PERFORMANCE appraisals used to compose the major chunk of employee management.
However, as generations go through rapid and vast changes in technological advancements, business disruptions, global opportunities, and lifestyle shifts, the traditional annual appraisal system has become too constricting.
For the most part, annual performance reviews miss out on real-time opportunities for employee motivation. Most potential achievers gain momentum and increase productivity when their successes are immediately recognized and they are mentored when there are areas to improve on. A year is too long for feedback and processing especially when multiple movements and activities have already occurred.
Another issue is that supervisors and managers responsible for giving performance reviews are already drowning in the grueling demands of daily operations that when it’s time to fill up employee appraisal reports, they end up giving biased ratings based mostly on the latest behaviors they can remember and not on the long-term progress of their subordinates.
With the pressure of submitting these reviews as soon as possible, some assessors end up giving subjective commentaries instead of data-driven accounting of a person’s performance and aptitudes.
This is why an increasing number of institutions are looking at the big picture of the performance management system.
Unlike a periodic performance review, the performance management system is more proactive. It does not wait for a schedule or a crisis to sit down and get into a highly engaging interaction with employees. It is a defined and active working environment that fosters learning in every occasion, from the moment a job is created up to the time an employee leaves an organization.
Human resource expert Susan Heathfield, in her article published at thebalancecareers.com, presented the following performance management system components as the basic foundation of an effective practice:
1. Develop clear job descriptions using an employee recruitment plan that identifies the selection team.
2. Recruit potential employees and select the most qualified to participate in interviews on site.
3. Conduct interviews to narrow down your pool of candidates.
4. Hold multiple additional meetings, as needed, to get to know your candidates' strengths, weaknesses, and abilities to contribute what you need. Use potential employee testing and assignments where they make sense for the position that you are filling.
5. Select appropriate people using a comprehensive employee selection process to identify the most qualified candidate who has the best cultural fit and job fit that you need.
6. Offer your selected candidate the job and negotiate the terms and conditions of employment including salary, benefits, paid time off, and other organizational perks.
7. Welcome the new employee to your organization.
8. Provide effective new employee orientation, assign a mentor, and integrate your new employee into the organization and its culture.
9. Negotiate requirements and accomplishment-based performance standards, outcomes, and measures between the employee and his or her new manager.
10. Provide ongoing education and training as needed.
11. Provide ongoing coaching and feedback.
12. Conduct quarterly performance development planning discussions.
13. Design effective compensation and recognition systems that reward people for their ongoing contributions.
14. Provide promotional/career development opportunities including lateral moves, transfers, and job shadowing for staff.
15. Assist with exit interviews to understand WHY valued employees leave the organization.