Performance Management
It is not enough to have a talented workforce in an organization. For the organization to meet its objectives, the manager has to work close to the workforce so as to understand what is being done correctly and wrongly. Moreover, his presents encourage workers as well as showing them how activities are suppose to be done. Therefore, performance management is inevitable if the organization is to succeed. Arguably, in this case, the term ‘performance’ is twofold; it encompasses behavior plus results. In every organization, results and behavior go hand-in hand. This is where the importance of performance management comes in handy, (Adiele, 2009). The term “performance management” is used to refer to a constant, uninterrupted process of communication, illuminating job responsibilities, performance as well as anticipations intended to create a clear and common understanding between the workforce and the manager. Precisely, these are the entire activities that guarantee consistent achievement of organizational goals in a successful and proficient manner. Notably, performance management may be centered on the performance of a department, organization, process or employees as well as other areas, (Bustamante, 2009). It generally concentrates on behavior and results, which are the two crucial elements of performance.
It is important to note that, performance management is a viewpoint which values and supports the development of employees through a management style that offers regular feedback as well as promoting teamwork. It accentuates communication and centers on putting in value to the organization through promotion of the performance of jobs and encouraging development of skills, (Bustamante, 2009). Generally, performance management engrosses clarification of job duties, definition of standards of performance, documentation, rating as well as discussion of performance with each and every member of the workforce. Consequently, the major objective of performance management include: boosting two-way communication between the employees and the manager; clarification of goals, missions, priority, tasks and expectations; identification and determination of performance problems; distinguishing quality performance; and lastly, giving a starting point for administrative decisions, (Adiele, 2009).
As mentioned above, there are two main parties that are involved in performance management; the employee and the manager. Being the leader, the manager plays various roles as far as performance management is concerned. To begin with, he/she has the responsibility of establishing decisively the results as well as the signs of performance according to the input of the employees, and recording them on the performance chart, (Bustamante, 2009). Precisely, he/she is the one to bring into record the work of employees and the results achieved. Another role is that, he/she checks on the performance of the workforce during evaluation period and informs the workforce on issues concerning their performance consistently. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the manager to assist the employees through the evaluation period to ensure that they improve on the areas that had been identified in need of improvement, (Adiele, 2009). Besides, it is his/her role to seek for feedback from external and internal customers, suppliers, coworkers, team members and from other areas as far as the performance of his/her employees is concerned, to be able to know how the decisions that should me made. The other responsibility of the manager is that of carrying out progress reviews for each and every employee between the opening yearly planning period and the end of the evaluation period. Lastly, the manager should be able to identify employees with high-quality performance and ensure that they are rewarded accordingly. By so doing, these employees will be motivated to work even harder and those are registering low performance rates will try to improve in order to qualify for these rewards.
Feedback is a very important element in performance management. As a matter of fact, feedback is two-way; the employee has to seek feedback from his/her manager concerning his/her work performance and also, the manager has to seek feedback from his/her employees in order to determine any probable problem. As a matter of fact, the feedback may be positive or negative. Whichever kind of feedback one might get, it will determine the performance of the individual in the future. For instance, if an employee gets a negative feedback from the manager, he/she becomes aware of what is not being done right, (Adiele, 2009). Therefore, he/she would concentrate on improving his/her performance. If the feedback is positive, it acts as a motivation for the employees to work even harder as they are assured of good performance and output. There are various issues that should be noted as far as performance feedback is concerned. The feedback should be frequent. It should also be focused on solving probable problems. Additionally, the feedback should be centered not on an individual, but on the results. It is of importance as well the manager to enquire about the performance rates of each employee before the beginning of the session and support him/her to be active in participation. Lastly, the manager should identify effectual performance through congratulation, (Bustamante, 2009). Generally, there are three important elements of feedback. To begin with, the employee is made aware of his/her weaknesses and strengths. The other element is that, it acts as a motivational factor for the employees to improve their productivity. Lastly, it plays a significant role in achievement of professional goals of the company as well as developing competencies among the workforce.
In some cases, problems may arise in the performance of the employees. It is the work of the manager to chip in to help correct this problem. It is the role of the manager to prepare and embark on a focused discussion of the problem at hand with the affected individuals, (Bustamante, 2009). This should then be followed by stating the need for performance improvement. Thereafter, the manager and the affected individuals should jointly review the situation at hand. After the review, they should then both decide on the steps that are to be undertaken. Through this process, the affected individuals will be able to identify the possible actions to take. To ensure that the problem has been effectively addressed, the manager should take the initiative of following-up the progress on the issue and offer his/her support to the affected individuals to help them regain their self-esteem.
Finally, rewards are vital elements in performance management. The manager should be able to identify high performing employees so that they can be rewarded in order to encourage them in their daily activities. This is also an opportunity to motivate poor performing employees to raise their standards. Notably, there are different categories of rewards: monetary or salary related, promotional opportunities, and recognition awards, (Bustamante, 2009).
References
Adiele, N. (2009). Business Performance Management Explained. Retrieved on 20th July 2011
from http://www.helium.com/items/1334476-performance-management-explained
Bustamante, C. (2009). Tips for Conducting Effective Performance Reviews. Retrieved on 20th
July 2011 from http://www.helium.com/items/1440842-tips-for-conducting-effective-performance-reviews
