Performance Management Articles
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Performance Management Overview
Let’s start with a basic concept: “No one should be fired for poor performance or bad behavior and have it come as a surprise”. Most managers are reluctant to release employees, even when there may be just cause; and the recruiting, hiring and training of new employees is costly in time, money and productivity. We suggest that even a basic Personnel Policy will outline the activities and conduct expected by the employer of the employees; it also indicates the support the employees can expect from their employer. The Personnel Policy will address most of the issues that normally arise under “behavior” or “conduct”. We have found that the use of four documents will take care of the “performance” part of the equation: Job Description, Orientation Checklist, a combination Workplan and Appraisal and an Employee Career Plan.
Owners and Managers want both Production and Production Capability; they want what a formal Performance Planning Program has to offer.
We know from experience that any program is likely to be successful only if it is easy to implement and administer, requires a minimum amount of time and then is used regularly and consistently. There are many benefits of a Performance Management program; we’ll discuss them in subsequent postings and demonstrate why owners and managers want, and need, those benefits for their organizations. Remember that most large organizations find some form of Performance Management program to be a requirement.
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Regular Evaluation Time Periods
A key element in any Performance Management program is a regular, consistent series of appraisals.
It seems easy for us as business owners and managers to neglect employee communication. Job satisfaction can usually be enhanced by keeping employees informed about the business and their contributions to its success. It is extremely beneficial to communicate with employees, formally on a regular basis and informally as situations dictate. While informal communications can take place any time, formal communications should be scheduled in two formats.
First, regular staff meetings should be held to discuss issues of general interest. Second, one-on-one sessions with employees should be scheduled two to four times per year, depending on the business and employee’s duties and responsibilities. Those sessions should include performance reviews or progress reviews to monitor the status of progress toward objectives.
All too often, communication takes place only when there are problems or issues that need to be addressed. While short meetings may be routine, a more formal discussion, scheduled regularly, allows both the employee and supervisor to prepare in advance and have more productive, two-way discussions.
Management employees who may have objectives relating to budget or business plan numbers will have the formal appraisal at year end, but progress reviews through the year help to identify issues that should be addressed immediately, rather than held off until year-end. Non-management should have their reviews every three to six months. Setting up a review schedule will help employees in reaching objectives and ultimately improve job satisfaction as well.
A Performance Management program should provide fixed time frames over which their formal evaluations or appraisals will take place. We recommend something we call an Employee Career Plan – a document completed each year by each employee. It provides an opportunity to indicate career objectives and to provide valuable input and feedback to superiors. It also acts as a basis for discussions during formal appraisals.
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Personnel Policy 1
Every organization should have a basic Personnel Policy, even if there are only 2 or 3 employees. Those employees need to know what expectations the organization has of them in areas such as appearance, behaviour, use of organization equipment, conduct with customers, clients and patients, etc. That also includes their activities on the job and even off the job as it may reflect on the employer.
Many employers have difficulty discussing certain aspects of behaviour and personal appearance with employees. It is often beneficial to outline those standards in a Personnel Policy and have the new employee read the entire document, then review the details with a Supervisor in an informal way. We include the topic of communication on every Job Description, since communicating with fellow employees and with customers, clients or patients applies to virtually everyone. Including it in the terms of the Personnel Policy reinforces the importance of proper communication.
The Personnel Policy serves to outline what the employee might expect from the employer also. That would include areas such as recognized holidays, wage payment schedules, break periods, eligibility for training, overtime and many others. Good communication is a fundamental of good business.
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Personnel Policy 2
Two other areas that need to be outlined in a Personnel Policy are Personal Information Protection and Computer and Internet Use. Virtually any organization will have personal information on employees and /or customers, clients or patients. The policies associated with keeping that information safe and secure should be in the Personnel Policy. In many locations there is legislation in place requiring businesses and organizations to have procedures in place and someone designated with the responsibility of maintaining security.
Technology is evolving quickly and the use of it can be easily be abused. That’s why employees need to know what restrictions there are for the business and personal use of equipment and technology owned by the employer. That should also be outlined in the Personnel Policy.
Too often, employees are reprimanded for behaviour or activity that wasn’t mentioned in any part of the hiring process. Employees are much better able to conduct themselves to company standards when they know what those standards are. The Personnel Policy is an excellent place to lay out those standards so they don’t come as a surprise to anyone.
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Performance Management - Stephen R. Covey
Owners and Managers continuously strive for improvements in performance. That could be the performance of individual employees, the performance of the team and/or the performance of the organization. It could be in the manufacture or sale of widgets, handling widget-related administrative duties, or it could be services. Performance Management is a tool that can be used to improve productivity and efficiency in all these areas, resulting in improved overall performance.
Stephen R. Covey, in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, uses Aesop’s fable of the goose and the golden egg to illustrate the relationship of Production and Production Capability. He calls it the P/PC balance. In the fable you’ve no doubt heard, the farmer discovers that his goose is laying eggs of pure gold. He decides that he could become wealthy faster if he kills the goose and gets all the eggs at once. Of course he discovers that the goose isn’t full of golden eggs and he has now destroyed the source. He didn’t have P/PC balance. He destroyed all Production Capability in his attempt at immediate Production.
This is a challenge faced by business owners and managers all the time. Having the right people, performing the right tasks to maximize productivity (today’s “Production”), while maintaining high staff morale and job satisfaction for the future (tomorrow’s “Production Capability”).
For several years, we have been working with businesses and organizations in this productivity area through Custom Performance Management Programs. We’re going to use a series of articles to discuss what Performance Management is and the benefits an organization should expect from the implementation and use of such a program.
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Matching Organization and Employee Objectives
This means the Performance Management program should attempt to match the employee’s career goals and aspirations with those of the company or organization. Some may wonder how that’s possible, but put another way, employees will be most productive if they see their present performance leading to increased responsibilities with possible advancement and higher pay. So if present responsibilities and tasks are enjoyable and advancement is an objective, then assigning and completing additional tasks that are part of the company’s objectives will contribute to the achievement of both employee and company goals and objectives.
All of this can be achieved through regular surveying and discussion of employee job satisfaction and career aspirations, then using that information in developing the next Workplan. When developing an employee’s Workplan for a new fiscal year, there should be provision for training and development for that employee. We recommend that such training or development be included on the actual Workplan so the employee not only has the authority to take the training, but also has a responsibility to implement what was learned to improve productivity and the overall performance of the organization. That process leads to improved employee job satisfaction and satisfied employees are more productive employees.
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Reduce “Crisis Management” Situations
Virtually every organization occasionally encounters situations that may be viewed as a “crisis”, by other employees, by customers or clients and/or by owners and shareholders. These are situations where decisions or actions must be made immediately, with little time for discussion or study. Common causes of such situations are: 1) Employees involved don’t have the answer to a question or problem; 2) Employees don’t know who to turn to for help or advice; 3) There are no clear lines of authority for decision-making; 4) Fear of the consequences of making a wrong decision and a crisis results from no decision being made.
We recommend that where there is an Owner or Manager, Supervisory staff and junior staff, a simple Organizational Chart should be developed to define lines of authority. However, each position must have Job Description which identifies key responsibilities and the more senior position to which that position reports. Wording of the key responsibilities should help in delegating responsibilities as well. A position “Co-ordinating” a certain function will have more authority than a position “Assisting” with that same function. There should also be information provided in the Personnel Policy regarding certain activities which require input or approval from a Manager or Supervisor.
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Helping Facilitate Delegation
When Owners and Managers start out with only one or two employees, they are quite capable of defining and monitoring performance and behavior. However, as the organization grows in the number of employees, it becomes increasingly difficult to do so. They then want a management tool that will help with delegation while assisting with development of employee supervisory skills.
Job Descriptions should list key tasks and responsibilities using specific action words. Examples include “Co-ordinate, Develop, Implement, Complete, etc. If those words are used in the Job Description of a senior person, then a subordinate may have similar duties with wording such as “Assist with the co-ordination of ……” This also provides the opportunity to develop that senior person’s supervisory skills by having them help in evaluating the performance of the subordinate.
At the end of each fiscal year, or sooner if a “re-organization” is required, the Job Descriptions and Workplans need to be reviewed and revised to meet the needs of the organization. Virtually every organization will have some change in priorities from one year to the next. Owners and managers want to be able to communicate those changes quickly and easily while continuing to assign accountability for those changes in priority. They want task and responsibility delegation to be a win-win-win situation – wins for the supervisor, the subordinate and the organization.
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Reducing the Need For Day-to-Day Supervision
Owners and managers want to take the least amount of time assigning various duties and responsibilities. Much of that time can be avoided if Job Descriptions clearly identify key tsks and responsibilities. In addition, we find that by using Workplans that allocate points to objectives and responsibilities based on their importance, employees know automatically which duties need to take priority.
Over time, employees become proficient at completing various tasks and meeting objectives in order of priority with less coaching and supervision. Employees benefit from having defined duties and responsibilities since it enhances their skill development and allows them to demonstrate their ability to perform well without so much direct supervision. That allows supervisory staff to elevate their levels of responsibility because they spend less time on the details of direct supervision. The productivity of supervisory staff drops very quickly if they are frequently interrupted by subordinates looking for immediate direction.
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Identifying Consequences of Performance and Behavior
Owners and Managers want management tools that help them easily and conveniently monitor and document behavior and performance. It’s unfortunate, but all too often an employee finds himself/herself out of a job and didn’t see the dismissal coming. That situation usually arises from poor performance or bad behavior, both of which could be prevented with two items; A basic Personnel Policy, to outline behavior expectations, and Performance Management to monitor objectives and responsibilities.
The Personnel Policy should identify the company’s expectations of the employee and also explain what the employee can expect from the company. We recommend that new employees be required to read and sign off on the company Personnel Policy the first day on the job. They should also be advised of the consequences of both good and bad behavior. Just as important is the need to discuss specific examples of behavior at the time they happen. As Dr. Ken Blanchard said, we want to “catch people doing something right” – an excellent, inexpensive way to improve employee morale.
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Identifying Company Expectations
As Owners and Managers, we often assume that all the employee needs to know is what tasks and responsibilities are to be carried out at any given time. Dr. Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, has said we should always be trying to “catch people doing something right”. He’s talking about the benefits of positive reinforcement. However, as Managers we first must make sure the employee is doing the right thing, before we can catch him or her doing it right.
We believe a lot of supervisory time can be saved by defining the tasks and responsibilities of a given position – so the employee is doing the right thing. Then we need a simple, regular evaluation process to illustrate that those same tasks and responsibilities are being done right. That’s the long term formal approach. Of course Dr. Blanchard encourages us to be informally providing that positive reinforcement all the time.
Employees will be more productive if the company’s expectations are clearly defined on Job Descriptions, demonstrated through the use of Orientation Checklists, then monitored with Appraisals to regularly evaluate how expectations are being met. We also want systems that we can readily adapt to changes in the market, changes in the priorities of the organization and changes in policies and procedures. It’s all part of “Performance Management”.