Eight Tips for Performance Management Success
Monday, 09/18/2006
Performance management is often called the most important element of talent management.
Performance management is often called the most important element of talent management. If the organization is not able to provide feedback and help the workforce improve and grow many believe everything else that is included in the strategy for workforce performance improvement will be wasted.
The Eight Performance Management Tips
If your organization is engaged in getting more from performance management, here are some tips that are sure fire ways to get a better performance management result:
1. Define "Performance" Clearly. Whatīs performance in your organization? How do you want to judge the performance of your employees? This may depend on what you are going to do with the results of performance management. Some choices are identification of development and training needs, eligibility for promotion and transfer, pay adjustments, incentive awards, eligibility for new temporary assignments, and the like. Are you going to pay for only objective performance that is quantitative? Sales? Costs? Quality and accuracy? Customer care?
2. Engage Managers in Helping You Improve Present Practices. Managers will become more involved in performance management if they have input into how the process works. Have them involved in the performance management process and part of the solution your organization delivers. Managers can help you make the program more workable and meaningful to them and employees as well as the organization.
3. Customize to Your Organization. Now, organizations are different. The messages about performance will differ from organization to organization. Itīs not a one-size-fits-all situation, and you must match the solution to where your organization is now, where it wants to go, and how managers and employees feel about performance management. The solution needs to be owned by your organization. Itīs great to have a solution that has a track record of success, but your organization most certainly will have different results with the same solution than will other organizations.
4. Provide Role Models. Performance management needs examples and sponsors. And those who sponsor performance management must be involved in the process. The most senior executive needs Board review. This executive must review the performance of direct reports. The performance management process must cascade from top to bottom. The person who is the champion of performance management must be a user and customer of performance management. The measures and goals need to cascade from the top of the organization to the bottom. Leaders need to use the process on their managers, and managers must have experience with the measurement process.
5. Update and Post Performance Goals as Directions Change. Make sure performance management forms donīt stay in the drawer until the end of the year by providing a process to revise and update measures and goals as situations change. Posting organizational, departmental, team and individual goals on department bulletin boards or on your organizationīs Intranet keeps goal achievement at the forefront. People like to track how they are doing, and updating performance progress keeps the focus.
6. Engage Employees in the Performance Management Process. Engage employees through their participation in the process. A self-evaluation before the performance review helps employees get a better perspective of their performance. Employees also increase their ownership in the process by scheduling their performance update sessions that involve discussing progress, resources needed to achieve goals, and development ideas. Encourage employees to take the lead on preparing and implementing development plans.
7. Train Raters and Ratees. Performance management is only as effective as those who apply them are. Itīs a two-way-street to get good performance management. Everyone is a ratee, and many are both raters and ratees. So, you must give people experience on both ends of the process. It takes education on the why and how of performance management. Understanding the measures and criteria to be used, how to use the tools of the process, and perhaps most important experience with the performance management process. Actually doing the performance management is what is critical. Getting feedback and help as the process goes on. Coaching the coaches. Managers who are good at performance management and coaching can help train other managers.
8. Communicate and Coach. If you donīt communicate why this process is used and why it adds value, it wonīt work. And this must be ongoing communications. Not just getting everyone into an auditorium and showing them a slick presentation. Day by day and week after week. Why the measures are important, and how an employee is doing. Where they can improve, and whatīs in it for them if they do. And coaching is critical. The goal of performance management is to improve the performance of the entire organization. It is not just a performance documentation solution; it is a way to provide the information upon which real organizational performance improvement shall occur.
Research on performance management effectiveness suggests that these ten suggestions would save organizations a lot of time during the performance-management repair process. Take a look at your performance management solution and see how it stacks up compared to our suggestions.
From India, Mumbai
49Monday, 09/18/2006
Performance management is often called the most important element of talent management.
Performance management is often called the most important element of talent management. If the organization is not able to provide feedback and help the workforce improve and grow many believe everything else that is included in the strategy for workforce performance improvement will be wasted.
The Eight Performance Management Tips
If your organization is engaged in getting more from performance management, here are some tips that are sure fire ways to get a better performance management result:
1. Define "Performance" Clearly. Whatīs performance in your organization? How do you want to judge the performance of your employees? This may depend on what you are going to do with the results of performance management. Some choices are identification of development and training needs, eligibility for promotion and transfer, pay adjustments, incentive awards, eligibility for new temporary assignments, and the like. Are you going to pay for only objective performance that is quantitative? Sales? Costs? Quality and accuracy? Customer care?
2. Engage Managers in Helping You Improve Present Practices. Managers will become more involved in performance management if they have input into how the process works. Have them involved in the performance management process and part of the solution your organization delivers. Managers can help you make the program more workable and meaningful to them and employees as well as the organization.
3. Customize to Your Organization. Now, organizations are different. The messages about performance will differ from organization to organization. Itīs not a one-size-fits-all situation, and you must match the solution to where your organization is now, where it wants to go, and how managers and employees feel about performance management. The solution needs to be owned by your organization. Itīs great to have a solution that has a track record of success, but your organization most certainly will have different results with the same solution than will other organizations.
4. Provide Role Models. Performance management needs examples and sponsors. And those who sponsor performance management must be involved in the process. The most senior executive needs Board review. This executive must review the performance of direct reports. The performance management process must cascade from top to bottom. The person who is the champion of performance management must be a user and customer of performance management. The measures and goals need to cascade from the top of the organization to the bottom. Leaders need to use the process on their managers, and managers must have experience with the measurement process.
5. Update and Post Performance Goals as Directions Change. Make sure performance management forms donīt stay in the drawer until the end of the year by providing a process to revise and update measures and goals as situations change. Posting organizational, departmental, team and individual goals on department bulletin boards or on your organizationīs Intranet keeps goal achievement at the forefront. People like to track how they are doing, and updating performance progress keeps the focus.
6. Engage Employees in the Performance Management Process. Engage employees through their participation in the process. A self-evaluation before the performance review helps employees get a better perspective of their performance. Employees also increase their ownership in the process by scheduling their performance update sessions that involve discussing progress, resources needed to achieve goals, and development ideas. Encourage employees to take the lead on preparing and implementing development plans.
7. Train Raters and Ratees. Performance management is only as effective as those who apply them are. Itīs a two-way-street to get good performance management. Everyone is a ratee, and many are both raters and ratees. So, you must give people experience on both ends of the process. It takes education on the why and how of performance management. Understanding the measures and criteria to be used, how to use the tools of the process, and perhaps most important experience with the performance management process. Actually doing the performance management is what is critical. Getting feedback and help as the process goes on. Coaching the coaches. Managers who are good at performance management and coaching can help train other managers.
8. Communicate and Coach. If you donīt communicate why this process is used and why it adds value, it wonīt work. And this must be ongoing communications. Not just getting everyone into an auditorium and showing them a slick presentation. Day by day and week after week. Why the measures are important, and how an employee is doing. Where they can improve, and whatīs in it for them if they do. And coaching is critical. The goal of performance management is to improve the performance of the entire organization. It is not just a performance documentation solution; it is a way to provide the information upon which real organizational performance improvement shall occur.
Research on performance management effectiveness suggests that these ten suggestions would save organizations a lot of time during the performance-management repair process. Take a look at your performance management solution and see how it stacks up compared to our suggestions.
From India, Mumbai
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