Performance Management

Performance management plays a significant role in the effective management of your employees and the growth of your business.

Whether you are a HR professional, manage a team, or own a business, understanding performance management and knowing how to implement it will be beneficial for business success! And did you know that there’s performance management software making it significantly easier to implement?

In this article, we explore the key elements of performance management and provide our best practice tips for implementing an effective performance management process.

What is performance management in the workplace?

Performance management is an ongoing process within human resource management (HRM), overseeing, reviewing, and rewarding the performance of employees.

Contributing towards the achievement of individual and shared company goals.

The key elements of a performance management process include:

• Planning

• Reviewing employee performance

• Setting goals

• Tracking progress

• Recognizing and rewarding development

These steps make up the performance management cycle—a continuous improvement process. Used to improve performance throughout an employee’s career.

The purpose of performance management

The purpose of a performance management process is to improve the performance and output of work of all employees. This applies to all members of a team, from junior staff to senior managers.

Who is responsible for overseeing staff performance? 

It’s the responsibility of leaders and HR professionals to manage and implement these processes. Giving staff an opportunity to take control of their performance, supported by strategies and tools to achieve their goals and to track their progress.

How to measure the performance of staff

With some employees it’ll be easier to measure their performance than others. While sales team members can be assessed on their numerical targets, it may be more difficult to measure a credit controller’s performance, for example.

This is where individual employee goal setting and performance reviews come in. Managers have a responsibility to discuss objectives with each member of their team, providing unique goals based on their specific role and their link back to the company’s targets.  

Creating a performance management process

To create an effective strategy for managing performance, you need to implement thorough practices and processes.

Good performance management processes will:

• Prioritize open and honest communication

• Make time for employees

• Focus on continuous improvement and employee development

• Treat performance management as more than just a “check-box” activity 

Strategies and tools for employee performance management

There’s a range of tools and strategies you can use to implement a performance management cycle:  

Employee appraisals and one to one meetings

Open discussion with your employees is the best way to understand how they are performing. Regular employee appraisals and one to one meetings between employee and manager allows for conversation away from other team members. These types of meetings give the employee an opportunity to discuss their performance and progress in confidence.

SMART goals and objectives

In these meetings you can provide goals and objectives for an employee to work towards. Providing actionable steps they can follow to improve their performance.

SMART goals are commonly used by businesses as they are:

• Specific

• Measurable

• Achievable

• Relevant

• Time-bound

SMART goals will make your performance management processes easy to follow. Offering clear, measurable objectives that can be tracked according to an agreed timeframe.

Training for your employees

When a SMART goal has been decided, the relevant resources and support should be made accessible. Giving the employee every possible chance to achieve their goals.

Training courses and programs may be required for them to improve their work output and overall performance.

Proper training of managers will also have significant impact on the outcomes of HRM processes. Managers should be trained to give and receive feedback as well as learn how to hold structured meetings with team members.  

Performance development plans

As part of the performance management process, various formal documents can be used to keep record of discussions and agreements made between you and your employees.

A performance development plan (PDP) provides a framework an employee can follow to make sure that they are working towards their goals and improving their performance.

Performance improvement plans

Where a staff member may be underperforming or not able to achieve their goals, a performance improvement plan (PIP) can be used. This is a formal written document which outlines a step-by-step process for employees who need to remedy issues within their work and address concerns raised by managers.

PIPs are usually used when verbal warnings have already been given.

Performance management software

To take an efficient and structured approach to performance management, many businesses use the innovative tool of performance management software. A digital solution which helps to streamline and strengthen the management of employee performance. 

Benefits of performance management

Performance management in the workplace can provide many benefits. Below are some standout benefits to give you even more reason to implement performance management measures.  

Greater employee performance

Of course, the main purpose of performance management is to improve employee performance. By doing so your entire company, from wider teams, business managers, and stakeholders, will notice the positive effects.

Better communication between employees and managers

Better communication helps to support working relationships. Allowing for greater teamwork, collaboration, and productivity.

Enhanced employee engagement

Involving your employees within the process improves employee engagement rates, which in turn creates a positive workplace culture, higher rates of employee productivity, and a contribution towards company growth.

Greater rates of employee retention

Performance management helps to create a greater working environment and provides employees with a sense of ownership and belonging. Ultimately this process will contribute to higher rates of employee retention.

Identification of top talent

By reviewing the performance of each individual employee, you will gain a better understanding of who is performing well. Providing you with an opportunity to give recognition and praise to these members of the team.

Reduction of micromanagement

Micromanagement is rarely a good practice. It can damage trust, reduce motivation and productivity, and ultimately lead to higher rates of employee turnover.

Implementing performance management measures, giving employees greater ownership of their performance, will allow you to step away and spend less time checking in on their daily progress.  

Employees have clear goals

The structure of performance management processes means that employees will have clear goals to work towards. Giving them a greater purpose within their role and actionable steps to take to improve their work.

Contribute to a greater understanding of business objectives

During your discussions and when setting SMART goals, you can link these back to a business objective or KPI. Helping to create a sense of responsibility and belonging for the employee within the structure of the organization.

Performance management software

In a digital world, it seems there’s a solution for just about every business process. Performance management is no different. If you are having a hard time dealing with the professional development of your team or have noticed a significant number of staff not achieving their goals, performance management software could be your ideal solution.

• Oversee the progress of employees

• Set goals

• Share employee feedback and reviews

• Recognize and reward

• Review performance metrics

Performance management software is a modern solution to managing the performance of your team. Helping to tackle the challenges businesses have traditionally faced when dealing with performance in the workplace.  

Manage the performance of your employees with support from BrightHR

Encourage the professional development of individual employees and drive the growth of your business. Implement effective processes for the management of your team’s performance.

Thanks to the support of BrightHR, you can manage, review, and monitor performance management at your fingertips. Our HR software makes it easy to gain insight into your team’s performance, removing the need for lengthy processes and pages of paperwork.

Book a demo today to discover how performance management software can benefit your business.