Cold, Hard Performance Management Facts You Need to Know Now
Performance management is a pretty heavy phrase in business and it raises plenty of questions for even the most savvy of managers. The drawback? The best solution for your organization’s performance management strategy relies mostly on the culture of your people. It has to account for your company values, the overarching business mission and use the right motivators for your unique workforce. That means that we can offer advice every day (we plan to) and still only scratch the surface of needs for your people (until you sign up for the Reviewsnap performance management software, that is).
You know your organization’s needs and we know performance management. Here are some cold, hard facts to help guide those big performance decisions.
Systems and Tools are Absolutely Necessary
Whether it’s an affordable performance management system with useful integrations or a free (probably complicated) system of spreadsheets, you cannot manage more than one person without a tool. This probably isn’t much of a surprise anymore, but 77% of HR executives believe performance reviews aren’t an accurate representation of employee performance. Performance management systems house the important details, small or large, which ensures all pieces of an employee’s work life is accounted for. The system should include a collaborative place for leadership notes, background on past struggles and a clear look at what each individual has accomplished, so any manager, supervisor or executive can recount progress. If you miss any of those pieces, the performance review stands a large chance of being wasted or possibly disengaging.
Tweet This: If you have more than one employee, you need to consider implementing this:
Poor Management Costs A LOT
In Gallup’s State of the American Workplace report, Jim Clifton, CEO of Gallup estimated that United States businesses are losing $450 to $500 billion every year due to poor management. Most organizations are operating with a 5 – 10% productivity loss that better leadership practices could eliminate and it could be costing as much as 7% of their total annual sales. Without an adequate leader at the helm, even the best of tools can’t help. There are many techniques that should be used by your team, but helping employees set their performance goals should be the very first step. How can anyone reach a destination if the destination is never disclosed?
Set Goals, Always Set Goals
Managers should help the employee quantify their goals. Numbers may not always be the most motivating and this process might be challenging with some positions, but being able to see how much money a specific department or job is saving or making the company will show an employee just how valuable they are to their team. If it’s impossible to place a monetary value to their work, turn to time tracking and deliverable goals. The employee will have a clear map to the end of their week, tasks to complete and an idea of how much time their work saves the team.
Tweet This: How to give your employees a clear view of their importance to the team:
Building Skills Will Inspire and Retain Employees
89% of employees in North America think it is important their employer support their learning and development (66% valued learning over monetary compensation). That’s right, employees want skill development and offering continued education is not only an incentive beneficial to your company’s future, its design can suit the atmosphere of your business, industry or company culture. Instead of researching what program has been most effective (you won’t find a definitive answer anyway) ask your people what they want. Surveys or a short meeting might be all it takes to find the perfect approach to continued learning for your organization. The only wrong form of continued learning or skill development is the one that your employees don’t use.
Tweet This: 89% of employees think it’s important their employer support their learning and development:
Performance Management Changes Don’t Need to be Drastic
A successful performance review doesn’t mean you have to scrap everything you’re currently doing. Simple changes like implementing goal setting tactics, addressing performance issues as they arise instead of months down the line, using a professional tone and word choice and expressing appreciation throughout the year all can totally transform your performance management process and review system. And to top it all off, not one requires lengthy meetings, executive approval or extra budget. Instead, it simply requires a thoughtful manager.
Tweet This: Don’t think too big when working with performance management. Try these simple steps:
Did you already know all this and even have a suggestion to build on some of our points? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Watch a quick demo of our performance management tool to see if Reviewsnap is right for your team.