PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

DEFINITIONS

 Performance management is a communication process by which managers and

employees work together to plan, monitor and review an employee’s work
objectives and overall contribution to the organization.
 performance management is the continuous process of setting objectives,
assessing progress and providing ongoing coaching and feedback to ensure
that employees are meeting their objectives and career goals.
 Performance management is a continuous process of planning, coaching and
reviewing employee performance.
 Performance management is defined as the process of continuous
communication and feedback between a manager and employee towards
the achievement of organizational objectives.
 IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT
 It Provides a Look into the Future
By consistently monitoring and managing workplace performance, leaders can
see potential future problems. Like with any type of issue, early detection is key.
The earlier problems are confronted the less effect that they will likely have.
 Helps Create Development and Training Strategies
As mentioned above, the earlier a problem is detected, the better. One of these
problems could be that employees do not know how to perform certain processes
correctly. If this continues, the organization might fall apart due to oversight.
However, with performance management, this would probably be detected. The
organization could then create training programs to change the issue into an
opportunity for improvement.
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 Provides Clarity in the Organization

t is a common problem that many employees are unsure of what exactly their
role entails, what is expected of them, and who they are to report to. Through
performance management, the company can make all of this very clear.
 Provides the Opportunity for Exchanging Feedback
A lack of communication in a relationship is grounds for trouble, and this includes
working relationships. Quite often, management speaks to employees about their
performance, but employees do not very often get a chance to voice concerns or
frustrations. Effective performance management provides an avenue through
which both the employer and the employee exchange feedback.
 Increases Employee Retention
Performance management also encourages organizations to reward and recognize
their employees.
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Lack of recognition is a big reason some employees leave a job and look for
another. They want to be appreciated for their hard work. In addition to the
clarity, the ability to share feedback, and the additional training when needed,
rewards and recognition can play an important role in employee retention.
 Boosts Employee Engagement
Performance management, when it truly involves employees, will boost
employee engagement. When there is a disconnect between management and
employees, it is almost as though employees are just going through the motions
of the day. Their position becomes merely a job as opposed to a rewarding
career. However, performance management has the capability of engaging
employees fully and making them feel invested in the company.
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 It encourages employee recognition and reward

Most businesses tend to neglect the importance of recognizing and rewarding
their employees.
Doing that can be greatly disastrous to your organization. recognition and reward
lead to higher staff retention, with half also attributing better motivation to
giving incentives.
Effective recognition and reward systems can only work in organizations where
there is a visible and accurate process of discussions and performance feedback.
With continuous performance management, the management can identify efforts
and activities worthy of encouragement and reward. Consequently, this drives a
development mindset among members of your team.
CONT’D
 It helps in boosting employee productivity and engagement
One remarkable benefit of an engaged workforce is that they stay longer,
actively contribute to the company, and deliver better results. Performance
management typically creates an ongoing interaction and an atmosphere of
encouragement, support, and trust.
 Helps to enforce goal setting and achievement
Thus, performance management will help in business and executive goal setting.
Aligning the whole of your teams with higher organizational goals sets
conspicuous priorities and direction, ensuring that individuals have a beneficial
sense of ownership in the business via personal objectives.
 It offers mentoring for increasing performance
The ultimate aim of performance management is to improve performance. It will
help managers to devise ways through which they can increase performance
while providing the opportunity to talk about career prospects and direction.
 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
CYCLE
The performance management process or cycle is a series of four key steps.
These steps are imperative, regardless of how often you review employee
performance.
1. Planning
This stage entails setting employees’ goals
and communicating these goals with them.
Depending on the performance management
process in your organization, you may want to
assign a percentage to each of these goals to
be able to evaluate their achievement.
CONT’D
The planning process:
1. Review the employee’s job description to determine if it reflects the work that the
employee is currently doing.
2. Identify and review the links between the employee’s job description, his or her
work plan, and the organization’s goals, objectives and strategic plan.
3. Develop a work plan that outlines the tasks or deliverables to be completed, the
expected results and the measures or standards that will be used to evaluate
performance.
4. Identify critical areas that will be key performance objectives for the year.
5. Identify training objectives that will help the employee grow his or her skills,
knowledge and competencies related to the work.
6. Identify career development objectives that can be part of longer-term career
planning.
Objectives should be smart: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time
based.
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2. Monitoring
In this phase, managers are required to
monitor the employees performance on the
goal. This is where continuous performance
management comes into the picture. With
the right performance management software,
you can track your teams performance in
real-time and modify and correct course
whenever required. hen dealing with highly
educated professionals, it is important to
focus on whether the goal is achieved instead
of how it is achieved

CONT’D

A manager should stay away from micromanagement and determining exactly

how this goal has to be achieved. Good management practices are key when it
comes to effective monitoring.
3. Developing
Development plays a key role in improving
performance. As a result of active
monitoring, areas of improvement can be
identified. This can be underperformance
that should be corrected or areas of superior
performance in which the employee wants to
excel even further. This can be achieved in
the form of training and development but
also through challenging assignments and
other opportunities for personal and
professional growth.
CONT’D
4. Rating & rewarding
Rating performance is an inevitability to
determine the added value of employees to
the organization. This is usually done during
the employee’s (bi) annual performance
appraisal. In case of continuous subpar
performance, the employee might not be in
the right function or organization, and parties
should say goodbye. In case of superior
performance, the employee should be
recognized for their performance. This can be
through giving them praise, a raise, time off,
recognition items, a promotion, or all of the
above!
 PROVIDING FEEDBACK

Feedback is specific information provided to the employee that communicates

how the employee’s behavior is affecting the workplace. Feedback can be
factual (based on observations of the employee’s behavior and its resulting
consequences) or emotional (based on how other people react to the employee’s
behavior). Ideally, both types of feedback should be shared with the employee in
a feedback meeting.
Positive feedback involves telling an employee about good performance. Make
this type of feedback timely, specific, and frequent as recognition for effective
performance is a powerful motivator.
Constructive feedback alerts an employee to areas in need of improvement.
Feedback should be descriptive, detailed, and focused on the action, not the
person. The main purpose is to help people understand where they stand in
relation to the expected performance and behaviors.
CONT’D
If an employee is not meeting performance expectations, managers need to provide
constructive and honest feedback. It’s important to do this before an issue escalates
into a significant problem.
Consider the following points when providing feedback:
Prepare and State the Facts
 Consider the issue(s) you want to address in the meeting and confirm the facts of
the performance or behavior problem.
 Select a meeting location that provides privacy and minimal interruptions.
 Approach the discussion calmly with objectivity and clarity.
 Speak in a non-threatening tone.
 Describe performance or behavior issues in an objective, factual, and
nonjudgmental fashion.
 Provide specific examples.
CONT’D

 Identify the impact the employee’s actions/behaviors have on coworkers or

the organization as a whole.
 Example:
“You are always late.”: This statement is general and judgmental. It does not
address the performance issue effectively.
“You were late 3 times last week. When you arrived late for the staff meeting,
you missed an important discussion about our new fundraising campaign.”: This
statement is factual and specifically addresses the performance issue and the
impact of being late.
CONT’D
Listen
 Have the employee describe the situation from their perspective and provide
an explanation. Be open to any new insights that might be relevant to the
issue.
 Respond to denial, blaming of others, etc., by restating factual information
and the effects of the performance or behavior issue on co-workers or the
organization.
Agree on an Action Plan
 Ask the employee to suggest a plan that addresses the issue and offer your
suggestions when necessary.
 Agree on a specific plan of action that details the steps the employee must
take toward improvement, the plan to implement change and the agreed
upon time frame for completing the action plan.
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 Document the action plan and keep it in the employee’s performance

management file. If the plan also serves as a type of formal discipline, it must
be placed in the employee’s personnel file as well.
 Specify the consequences to the employee if the performance/ behavior issue
is not resolved.
 REVIEWING PHASE

The performance assessment or appraisal meeting is an opportunity to review,

summarize and highlight the employee’s performance over the course of the
review period.
Self-assessment is a standard part of most performance appraisals. By using the
performance plan and assessment form as a guide, employees can evaluate their
performance in preparation for the appraisal meeting. This process can help
identify gaps between the employee’s self-perceptions and the manager’s views
and facilitate an in-depth discussion of performance issues.
Managers should review their performance management notes and other
documentation generated throughout the year in order to more effectively assess
the employee’s performance.
CONT’D

Only issues that have previously been discussed with the employee should be part
of the assessment documentation and meeting. This helps ensure managers
address performance issues as they arise and assures the employee there will be
no surprises during the performance assessment meeting.
 Summarize the work accomplished relative to the goals set at the beginning
of the performance period. This includes capturing key results,
accomplishments and shortfalls for each objective.
 Document challenges encountered during the year and identify areas for
training and/or development.
 Identify and discuss any unforeseen barriers to the achievement of the
objectives.
CONT’D

Avoid Rate Bias

Our judgments about many things are affected by our perception. When a person
evaluates someone else, his or her evaluation reflects not only the person being
assessed but also their own built-in biases. Managers should be aware of their
possible evaluation biases so they can work to eliminate them from the
assessment process. Managers should be aware of the following biases:
Halo, horns, central tendency, leniency bias/strictness bias, and same-as me,
Question:

What are Halo and same-as me biases?