily tasks to determine if they are performing according to expectation, or if their performance is on sub-par with the outlined objectives and further training is required.
The review stage
Once feedback is regularly received and worker’s performance reviewed, it can be determined at this point as to what future action steps can be taken. Reviewing and assessing performance identifies opportunities for rewards, further career development or a re-evaluation of their performance objectives.
Within these stages, there are numerous sub-activities that go into an effective performance management system to measure work output against desired expectation.
What does performance management involve?
Interviewing of potential candidates
Even before candidates successfully acquire the job, they are already being measured based on their performance. Recruiters look at credentials and work experience on the resume. However, the interview provides more critical information. The way a candidate articulates themselves, expresses their opinions, communicates their thoughts and presents themselves are all measured as to whether a candidate is right for a job.
Coaching
Sometimes, depending on the technicality of the job, new employees may have to be coached in order to effectively prepare them for their new role. Performance management systems identify which approach would be most efficient and cost-effective. Common approaches may involve periods of apprenticeship, workshops, training programs or one-on-one coaching with senior employees to teach them about the company’s operations and what is expected of them.
Performance Appraisals
Performance management is not limited to just performance appraisals, but they do constitute a significant part of the process. Appraisals can take the form of periodic, short-term assessments where an employee performance is evaluated against their objectives, or it can be performed on an annual or quarterly basis.
Career development opportunities
Once an employee is a high-performer, managers often discuss potential career opportunities to utilise the skills of that employee most effectively. Performance management systems, therefore, identify opportunities for career growth – job expansion, succession planning, promotions, transfers, compensation and rewards as well as further development for employees.
Exit interviews
When an employee leaves an organisation, it is usually the end of their work life at that organisation. Employers often want to understand why employees leave, particularly if turnover is high. As such, performance management systems oversee these interviews to identify trends in employee turnover and determine possibly reasons and remedies to alleviate this.
Types of performance management systems
With performance management being a continuous and extensive process, there are frequently sub-categories of performance management systems that seek to evaluate specific criteria within an employee’s progress within a company.
General appraisals
This process refers to a collaborative relationship between a manager and employee as to their performance based on key performance indicators (KPIs). The employee’s performance is assessed on those KPIs and the relevant action, rewards or further training is discussed.
360-degree feedback
This process involves feedback on an employee from their colleagues within the workplace. Managers are employing this type of performance management as it allows for a fresh perspective to gauge the performance, as well as other qualitative traits of a team member such as work quality, punctuality and teamwork abilities.
Technological Performance Management
This performance system looks chiefly at the technological competence and contribution of an employee towards their organisation.
Employee Self-Assessment
Employees are also given the opportunity to evaluate their own job performance so as to compare any discrepancies between the manager’s review and that of the employee. This system also allows managers to obtain feedback on the performance objectives and the operations of their company from the employee’s perspective.
Management Performance Appraisal
Managers are also evaluated based on reviews and feedback from both their team and clientele. Apart from measuring performance, this gives the added benefit of gauging the leadership and management abilities of a person in a senior position.
Sales Performance Management
Sales teams consistently have sales targets to meet and therefore are continually assessed on their ability to meet their required targets, as well as other criteria such as client relationship management, product knowledge and quality of customer care.
