8 tips to bring in innovations in performance management

What is the common response to performance management reviews at your company? Do managers and employees cringe at the thought of sitting down for a review? Do visions of tracking down incomplete appraisal forms cross your mind? What we are about to tell you is going to make a difference in the performance management process of your organisation.

Nowadays, leading organisations are taking adequate measures to address this aspect of performance management. They are implementing innovative solutions that ensure the process presents favorable results and actually boosts employee performance.

In this guide, we have come up with 8 practices that can be efficiently implemented to enhance the performance management processes at your organisation.

1. Improve productivity with better goal management

Frequent monitoring of goals introduces the opportunity to provide feedback. It also assists in making adjustments to performance plans, deal with obstacles and contingencies for missed deadlines. Without a proper method to monitor the progress against the objectives, the cyclical nature of the process fails and productivity takes a nosedive.

There should be sufficient discussions on goals (individual and organisational), and performance feedback should be provided. It should be objective and supportive. In this case, it’s also vital that the superiors are attentive to the employee's perspective and incorporates the employee's observations into future plans.

2. Offer positive reinforcements to the employees

Don’t use positive reinforcement as just another jargon, rather use it as a token of encouragement. Positive reinforcement is an impactful motivator to every team. It fosters positive employee behavior and efficiently reinforces the spirit of positive conduct.

Teams or employees that are positively reinforced are likely to perform better and present better results over and over. This automatically enhances an individual’s self-esteem, which further reflects in an employees’ improved confidence at work.

“You must remember that people feel appreciated and respected when you pay attention to them. So, you must listen to your employees to make them feel important”, suggests Mark Fisher, entrepreneur and expert microsoft case study. This way, they will be able to provide useful suggestions that could ultimately benefit the organisation.

3. Feedback has to be a two-way street

The top-down approach doesn’t really work in case of the performance management process. You may believe that you've maintained the communication downwards if you:

· Have a proper performance review system

· Have one-on-one interactions

· Meet regularly

· Respond to employees' questions effectively on time

Your team will feel like you don't respect them or take them seriously if they never get to share their pain points and ideas. Make yourself available, offer great feedback and support people on your team. 

To adopt the processes that enable the employees to provide concrete feedback and voice their opinions, consider the following pointers

· A well-defined process for upward feedback

· A semi-annual employee survey with open-ended questions

· Concluding every meeting with “is there anything else you would like to convey?”

· Seeking employees' opinions on their progress before you go in with constructive criticism.

Employees working in an organisation should be able to voice their opinions and work with their superiors, without feeling like they are being compelled to do something. There should be effective communication between the superiors and the employees. It is the responsibility of the management to know how their employees feel, how they like to be appreciated, what they, themselves, can do to help an employee. 

4. Align the performance with rewards and recognition

More and more companies are establishing a connection between performance to compensation. This connection, however, cannot effectively flourish without the existence of stringent performance management processes that are fair and equitable.

Clear documentation of progress against performance expectations also facilitates proper recognition of efficiency. This can be offered in several ways, i.e. privately delivered feedback, formal recognition events, or informal public recognition.

It’s also vital to note the benefits of a consistent pay-for-performance process across a company. A consistent process gives out a sense of fairness and significantly enhances job satisfaction among the employees.

Employees need to understand that if an individual in a particular department is recognised as a top performer and compensated for that, then an employee performing at the same level in another department will be eligible for similar rewards.

5. Implement OKR to align individual objectives with organisational goals

One of the most pertinent ways to bring innovation into performance management is by associating the individual’s contributions to the highest priorities of the company. This makes performance management a whole lot easier. OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) foster perfect alignment by ensuring that CEO-level objectives are being fulfilled. And it also ensures that the employee’s efforts are aligned with the bigger goals.

With OKRs, employees are able to see themselves how their endeavours are creating an influence on the execution of the goal. This allows them to enhance their performance organically and also presents a proper way of tracking the progress of the goal. This way, the management can evaluate employee performance on a frequent basis and in real-time.

6. Encourage full participation of the employees

The performance management process should add value, or else issues with resistance and non-participation will surface. Additionally, the process itself should be efficient and at the same time, simple. This is why adopting automated reminders and scheduling systems can assist in managing the process perfectly.

Another contributing factor to success is upper-level management support. This support should be extended not only in the verbal form but also through active participation in the same performance management process. Another factor to consider is the ability to evaluate the process itself. The assessment may consist of focus groups, manager feedback, annual survey, reporting, or a combination of these and other methods.

7. Invest in the development of skills

Employees should be provided with adequate training and opportunities to develop new skills. Now, you may have already put in place an efficient process for meeting, assessing, and getting feedback. But if you still find that progress is stagnating, then the development opportunities might be the one to blame here.

Providing employees with regular feedback and assist them in charting their next step is crucial for ensuring their progress. But offering them the scope to enhance their skills is also an essential factor that ultimately contributes to effective performance management. In fact, it also helps retain the top performers at your organisation. 

You can bring in any combination of growth opportunities depending on your industry, which includes

· Maintaining a proactive approach to assigning challenging projects to engage employees

· Presenting peer-led workshops to ensure effective exchange of knowledge

· Subsidising classes for employees to develop newer skills

· Encouraging employees to attend insightful conferences to connect them with the industry experts

· Prioritising employee growth will allow employees to achieve success and will allow them to see the prospects within your organisation — not at someone else's. 

8. Use performance management software

How does your organisation keep track of everything that falls under your performance management process? If your managers take note in one system, and your employees get self-evaluation forms in another, it becomes difficult to keep tabs on the progress of the workforce. This, in turn, prevents the employees from taking charge of their performance. This is the reason investing in performance management software is imperative. The software enables you to standardise your performance for aussie pooch mobile pestle swot analysis. 
With such software, managers can efficiently track and schedule one-on-one meetings, check in on employee objectives, offer public praise, solicit feedback, and, of course, carry out 360-degree performance reviews. Employees can manage their own performance and monitor their goals, recording the progress as it takes place. 

Parting thoughts,

The road to meticulous performance management isn’t always going to be an easy one, but bringing about manageable changes will bring about significant outcomes. Let us know about your opinion in the comments section below.

Author bio: Nionica Starc is a senior web developer for a distinguished corporate organisation. She has acquired her degree from the Federation University in Australia. She is also an esteemed member of MyAssignmenthelp.com, working as an expert on Ikea supply chain.