The Importance of Consistent Performance Management
Performance management is not a one-off occurrence but instead an all year-round process – managers need to reconsider their methods of appraising their team members and ensuring that this is an ongoing process rather than an annual ‘tick box’ activity.
Organisations should be continually reviewing their performance management process to ensure it adds value to employees and the business. It is important to consider whether it supports the manager – employee relationship and whether it offers context to employees about the work they do and its impact?
Below are some suggestions for organisations in how to transform a performance management process into a meaningful and collaborative activity.
Keep performance records
Keeping a log or records will allow you to refer to milestones, accomplishments, successes and challenges as they occur which will in turn assist you with setting future goals and objectives.
Examine progression of objectives and goals
Goals should be reviewed on a regular basis. These need to remain appropriate and relevant to ensure that they are still achievable. A lot can change throughout a year therefore it is important to ensure that both managers and employees are happy with current objectives and goals and what they mean.
Provide continuing development and mentoring
Employee development should not be addressed once a year. Development activities should be allocated to employees throughout the year to ensure continuing growth and improvement. Regular update meetings between managers and employees will allow these conversations to take place.
Communicate the value of ongoing performance management
It is imperative to continually remind employees to make notes on their performance and update the status of their goals and development activities. Employees should be educated on the relevance of performance reviews and what they mean for them as this will encourage them to continuously be aware of their own personal development.
Toolkit for managers
It is essential to provide leadership training, tools and resources to support managers in providing ongoing coaching. It is important to have a system to enable tracking feedback, goal progress and development activities at regular intervals.
Businesses need to work dynamically to remove the ‘fear factor’ when it comes to performance management by providing employees with ongoing coaching and feedback. This will help build and underpin a dependable relationship between a manager and employee which is a crucial step for driving employee engagement and encouraging high performance. This doesn’t just mean setting up one to one meetings but going beyond that and setting context to what the discussions should look like. These sessions should include elements such as tracking and co-operating on goals and objectives, exchanging meaningful feedback and discussing career development opportunities.
