Performance Management, is not limited to the annual performance review process. In modern days, performance appraisal is merely a single component of overall performance management system.
The very important aspect of performance management is that it is a continuous process which goes year on year. The HR team handling performance management should design set of integrated activities to form continuous performance management process. The process involves improving performance of individual employees by setting up KRA, individual goals which are in line with the goals of the organization, reviewing the appraisals, setting up training and skill development goals and analyzing feedback thereafter.
The continuous process also involves keeping track of the feedbacks, analyzing the responses and making further plans according to the feedbacks. A lot of organizations make action plans to rectify the gaps in the goal setting and final feedbacks, which enable them to overcome the shortfalls in the current process.
The stage of planning is not repetitive generally organizations carry out planning only once a year. However, with increase in performance related bonus and incentives, the performance appraisal process is carried out twice in the year in most of the private organizations. The state of planning is also thus required to be processed twice a year, with the set of goals changing from first appraisal to the second appraisal. The individual performance should match with organizations goals and the planning needs to be stronger and concrete.
With respect to planning for the Personal development of employees a lot of extra emphasis should be given on personal behaviour, skills or knowledge the employees need to develop, in order to contribute to the organization’s growth.
Since ages, organizations have given a lot of importance on the “Review” stage of the entire process. The review stage is the stage of decision to grant rewards to the best performers and even lay out future strategy for giving promotions to best performers. Therefore, the process of Performance management is a continuous process and which needs well structured planning and implementation.
Planning and implementation also ensure the performance management systems needs to be effective and result oriented. Few basic elements play important role in designing an effective performance management, including:
Goal setting The goal setting process is very critical. The goals need to be meaningful and easily understood by the employees. All the employees should take up the goals on individual basis and take it as every employee’s contribution matters in furthering organizational objectives. The Employees will have concern for the growth of the organization when they have clear idea about how their job matters in the growth.
Employee recognition An effective performance management system is one which gives importance to employee rewards and recognition. Although it is not possible to reward each employee, it is important to make every employee feel valued and appreciated for their work, roles and the effort they put in on individual basis. The employee recognition and reward should not necessarily in the form of monetary benefits, the recognitions can be in non-monetary forms like circulation names in the newsletters, publishing best employee name in the internal emailers and even upgrading the grade and scale of employees.
Transparent communication channel Every employee expects to get information about their company’s future plans, changes in the organization structure, changes in ownership and so on. If the employees are kept in dark about changes in the company which directly affects their career and job, they feel demotivated and helpless. The employees don’t want to be kept in the dark when the companies are planning for internal changes or going through bad times.
On the other hand, the employees expect clear communication in terms of any job or location changes for them or anything that directly impacts their career. Employees appreciate real-time communication for building healthy relationships with their managers and superiors.
Feedback and reviews To improve on employees’ performance, it is important to have clear and regular system of honest feedback and reviews. It is beneficial for the organization to provide regular feedback to the employees which are honest and unbiased. The honest feedbacks not only help in improving performance but also boost confidence of the employees. The employees prefer honest feedback and insights about their work from time to time.
Employee development — When the purpose of performance appraisal is to identify performance of the employees and give them rewards in terms of growth and monetary rewards, it becomes important to harness their internal development from time to time. It is integral part of the performance management process to make employee development programs as no ambitious top performer wants to at the same level for long-term without developing skills. Employee advancement and development are not only important for the employees but equally important to the organization. The employee’s which are up to date with the latest technologies and feels motivated are the best assets to the organization.
Developing effective performance management system as a continuous process is very important for long term growth of the organization. The HR department which is able to design effective and continuous performance management system is able to keep the employee’s engaged and motivated in the long run.