PRINCIPLES OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

I had discussed about the Principles of Recruitment and Selection in my previous Blog Article. Through this article, I am intending to give an overview to performance management principles. Performance Management is a strategic concept and it is paramount to organizations regardless its size, field and any other aspects. If you want to survive, you got to perform as an organization. The topic becomes interesting when we say that we need to perform as an organization as it involves variety of employees and their needs and motivational factors are different from each other. This is why, performance management comes in to equation.

What is Performance?

The execution of action, behaviour or accomplishment of a task measured against self-set or external standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed (Govender, 2021).

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

This generally defined as a process of continuous dialogue between an employee and his/her manager on assigned tasks and duties while intending to improve the quality of work delivery, accepting constructive feedback and expressing appreciation.

“Performance Management is an ongoing process of communication between a supervisor and an employee that occurs throughout the year, in support of accomplishing the strategic objectives of the organization. The communication process includes clarifying expectations, setting objectives, identifying goals, providing feedback, and reviewing results (University of Califonia, 2023).”

An effective performance management process aligns the employee's accountabilities with organizational goals.

• By linking individual employee work efforts with the organization’s mission and objectives, the employee and the organization understand how that job contributes to the organization.
• By focusing attention on setting clear performance expectations (results + actions & behaviors), it helps the employee know what needs to be done to be successful on the job. 
• Through the use of objectives, standards, performance indicators, and other measures it focuses effort. This helps the department get done what needs to be done and provides a solid foundation for eliminating work that is no longer useful.
• Through regular check-in discussions, which include status updates, coaching, and feedback, it promotes flexibility, allowing you and the employee to identify problems early and change the course of a project or work assignment.

 Guidance on how to set up individual goals and objectives

(Villacorta, 2019)

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

Performance management processes are aligned to business goals to ensure that people are engaged in achieving agreed objectives and standards (TAYLOR, 2014).

Principles vary from organizations to organization but in general, the below key areas should consist in performance management process.

1. Performance Cycle

Have an established cycle as per the standards and expectations of the organization. Performance cycle can be established on a quarterly basis, semiannually or annually.

2. Performance Goals

Employees and managers discuss and agree on certain goals / objectives during the performance cycle. Goals have to be SMART, relevant to job description of employees and connected to organizational vision.

3. Evaluating performance

Structured, constructive and continuous dialogue between managers and employees is essential to evaluating performance effectively. Therefore, regular feedback should be incorporated into day-to-day operations to ensure employees understand what is expected of them and their areas of strength and to identify areas for development.

4. The Performance Appraisal System (PAS)

HR professionals must ensure that the organization has a mechanism / tool to implement performance management in a meaningful and simplified manner and to facilitate continuous dialogue and professional development. It is important to maintain records for decision making when it comes to recognition, rewards and job enrichment.

5. Managing Performance during Probation

Hiring new employees is an exciting time for any expanding business. But in the rush to ensure you get the candidate with the best skills, you need to make sure you’ve protected your organization in the event the hire isn’t all you’d hoped for. This starts by having the right paperwork and programs in place before you make the hire, so you can take any necessary corrective action with a minimum of risk (Laura Marshall, 2019).

The probationary period provides organizations with the opportunity to assess a employees’ suitability for their position. Managers should clearly communicate expectations, standards of work delivery to new staff on probation. During the probationary period, performance issues should be swiftly drawn to the attention of the concerned employee, in writing, together with clear and precise objectives to omit such issues.

6. Managing Underperformance

Extending the probationary period is advisable if the employer believes the employee still must improve in certain areas of the job. Once the extension of probation has been confirmed, the employer should implement a plan highlighting what steps are required and how they can be achieved. The plan should be confirmed in writing by the employee (Laura Marshall, 2019).

Continuous performance failures can lead to termination of employee as per the rules and regulations that are in place.

                                                                                               

                                                                        (Guidelight Psychology , 2015)

CONCLUSION

For a sustainable development of any organizations or businesses, performance management is crucial. This needs to be looked at strategically, and must have appropriate tools and mechanism in place. The mentioned principles of Performance management is meant as a set of guidance and readers are expected to innovate these principles in line with your organizational standards and capacities. Further, the best way to improve underperformance is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. This is done by taking preventative actions such as communicating clear performance goals, indicators, and expectations to employees, making full use of the probation period for new staff, providing regular and frequent feedback on performance, and recognizing good performance informally and formally. Hence, the role of HR professionals is crucial and has major impacts to organizational achievements. 

REFERENCES

Govender, C. M., 2021. Handbook of Research on Using Global Collective Intelligence and Creativity to Solve Wicked Problems. Johannesburg, South Africa: IGI Global.

Guidelight Psychology , 2015. [Online]

Available at: https://www.guidelight.com.au/the-guidelight-psychology-blog/tag/underperformance

[Accessed 09 April 2023].

Laura Marshall, S. H. C., 2019. VISTRA. [Online]

Available at: https://www.vistra.com/insights/probationary-periods-and-performance-management-programs

[Accessed 09 April 2023].

TAYLOR, M. A. a. S., 2014. Armstrong's Handbook of HRM Practices. 13th Edition ed. London: www.koganpage.com.

University of Califonia, 2023. Performance Management: Concepts & Definitions. [Online]

Available at: https://hr.berkeley.edu/hr-network/central-guide-managing-hr/managing-hr/managing-successfully/performance-management/introduction

[Accessed 09 April 2023].

Villacorta, D., 2019. 5 STEPS TO SET SMART OBJECTIVES. [Online]

Available at: https://ghcc.org/en/5-steps-to-set-smart-objectives-examples/

[Accessed 09 April 2023].