The singer and song writer writes.

‘’You’re still young that’s your fault.
Keeping all the things I knew inside.
It’s hard, but it’s harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I’d agree.
But its them they know not me’’.

Now, I know this song might be completely out of context, but I know it is a conversation between a father and son and the son was frustrated because he felt his dad made no effort to understand him or hear his side of the story.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:

1. Is performance management in your company effective or lifeless? Are your employees rolling their eyes at it behind your back?
2. How complicated is my process or is it simple and can be used as a frequent feedback tool?
3. What happens to the feedback? Are you using it to grow the employee’s career?
4. How much focus do you put on their achievement’s vs the negative?

BEST PRACTICE FOR MODERN PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT?

• Aligning employees’ activities with the company’s mission and goals: Employees should understand how their goals contribute to the company’s overall achievements and employees can set their own goals that drive the business in that direction.
• ‘’Be the border Collie’’: Keep your objectives flexible to make room for a changing environment. Because you are giving continues feedback in the workflow, employees can pivot their priorities as needed.
• Intentional feedback: Instead of waiting for an annual appraisal, managers and employees should engage actively year-round to evaluate progress. First price is real time feedback.
• Creating measurable performance-based expectations. Employees should give input into how success is measured. Expectations include results—the goods and services an employee produces; actions—the processes an employee uses to make a product or perform a service; and behaviours—the demeanour and values an employee demonstrates at work.
• Developing specific job-performance outcomes. What goods or services does my job produce? What effect should my work have on the company? How should I interact with clients, colleagues, and supervisors? What procedures does my job entail?

With these insights, the key takeaway for business owners or HR teams is clear. The alignment of an effective performance management process with business owners and or managers, who have the people skills to deliver feedback regularly, can result in a highly motivated workforce, not to mention, translate into improved business outcomes.

Don’t let your Performance Management process suck, make it work for you. If you need any assistance or guidance, you are very welcome to contact me today.

Arina Fyfer
AF CONSULTING
082 745 6779 / arina@af-consulting.co.za