Just about all businesses (98%) believe that performance management is a critical function. Yet, only 64% of business managers say that they have an effective performance management process.
A bad performance management process has the power to disengage and demotivate employees. That’s the exact opposite of what you want to have to happen in your business.
The mystery for most managers is figuring out how to improve performance management. If you can get this down, you can transform your business.
Fortunately, you’re in the right place to find out how to get the most out of your employees. Keep reading to learn the top tips to improve performance management and put a performance management process in place.
Performance Management Isn’t Micromanagement
There’s a bit of confusion among managers as to what performance management means. Performance management is the process to set employee goals and make sure the goals get met.
The goals are aligned with company goals. The thought is that if employees meet their targets, the company will hit its targets.
Performance management isn’t to get confused with micromanagement.
One of the reasons why performance management turns off employees is because they’re micromanaged. If you want to improve performance management, you have to find ways to empower employees.
This is done through trust and open communications between you and your employees.
Develop the Performance Management Plan
Performance management doesn’t happen on its own. It should be a systematic process. That gives you and your employees clarity around expectations and how to meet them.
The performance management plan needs to be clear and concise. You should address the purpose of the plan at the very beginning.
Ask yourself how the execution of performance management integrates with day-to-day job responsibilities. You don’t want to have a performance management plan that requires a million meetings.
That takes away time from employees. They won’t get anything done, so you need to create a plan that revolves around them.
Now think of the link between employees and the company reaching its objectives. There should be a line to demonstrate how an employee’s actions translate into positive results for the organization.
How will you reward employees for good work? You don’t have to break the bank on this, just know in advance how you’ll show your appreciation for employees.
Personal Goals and Professional Goals Go Hand in Hand
You’ll sit with each employee and develop performance management goals. You can use different frameworks to set goals, whether you use key performance indicators (KPIs), objectives and key results (OKRs), or SMART goals.
No matter which framework you choose, you need to get your employees excited about their goals. It’s hard to do because many employees are engaged but they don’t feel a sense of ownership when they see the results.
You can give them a sense of ownership by making their goals personal. There’s a point where the company’s goals align with an employee’s personal goals.
Your job is to discover where that point is.
Managers don’t like to learn about an employee’s ambitions because they find it threatening. Employees often want to move up in the company. That often means taking your job.
Managers fear that if they invest in an employee’s personal goals, they’ll end up leaving the company anyway. That may be true, but you’ll have an engaged and dedicated employee for the time being.
Employees will be more motivated and feel a sense of ownership when they have their own goals and ambitions to think about.
Give Clear Feedback
The communication loop between you and your employee is the most important part of performance management.
There’s a balance between driving your employees to do better and being so negative they won’t bother to try anymore.
Always start with at least three positive things the employee does. Then move on to the opportunities to improve.
Have a Formal Review Process
A formal performance management review process is useful for managers and employees.
Managers know how to grade employees on their work. Employees will know what’s expected of them.
Keep in mind that when you set up the review process, employees will focus on things that result in better scores.
Use Business Intelligence Tools
Business intelligence tools collect all kinds of data for managers. They can see company performance, department performance, and company financials.
There are business intelligence tools used by human resources departments to measure the effectiveness of their policies.
Managers and supervisors can use this type of software to track employee performance. Clear Review, mesh.ai, and Lattice are a few performance management software tools to consider.
Make sure that the software suite you choose integrates with your current platforms. You want the tool to make it easy to manage each step of the employee management process.
It should also align with the framework of your goals. Not every performance management tool uses OKRs or KPIs.
Make Everyone a Leader
The best business managers bring their employees into the conversation when there’s a big decision to get made.
This type of inclusive leadership is beneficial to everyone. Employees feel valued and heard.
That makes them more engaged and productive. That turns into better results for your company.
Inclusive leaders share traits like courage, collaboration, and curiosity. It allows you to challenge what is and gain knowledge from different perspectives.
Everyone on your team becomes stronger because of it.
How to Improve Performance Management
Having an effective performance management process allows you and your employees to exceed expectations. You can improve performance management just by creating a process that’s clear, concise, and sets the right expectations.
You get to empower employees in the process. This makes them more engaged and productive. Everyone will hit their performance management goals.
For more business management tips, be sure to visit the business section of this site.
Be First to Comment