Performance Management

Keeping Employees Motivated To Perform

Giving feedback to employees is important so that they understand how they are performing. Without it they won’t know where they can improve or just as important, what they should continue to do well. Performance Management is crucial in a working environment.

This is not simply providing an annual review for each employee. It should not be a one day in the year affair. It is about coaching, mentoring, feedback, evaluation, setting objectives and Using the SMART Principle. It is about working together with the employee to identify strengths and weaknesses in their performance and how to help them be a more productive and effective worker. We should be showing the employees areas they are good at, and where improvements are needed. EMDS Can: Come to you, and Evaluate your current performance appraisal process, audit your feedback and coaching processes – Identify organisational goals – Set performance expectations – Monitor employee performance throughout the year – Evaluate performance – Look at rewards, and also Set new performance expectations for the next year.

Performance management has a significant role to play in enhancing organisational success, by ensuring that all individuals understand their expected contribution to business objectives and are motivated and equipped with the skills and support to achieve this. A good process drives engagement through continuous conversations about mutual expectations throughout the organisation. What we measure, we improve! This makes a lot of sense when considered carefully. It gives senior managers and supervisors an opportunity to reinforce organisational purpose and link objectives at organisational, department and individual levels. It also enables individuals to identify and communicate their development needs and aspirations, and to give feedback on how they would like to be managed. This ensures and brings a two way dialogue that leads to ownership and involvement.

The debate around performance management has centred on the small – albeit important – aspect of performance appraisal. While the way performance conversations are carried out is important, it’s critical that organisations continue to challenge their existing assumptions on what performance management processes aim to achieve. The approach should reflect the objectives and culture of a specific organisation, rather than emulating a generic or commonly accepted method of reviewing performance. Central to the successful introduction and application of performance management is the ability of individuals and line managers to have open and meaningful conversations about objectives and development needs with a focus on organisation vision and strategy, rather than the distribution of performance ratings and pay.

When an employee joins your business, it’s essential during the first few months to monitor their progress, provide feedback and training to ensure your investment in them proves worthwhile. The same principle should also apply to your existing employees so that they have an opportunity to discuss their roles, aspirations, training needs and areas where they need to improve performance or develop new skills. The easiest way to hold these discussions is through performance appraisals. We can work with you to develop a performance appraisal process that meets the needs of your business. This can include developing the process and documentation, training managers in the process and even being part of the meetings if you prefer.