Performance Management Productivity

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Could Your Company Benefit from a Performance Management Programme?

The value of effective performance management in helping a business grow and prosper has been well established, but what does the process involve? The technological advances of the past few decades have transformed many aspects of the business world by saving time, reducing errors and cutting costs.

However, these improvements have also resulted in unprecedented competition in the ongoing attempts to gain and maintain market share. One of the main reasons companies fail in these attempts is overlooking their most valuable asset – their personnel.

Ensuring all staff members are aligned with and motivated to achieve the company’s goals, have the knowledge and skills they need and are assigned to the jobs for which they are best suited is the only guaranteed formula for organisational success.

The essential elements of effective performance management

HR managers often make the mistake of believing that managing employee performance merely requires them to conduct periodic staff appraisals. While this practice has merit, it is only one aspect of a far more comprehensive process that will be necessary if your goal is to get the best from your workforce. Appraisals should not just measure performance but be used to elevate it.

A holistic approach to performance management is essential to ensure optimal outcomes and will typically address job profiling, training, goal setting, and ways to promote engagement and motivate staff. Let’s examine some of these and their contribution to productivity.

Job profiling: Too often, companies unknowingly place their trust in the wrong people, resulting in the proverbial “square pegs in round holes”. Personnel are frequently promoted according to length of service rather than relevant skills and experience. Interviews by objective third parties and psychometric tests help to identify employees’ core competencies and assign them to those roles in which they will excel.

Training: You can’t use nails without a hammer, and employees can only be fully productive when performing the tasks they have been trained to do. Many underperforming employees only require appropriate coaching or training to become valuable team members or even lead their own teams. Consequently, identifying and correcting skill shortfalls with a personal development plan is crucial to the success of an effective performance management initiative.

Goal setting: Although it is standard practice for companies to set performance goals, they often overlook the importance of ensuring these are fully understood and shared by their managers and subordinate staff. To ensure those goals are met, all employees must be aware of them, their potential impact on the company and their future, and precisely what actions are required by them to ensure a successful outcome.

Motivation: While a CEO might maintain that success is its own reward, those whose job is to make it happen often need something more tangible to inspire their efforts. One option is an incentive scheme measuring performance against personal goals for suitable rewards. However, teaching managers to express praise where it is due can also be a powerful motivator.

Professional performance management services

Even a company that is thriving can invariably do better. Orgro fields a team of experienced business experts dedicated to providing all the above services and more. Please get in touch today if you are ready to elevate your company’s performance to the next level.