Volume 30
At G&A Partners, we are on a mission to help our clients realize their full potential by helping them reach their optimum level of productivity. As a human resources firm, we happen to think employees are the most critical component to an organization’s productivity. So throughout 2008, we are focusing every edition of our Spotlight newsletter on employee issues – everything from identifying and training the right talent to measuring and rewarding performance. What better place to start than at the beginning – recruiting?

Managing a Successful Performance Management Process

Let’s be honest. No one really likes performance reviews. Certainly not the employees who have to condense an entire year’s worth of work into a brief, but meaningful, list of accomplishments, and then endure being told that they are “star performers,” but fall just short of being “water walkers,” especially if those arcane descriptors are somehow linked to performance-based bonuses. The process isn’t any easier for supervisors who have to personally document performance proof-points for each employee throughout the entire year to support feedback they will ultimately deliver when the review process finally rolls around in twelve months or more.

And what is the ultimate result? Very often it is a less-than-relevant and morale-deflating performance appraisal that does little to help an employee understand the company’s objectives, develop professionally or correct poor performance. It is no wonder so many companies neglect any sort of performance evaluation process at all. In a recent survey conducted by G&A Partners of small to medium-size Texas businesses, six percent of respondents had no performance appraisal process and another nearly 25 percent only evaluated employee performance as needed. What do you want to bet that for most of those respondents “as needed” equates to “only when there’s a problem”?

So what is the answer? How do you design a performance evaluation process that is relevant, truly measuring what matters to your company, but that doesn’t detract from productivity or morale? Below, we condense the components of a fail-safe process into four easy-to-remember steps. However, implementing and maintaining a constructive performance management process is hardly that easy. It requires time, effort and commitment, but if companies are willing to make the investment, they will have a process that delivers productive feedback to employees and positive returns in the form of high-performing employees.

Four Ds of Performance Management
 
Step #1:  Define
Someone once said, “Give me the luxury of a well-defined plan.” Clearly defined goals and performance expectations are indeed a luxury when they eliminate uncertainly and ambiguity. It’s like a road trip—if you know where you need to go and you have a general road map for getting there, you will reach your destination with fewer detours, diversions or pit stops.

What does a well-defined plan entail? For starters, companies should maintain current job descriptions. While an employee may have been hired into a certain position, roles and responsibilities have a way of changing as the employee develops new skills. It is important to recognize that growth by continually updating job descriptions with new responsibilities and tasks.

Supervisors should also work with employees to define individual goals and establish priorities based on the company’s objectives. These too should change and evolve as a company’s focus shifts.

Finally, supervisors should define an expected standard of performance. Paint a clear picture for employees of what it takes to succeed. What skills do they need to further develop? What kind of attitude should they possess? What kind of physical and mental challenges will they be expected to overcome? Don’t be afraid to set your standards high, but be sure to provide the necessary tools and opportunities for employees to step up to those high standards. And, of course, be prepared to reward those who meet or exceed those standards.

Step #2:  Document
Documenting performance is perhaps the most troublesome, yet important, component to good performance management. Many supervisors find it difficult to maintain adequate performance files on employees, so when the time comes to discuss performance they have no specific examples to point to and the conversation becomes general and ineffective.

Documenting performance doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Make a point to jot down notes about employee contributions or problems the way you might keep a running to-do list. Keeping some record of employee performance is not only helpful in providing relevant and concrete feedback, but it becomes critical if poor performance needs to be addressed.

Of course, supervisors can’t possibly see everything.  Companies may want to consider utilizing a 360 degree performance feedback system that can incorporate feedback from an employee’s internal client groups, customers, peers or direct reports. While 360 degree feedback is sometimes controversial, organizations satisfied with the 360 degree component of their performance management process point to a number of advantages, including feedback that is more accurate, more reflective of employees’ performance, and more validating than prior feedback from the supervisor alone.

Step #3:  Discuss
Human nature seems to dictate that we defer what we perceive to be difficult conversations, relegating them to a particular time or season? This could certainly be said of performance reviews. Because we relegate discussions about performance to a set time once a year, those discussions grow in perceived significance, and as a result, they become more difficult conversations for both supervisors and employees. However, if the topic of performance is not treated as being “taboo,” it becomes easier for everyone to discuss openly. 

Human resource experts suggest that it is far more effective to maintain an ongoing and open dialog about performance. “The best performance review is the ongoing review. Work with your employees on how they are doing on a task by task basis - daily or weekly. Let them know right away what they are doing wrong so they can correct it now, not twelve months from now when it has become an ingrained habit,” suggests one expert.

While making performance an ongoing topic of informal discussions, it is still important to schedule more formal monthly or quarterly meetings to discuss an employee’s projects and his or her performance related to them. Regular and ongoing dialog, instead of a once-a-year discussion, will help ensure that employees are receiving timely and relevant feedback. These regular conversations between supervisors and employees will also help employees stay in tune with changing organizational objectives so they can shift gears quickly and adapt priorities accordingly.

Step #4:  Develop
The goal of performance management should be focused toward employee development and improvement, focusing on what skills or characteristics the organization most wants to recognize and reward, be it productivity, innovativeness, or teamwork. The process need not be threatening or punitive. Instead, it should exist to offer direction and opportunity for professional growth. 

With that in mind, the product of each performance review should be a plan for the employee’s continued development. The plan should outline areas for additional training, set new goals, establish priorities, and perhaps even map a path to a promotion or pay increase, detailing what objectives still need to be met. Such a plan can become an agreement of sorts between the company and the employee, and can be the roadmap an employee refers to occasionally for needed direction and motivation.

So there it is – our fail-safe four Ds to designing a productive performance management process. At the end of the day, however, helpful advice alone will not make implementing and maintaining such a process any less effort. If your company does not have the in-house expertise and resources to coordinate and conduct a consistent and constructive performance management process, you may want to consider outsourcing the responsibility to external HR experts. For more information about performance management or outsourcing this or other HR functions, feel free to contact G&A Partners at (713) 784-1181.