Performance management

Performance management

Today, all the major activities of "Human Resource Partners" are driven towards development of high performance leaders and fostering employee motivation. So, it can be interpreted that the role of HR Partner has evolved from merely an appraiser to a facilitator and an enabler.

Performance management “is one of the most powerful talent management practices we have as HR professionals.” However, “for many of us, performance management fails to live up to its potential, even though there’s a lot of power to it.”

Performance management is the current buzz and is the need in the current times of cut throat competition and the organizational battle for leadership. Performance management is a much broader and a complicated function of Resource Management, as it encompasses activities such as joint goal setting, continuous progress review and frequent communication, feedback and coaching for improved performance, implementation of employee development programs and rewarding achievements.

The label (performance management)comes with a lot of baggage and anxiety,”

Often, there are lofty goals for performance management: to align individual actions with an organization’s mission, to help employees learn and grow, to help improve communication and the relationship between employees and managers, and to improve the performance of individuals and the organization as a whole. Few of these goals are achieved.

For example, if an employer asks an employee to weigh in on their strengths and weaknesses as a way to build skills, and then uses that same information in the employee’s performance review, there is a disincentive for the employee to be honest.

Additionally, organizations often get caught up in approaches to performance management that might not achieve the desired results, such as “SMART” goals (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Time bound), team goals, individual goals, cascaded goals or no goals.

“They take a lot of effort to do and there’s no evidence they necessarily produce value,” Adding that some systems skirt the real challenge of driving high performance in an organization.

Additionally, organizations devote a lot of time to the rating criteria and rating scale, and focus on who rates employees, but they ignore the audience for which such tools are intended. We must urge employers to focus less on the system and more on the people.

Emphasize setting ongoing expectations, providing immediate feedback and having career discussions as a way to drive high performance among employees in your organization, we advise.

High-performance, high-engagement organizations have managers who:

• Make expectations clear.
• Help find solutions to problems.
• Play to employees’ strengths.
• Discuss strengths and development needs.

In order to manage performance day-to-day, we recommend conducting a baseline assessment with employees, managers and peers. Use the assessment to illustrate any gap between what exists and where the organization wants to be. Establish expectations, provide and ask for feedback and provide experiences that develop the employee.

“Even small changes can have a meaningful impact”

 “Find what works for you in the context of your organization … and focus on that.”

If we could suggest:-

• Help people understand the big picture on how an employee’s day-to-day work contributes to the organization’s mission.
• Establish expectations, so employees know what success looks like for them.
• Provide rich, positive, constructive feedback on how employees can improve performance.
• Talk about key behaviors employees demonstrate and the positive or negative impact of those behaviors.
• Provide key experiences to develop employees.

We encouraged organizations to have three critical conversations annually:

• In one conversation, talk with managers about how they communicate and how to improve their ability to hold candid conversations with employees.
• Have a second conversation at the team level that discusses how it works with other teams and how to overcome any barriers.
• Have a third conversation with individual employees focusing on individual achievements over the past year and what needs to happen for growth and development.

Managers may be held accountable through monthly check-ins and/or quarterly pulse surveys on key questions, such as the quality of the employee feedback they receive or how often managers are having key conversations.

Hope this helps!!