Performance Management Software

Performance management has always been viewed by the human resources team as one of the most important factors as it is the integral part that decides the efficiency of the company. Before we move on to the actual tricks, we need to know the basics of performance management.

Now, what is performance management and why is it important?

The efficiency and performance of the entire institution as a whole is determined by the collective performance of each person contributing to this process, be it the managers or the employees of the firm. Enough has been talked about improving standards of performance and the roles that each person needs to play, however, maintaining and tweaking these tactics for them to work on a long term basis has often been looked over. For a consistency in performance, performance management needs to be done to make sure there’s no plunge in the way things go about.

The elements required in an effective management system are:

• Allocating jobs on a job-specific basis, covering each and every department required for the kind of organization.
• Being on par with the standards set by the organization and going by its underlying goals and norms.
• Setting easy and understandable practices for the employees to use
• Observing each and every employee and their efficiency to be noted with much accuracy
• Pressing importance on two-way communication for setting goals and interpreting performance.Quantitatively measuring the results and understanding areas of concern.
• Providing reviews on every aspect, dwelling on constructive criticism.
• Providing opportunities and seminars for improving performance
• Reviewing plans of employees to see if they merge with the organization’s goals
• Provide monetary and nonmonetary rewards to recognize their achievements to show that they matter.
• Always rely on and maintain legal documents to mark terminations, recruitments, suspensions, and also maintain reports or records to assess performance on a continuous basis.

Some of the tips and tricks given below can be employed to make sure there’s consistency and development on a long term basis. This can be divided into several phases. The phases help us understand the process clearly and also helps in order to employ them in a chronological way. However, the phases once completed cannot be ignored. Thus the cycle starts again and goes on forever. The techniques and processes involved under it may be modified or updated, but the underlying process of repetition remains.

PHASE 1:

Planning

Just like the five major management functions are planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling, the phases for performance management have also been derived from the functions of management.

The first stage is planning. In this stage, the HR department's entire resources need to be employed to make an elaborate analysis on the organisations needs and requirements based on the type of organisation it is and the ethics it follows. The expectations and the final output needs to be identified and then steps to work towards the goal need to be drafted.

For example, if your organization specializes in manufacturing clothes, and you want to double your production, you need to decide about the labor require to be employed and the cost involved, and so on.

You should also consider the goals set by the employees and see if it hinders the organization’s goals. With that done, you can move to the second phase which is monitoring.

PHASE 2:

Monitoring

Monitoring is one of the most time consuming processes, however if done properly and effectively, it will make sure that the company’s goals aren’t being compromised. Monitoring is the main work of the HR department. Every employee needs to be taken into account for the work they do, the time spent and the hours put in by them. The main thing to be checked is if any employee is working against the goals and ethics of the organisation.

Let’s take the same manufacturing clothes industry as an example. You would want to see if the employees and resources you employes have been utilised to its fullest maximum extent. This however cannot be done overnight. A constant check needs to be kept in order to make sure there is no discrepancy and that every employee is doing whatever work they are assigned.

PHASE 3:

Review

Reviewing is taking into account all the reports and observations made during the monitoring phase. Reviewing all the documents submitted during the monitoring phase can help track the development and the improvement in performance of the employees. If there is any discrepancy, that can also be tackled through the reviewing process. This process thus throws light onto the importance of the monitoring stage, as without conducting proper monitoring techniques, it is hard to review the results with very little information.

Let's say, in the same cloths manufacturing firm, there’s an employee who is constantly on leave and does not work for the number of hours prescribed to him. This is an issue that needs to be addressed and is there was no proper documentation of the same, it would be hard to scrutinize someone for an error they may or may not have been responsible for. Thus monitoring and reviewing go hand in hand.

Once these processes are employed, there should be a constant repetition of the same as this unending cycle needs to repeat itself for the benefit of the company. There is no hard and fast rule for any of this. Even though the underlying three phases may not change from one organization to the other, there might be processes that come under them that might change. Identifying them and working towards them is the real challenge.