Performance Management - Getting The Most Out of Your Employees

Managing for Best Performance

In it's simplest form, performance management is a common sense set of discussions that make sure people are clear about what they need to do, have the support to do it and get open and honest feedback on their performance.

Any performance management process should answer 4 important questions for your employees:

· Direction: What do I need to do and how well?
· Feedback: How am I doing?
· Rewards: What happens when I do well?
· Support/Development: What happens when I need/want help?

Lets look more closely at each of these:

Direction

Employees are not mind readers. Just because it is clear to the manager exactly what is expected, doesn't mean the employee has the same understanding. Having a detailed discussion about exactly what the job requires and any specific priorities is the first step in good performance management. Key points to cover include:

- what needs to be achieved throughout the year

- what data or information (evidence) will be used to measure performance

- the key actions needed to achieve the desired outcomes

Both parties should have a written record of this discussion either in the form of a job description or a set of specific objectives for the next 6 or 12 months. Written documentation leaves little room for misunderstandings or confusion between manager and employee about the expectations of the job.

Feedback

Observing the performance of your employees and providing feedback about it should be a routine part of the performance management process. Feedback is most effective in making a difference in work performance when the employee has confidence in the basis of that feedback. And you as the manager will be more confident if your feedback is based on information that you can support.

For this reason the most useful feedback should be based on observed and/or verifiable work-related behaviors, actions, statements, and results. If you can provide specific examples of good and "not so good" performance, your employees will be confident that you have taken time to notice what they are doing and sincerely support them in improving. This kind of effective feedback helps the employee sustain good performance, to develop new skills and to improve performance when necessary. Feedback should be given as it is required ? it loses effectiveness if not delivered at the time an event occurs.

Reward/Recognition

All employees need to have a clear understanding of how the reward and recognition system operates in your business. Most probably everyone gets paid a salary for doing their job to a certain level. What happens when an employee performs significantly above that level? How will they be rewarded, if at all? If there is no incentive for employees to be outstanding, then the likelihood is that they won't put in the extra effort. A well designed scheme will clearly identify the rewards and incentives available for strong or outstanding performance.

Support and Development

This aspect of managing performance focuses on current and future skills, behaviours and knowledge. Firstly, the discussion should focus on what training or other support the employee needs to be the best in their current job - identifying skills and behaviours that need to be improved. If you can support the employee in doing their job better, they will have reassurance that their contribution is valued by the business. The discussion should also focus on where the employee would like to go in the future and how you can help them achieve their longer term career goals. If they are being considered for other roles in the business then you will need to identify what new skills and behaviours they need and help them to develop those.

If you are managing people, then people management activities need to take up the majority of your time. Each business can only be as effective as the people that work in it. One of the best ways to ensure your employees are being effective is to monitor and provide feedback on their performance. Setting goals, making sure your expectations are clear, and having regular discussions will help people perform to their best. The payoff for the business is increased employee productivity, knowledge, loyalty and contribution.

Megan Tough - published writer, coach, facilitator and speaker - works with business professionals to create outstandingly satisfying and truly successful professional lives. Make more money - have more fun! To learn more and to sign up for more FREE tips and articles like these, visit http://www.megantough.com

---

Where Else in Your Business Do You Accept a 60% Failure Rate?

I recently surveyed CEOs and Business Leaders of large companies... Read More

The Dark Side of Help Desk SLAs

You just signed a Help Desk Service Level Agreement (SLA)... Read More

Performance Management Made Easy

Performance Management is a process that both employer and employee... Read More

Medical Collection. How Organized is Your Office?

At one time or another, all of us have experienced... Read More

Unveiling the Value of Your Expertise

All of us have knowledge, expertise, and experience that others... Read More

Spirits in the Corporate Boardroom.......Oh, sure......

There is a growing movement in the spiritual... Read More

Manage Your Business from the Rockies, not the Prairies

The day job as a manager is all about managing... Read More

New Leadership For A New War

Military analysts call this "asymmetrical" war (as if war has... Read More

Jewelry Use by Employees

Many companies have dress codes, which include jewelry. Some companies... Read More

Change Management

"It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the... Read More

Recruitment - Do You Know What Youre Looking For?

The time will come when you'll need to interview someone... Read More

Business Innovation ? the Value of Structure

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Rethinking Workplace Security: How the Rules Have Changed

The workplace has traditionally been a dangerous place. Very early... Read More

Problem-Solving Success Tip: Test Your Assumptions About Everything

Test your assumptions about everything.Assumptions have a way of creeping... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management: The Value Of Due Diligence

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

5 Steps to Identify Core Processes

Part Two of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesNext Week: ImplementationLast week,... Read More

Why Management Kills Creativity

Ten or so years ago, an international consultant, specializing in... Read More

Change or Die! To Change Your Organization, Hire a Business Coach

It is a common business axiom ? change or die.... Read More

Retaining An Expert -- What Every Business Owner Needs To Know

As an entrepreneur, hiring an expert can be one of... Read More

The Three-Dimensional Communication System

Human communication is always three-dimensional. No spoken or written message... Read More

Lateral Thinking, Logical Thinking, Applied Creativity

Certain processes enhance creative output and others enhance innovative output.... Read More

Are You Measuring Something Meaningful?

Avoiding inert measures that anaesthetise your performance management.INTRODUCTIONYou sit before... Read More

Effective Email Communication

Email, when used properly, can generate additional direct sales and... Read More

Got A Meeting Planned? Ask This Question

Meetings ? they are a fact of our business lives.... Read More

Provisioning/User Management System Upgrades: Part II ? Building Awareness And Building Approval

Somewhere in the world is a person who wants to... Read More

Communication, Feedback, and Participation: Three Easy Tidbits For Smarter Business

On communication: One of the biggest strains on the communication... Read More

How to Fire an Employee

One of the most difficult tasks you will face as... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: A New Managers Tale

This article relates to the Manager/Supervisor competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More

Where Businesses Fall Short

1. No vision. Successful businesses have a clear vision or... Read More

The Significance of the Mundane

This article begins with a tip of the hat to... Read More

Collaboration: 3 Keys to Keeping Your Documents from Getting Lost in the Shuffle

Often, collaborating documents in a team or in a business... Read More

The Punitive Approach to Marginal Performers

MANAGING A MARGINAL PERFORMER: Often a marginal performer, even after... Read More

Involving People Gave Us the Improvements We Needed

We had a problem with handling materials in a production... Read More