Performance management seeks to seek the best Performance possible for employees, while everyone is responsible for achieving their objectives. It is proactive management and creates better relationships between professionals, making it the basis of a high-performance organization. Traditionally, performance management fails to achieve its objectives, as many organizations still rely on an annual performance evaluation process, rather than an ongoing training and feedback process.
An ideal performance management system, on the other hand, encourages setting expectations, providing regular informal feedback, and also enables the development and success of employees. When done with planning and monitoring, a performance management program contributes to the success of employees and to the organization's compliance.
A major point of frustration with the top-down method, for example, is that each evaluator needs to remember what their direct reports did over a long period of time, usually a year. You need to remember which ones were successful, what challenges each one faced, what alternative solutions they needed to implement to achieve the proposed objectives. In this method, it takes a lot of time and preparation for the evaluator to carry out a performance review safely.
On the other hand, since employees did not receive regular check-ins based on performance throughout the year, they have to rely on evaluating performance against the goals set at the beginning of the process. They need to base compensation adjustments outside the targets, which may become irrelevant after a few months, regardless of the new goals that the employee focused on achieving because those new goals were more strategically valuable for the department and the organization in general.
With a continuous performance management approach, weekly, biweekly, or monthly check-ins determine what needs to be adjusted and what needs to be provided to the employee to enable them to perform well and achieve success. That way, it focuses on continuous development and not on outdated annual rankings.
A well-implemented continuous performance management program improves employee performance and promotes their effectiveness. Collaborators at various levels work as a team, frequently planning and reviewing goals. Some advantages of frequent check-ins, in addition to increasing productivity levels and promoting satisfaction and well-being at work:
Employees become more engaged
With a well-implemented performance management system that generates employee satisfaction, the organization will most likely reduce its turnover, as they become less likely to change organizations. Feelings of commitment, passion, and empowerment surround employees and motivate them to support the organization's mission. In addition, frequent conversations to review goals also allow employees to suggest improvements in the processes in which they are involved, resulting in innovations that can accelerate processes and/or reduce their cost.
Employees better understand their professional responsibilities
An effective performance management system also increases employees' understanding of the responsibility for their functions. When an employee receives tips on how to improve their performance or positive feedback when succeeding in a task, they become more aware of their mistakes and successes. That is why it is important for HR professionals to be directly involved in the performance management process, because they become a resource in monitoring the employee's progress. They can help with goal planning and individual development and offer training to perfect skills, which frequent feedback also points out as necessary.
Skills and behaviors are more clearly recognized
A continuous performance management system allows evaluators to better understand the skill levels of employees, allowing for more effective help in their improvement. Regular check-ins provide a more detailed observation of the professional's strengths and weaknesses. Technical and behavioral skills can always be trained and improved, providing motivation to employees when they realize that the organization cares about their professional and personal growth. Frequent feedback about their performance leads employees to increase their self-esteem, as they feel recognized and valued. That is why it is important for the organization to develop training resources, to encompass training elements and continuous feedback.
The benefit of a performance management program affects everyone involved in the process. As a result, organizations develop a reputation that people want to work for. With their more positive work environment, they can attract, develop, and retain employees.
If your organization has a performance management system, but it measures it annually, it's time to reevaluate your resources and think about a transition to a continuous performance management process. You don't need sudden changes or high investments to start seeing improvements. Minor modifications, such as requiring managers to meet with their direct reports at least twice a year to talk about performance, are a good way to start. And then, next year, you can request that they meet once a quarter. This helps ensure slow but steady progress.
It's important to find support from leadership members to sponsor these changes. When an organization's leaders are aware of the benefits of transitioning to a continuous performance management process, small changes already result in a positive impact. With leadership buy-in, developing a larger, long-term continuous performance management plan is only a matter of time.
Outside help is also available for organizations with time constraints and resource availability. This includes everything from helping managers to develop their training resources, executing a performance management process, and reviewing the HR department to assess current processes and, thus, how and where to start making changes.
An external organization can also do team evaluations to help managers better understand strengths, weaknesses, impulses, and behavioral preferences. Evaluations help leaders understand what strategies and actions they should use to increase their impact and how they can improve engagement.
TATICCA — ALLINIAL GLOBAL also provides integrated auditing, accounting, tax, corporate finance, financial advisory, risk advisory, technology, business consulting and training services. For more information, visit www.taticca.com.br or email taticca@taticca.com.br. Our company has professionals with extensive experience in the market and has certified methodologies for carrying out activities.
