5 Performance Management Tips for Employees + Employers

In today’s competitive workplace, effective performance management is critical for both employees and employers to succeed. The process of setting goals should be collaborative and it must align with the overall organizational goals. A cascading approach that enables the goals to align at all levels i.e.: organizational, departmental, functional, team, and individual ensures focus on a shared aim. This structure enhances both employee and business performance as it firmly links the employee goals to your organization’s overall strategy. This guide will teach you how to develop an effective performance management system that helps you achieve your goals.

Set Goals and Measure Key Results

One of the first steps in developing a successful performance management program is setting clear goals and measuring key results. For goals to be effective we need to ensure they are SMART — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound

Specific: For employees to understand what is expected and for Employers to measure progress.

Measurable: To quantify and track progress to keep everyone motivated and focused.

Attainable: Enable employees and employers to achieve targets that are not too high or too low.

Relevant: Ensure alignment with the organization and overall strategy for employees to see how they are contributing to the overall company growth.

Time-bound: To define parameters for when a goal should be achieved for growth and success. 

Encourage Taking Risks and Out of the Box Thinking

Allowing employees to take risks and think unconventionally propagates creative thinking and innovation. It sets both organizations and employees apart from the competition and enables them to come up with different solutions and methods to achieve their end goals. These innovative thinkers are easily able to react to tough situations and problems, effectively turning failures into success. 

Provide Feedback Regularly

Common mistakes managers make when managing their teams is not providing regular feedback. Breaking barriers and collecting feedback on performance from the right people across your network to get actionable insights can be a game-changer. Identifying opportunities to work on at the right time can set you up to learn new things and develop critical skills. Providing and requesting bite-size actionable feedback can foster collaboration, employee engagement, and a culture of transparency in an organization.

Set Clear Expectations

Managers should set clear expectations for their employees. If an expectation is unclear, employees should make sure to clarify and discuss it with their managers. It is critical to set and understand expectations in any job role. Managers need to clearly communicate to onboarding employees what is expected of them throughout their tenure. Expectations for performance, culture, teamwork, core values, and self-development should be clearly defined. Starting with a 30–60–90 day plan could be a stepping stone for a successful employee engagement.

Recognize and Reward Good Work

Many managers and companies don’t have an effective process in place to recognize good work by their employees. This leads to underperformance and low morale among employees. To avoid this problem, managers need to recognize good work by giving recognition and rewarding their employees. Recognition and rewarding your employees can reduce burnout and increase retention while enhancing productivity. It also helps establish a value-based culture where the right behaviors and efforts are recognized and rewarded

Pointers is one such platform that understands how vital the performance management process is to organizations and individuals. Pointers performance management system reduces the time, bias, and complexity that have hindered the traditional path while driving consistency, transparency, and fairness.