“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” - Henry Ford
Having a consistent and effective performance management system is the backbone of any successful company. However, not every company has the right tools in place to ensure that their performance management processes are up-to date and truly helpful in achieving the overall organizational goals. One of the reasons, why so many companies get this crucial operational aspect wrong, is because they often do not have a system that truly measures performance in its entirety and rather, relies on arbitrary metrics. Therefore, before incorporating a performance management system into your organization, it is important to understand what it actually entails.
Performance management is the process of establishing, with clarity, the job responsibilities, priorities and expectations, an employee must live up to in order to effectively align with the goals of the organization within which they are operating. This process is not just evaluating a performance during the end of the fiscal year, but in fact, is an all-inclusive analysis of what an employee is bringing to their role every day. There are a few key aspects that create a strong performance management system that truly works, here are a few that, we believe, are fundamental to the process:
If your employees do not know exactly what is expected from them, it is highly likely that they will not have the enthusiasm and direction to work towards. Therefore, at the beginning of their employment with your organization, it is essential to present them with a clear and comprehensive set of expectations that they must aim to not just meet but exceed. These metrics must also align with your overall company goals, you cannot simply replicate the metrics of an organization that is completely in contrast to your own. Doing this will confuse your overall objectives, instead of having a set of goals that are relevant to your company. Therefore, establish clear metrics from the start, to get the ball rolling!
The key to effective target-setting is to achieve the perfect balance of goals. Targets that are too easy will not encourage employees to challenge themselves and/or grow in their respective goals. On the other hand, targets that are extremely difficult and seemingly unattainable might affect the morale of your staff, and as a result, totally backfire. The ideal set of targets are both challenging yet attainable, as this balance promotes more consistent motivation for your employees.
Once you have established your targets and what you expect from your employees, the process doesn’t end. Performance management shouldn’t be a passive system that only comes up during fiscal evaluations. Instead, it should always encourage a positive and healthy relationship of communication between both the employee and employer. Metrics should be regularly assessed and performances should also be regularly evaluated to ensure that the alignment achieved when setting the targets is not dwindling. This could be in the form of regular one-on-one sessions with each of your employees to make sure they’re on the right track and to address any concerns or feedback they may have. Do what makes best sense for your organization and teams. There is no golden rule to this – monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, whatever suits best but is most effective and manageable.
Creating a solid and realistic performance management system that works and brings you the results you desire is not easy but with the right support, it can definitely be achieved! At
HTRUST, we pride ourselves on understanding the unique needs and goals of a company and creating exceptional performance management systems for them that deliver results! Reach out to us today and let’s get started!
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