Introduction

Without employee performance management, most organizations would operate under

chaotic conditions. Employee performance management is a set of guidelines for improving
productivity, managing workplace behaviour, training and developing staff and providing
constructive feedback on a regular and consistent basis. An employee performance
management system consists of elements that help employers simultaneously achieve
business goals and maintain employee satisfaction.
Definition
Employee performance management is a process that companies use to ensure their
employees are contributing to producing a high quality product or service. Employee
performance management encourages the employee to get involved in the planning for the
company, and therefore anticipates by having a role in the process the employee will be
motivated to perform at a high level.
Significance of Employee Performance
Employee performance is important for an organization, because it keeps the employees on
track in terms of work projects. It is common that employees are asked to help out in different
departments or on projects with a tight deadline. If this happens too often, the employee
might not finish the tasks she was hired to do. Employee performance reviews ensure that the
workers are focused on their jobs and work toward reaching the company's overall goals and
satisfying the organization's mission statement.
Why Is Employee Performance Management Important?
Managing employee performance is beneficial to both the employee and manager. If done
properly, it is an opportunity for two-way communication, and the information acquired can
be useful. The frequency of performance management may be determined by company
policy, the size of the team and the complexity of team tasks.
1. Employee Motivation: For most employees, knowing how their work contributes to
the company's success can be motivating. Performance management can tell
employees how they are doing in this regard.
2. Concerns: Regular employee performance management can address performance or
behaviour concerns before they become serious problems.

3. New Skills: Acquiring new or different skills benefits both the employee and
company. This can lead to shared responsibilities in team tasks, among other benefits.
4. Career Direction: Developing existing skills or learning new ones lets an employee
plan for the next career move. The performance management process can create a
plan to bridge gaps between current skills and future needs.
5. Communication: Performance management can make the employer aware of general
employee satisfaction and needs.
Employee Performance Management Tools
Employee performance management is a core human resources discipline that facilitates an
agency in meeting its overall mission. Management and employee participation in the
performance management process improves organizational effectiveness, stimulates
communication and provides clarity.

Planning
Performance planning is the first step in the performance management process. Setting clear
performance expectations and communicating them is essential to achieving and sustaining a
high-performance culture. Collaborative two-way planning meetings held at the beginning of
each rating cycle allow management to develop measurable performance goals with
employee input. Active participation is vital to the success of the planning process.

Monitoring
Progress reviews enable management and employees to address performance strengths and/or
weaknesses prior to the end of the rating cycle. Conducting progress reviews keeps the line of
communication open, thereby facilitating coaching and feedback. Progress towards meeting
expectations should be discussed throughout the rating cycle. Employees should also inform
managers of additional resource needs or roadblocks to meeting expectations. Since
performance plans can be modified prior to the end of the rating cycle, unrealistic goals can
be replaced or removed. Monitoring performance continually ensures there are no surprises at
the end of the rating cycle.

Development
Employee development enhances performance and introduces new skills. Providing the
proper tools and technology needed to meet performance expectations helps an employee go
above and beyond the acceptable level of competence. Receiving the training required to
develop job skills is also good for employee morale. If an employee's performance does fall
below the level necessary to meet expectations, a performance improvement plan should be
developed and administered to address the issue.

Rating
Employees must receive annual ratings each performance appraisal period. Evaluating an
employee's performance against the standards developed in the performance plan summarizes
the employee's accomplishments. Employees are encouraged to provide input by sending
managers positive feedback from peers, management and/or customers. Ratings that are
above the level of acceptable competence can lead to increases in salary or monetary awards.
Performance that remains below the level of acceptable competence, after a performance
improvement plan, can lead to disciplinary action.

Rewarding
To retain the agency's top talent it is important to provide well-timed incentives. Performance
awards are given to employees in recognition of contributions toward the organization's
strategic goals. Rewarding excellent performance demonstrates appreciation and increases
employee morale. Employees also value management communication of a job well done.

How to Monitor Employee Performance

Great employee performance is a key to your business's success. Employees are the first line
of many businesses' offense and their performance makes a direct impression on your
customers. Customers are the primary source of your business's income and normally factor
their overall experience at your establishment into whether they may return or become a
regular customer. This is why monitoring your employee's performance is invaluable.

Instructions
1 Plan employee's job tasks in advance. This gives the employee both direction and an overall
idea of the performance standards you expect her to meet.
2 Consistently supervise and evaluate your employee's performance. Provide feedback by
administering monthly or annual progress reviews and give positive suggestions to better help
her strengthen her performance.
3 Administer monthly or annual trainings to your employee that focus on improving positive
work flow, time management, and introducing new skills and responsibilities. This keeps
your employee(s) versatile and able to adapt to new working conditions quicker.
4 Identify your best employee and use her as a model for current and future employees.
Identifying your best employee validates your expectations for employee performance and
serves as proof that your expectations are realistic and reasonable.
5 Reward your employee. Rewarding your employee makes her feel appreciated and gives
her a sense of value. Rewarding your employee also gives her motivation to keep up her level
of performance.
Activities Involved in Monitoring Employee Performance
Performance management is essential in ensuring that a company's workforce is motivated,
productive and committed to their jobs. Traditionally, managers monitor their employees'
performance through quarterly or annual performance reviews. These sessions allow
managers and employees to discuss the employee's strengths and weaknesses exemplified
over the course of the review period. However, other activities are required to monitor
employees' performance.

Goal Setting: Have employees start each new review session by setting future, measurable
goals. Goal development is important in the business world because, according to
"Entrepreneur," effective goal-setting activities are directly associated with higher employee
satisfaction and performance. Having clearly defined goals motivates employees to work

toward their expected achievements. In turn, employees are evaluated by managers based on
completion of goals throughout the year.

Regular Supervision: Provide regular supervision for subordinates. According to the U.S.
Office of Personnel Management, regular supervision acts as continuous monitoring. At this
time, supervisors should compare employees' work performance against the standards and
expectations. Supervision sessions also allow employees to express concerns and ask
questions as things come up, rather than having to wait all year to touch base at their annual
review. By being available to connect with employees, managers monitor performance on a
more consistent basis. In turn, they detect concerns and resolve performance issues more
promptly.

Feedback: Offering employees feedback on their work is an effective way of monitoring

their progress and letting employees know how well they performed a particular task or
project. Furnishing employees with constructive notes makes them feel like their work is
valued and appreciated, without having to meet in a formal setting.

Formal Reviews: Formal performance reviews are individual meetings between supervisors
and their employees. Prior to the meeting, the supervisor fills out an evaluation form that
scores the employee's performance based on professionalism, quality of work, organizational
skills, timeliness and productivity. When the supervisor meets with employees, the results of
the evaluation are shared and the supervisor summarizes what the employee's strengths are,
as well as which areas need to be improved.

Reward Systems: Reward systems should be built into performance monitoring. When
employees are recognized for their hard work, they feel more appreciated and therefore more
motivated to continue doing a good job. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management explains
that rewards can be as simple as a certificate of appreciation or they can be more grandiose,
such as giving employees cash benefits or extra days off from work.

Types of Monitoring & Evaluation

Performance management enables managers to monitor and evaluate how well employees are
performing. Monitoring and evaluation systems are useful tools that let managers know
whether employees are deserving of raises, promotions or, in some cases, termination.
Managers may use one or a variety of monitoring and evaluation tactics to assess their
employees.
Live Observations
Live observation is form of monitoring and evaluation that requires the manager or a
consultant to observe an employee carrying out his job duties. In a school environment, this
may mean that the school administrator sits in the teacher's classroom for a day while the
teacher educates her students. In an office environment, this could mean that a manager
shadows the employee during meetings and at his desk. Live observations give supervisors
the chance to see employees in action and take notes about the things that employees do well
or need to improve upon.

Performance Appraisals
A performance appraisal is an evaluation meeting between an employee and his manager,
similar to the structure of an interview. According to the October 2005 article in Entrepreneur
Magazine, "Appraising Employee Performance," performance appraisals serve as feedback
sessions in which the manager and employee discuss key issues that are relative to the
employee's performance that the manager observes. For instance, an appraisal evaluation may
indicate that an employee needs to improve the quality of his work or needs to learn how to
be better organized around his desk. Performance appraisals should be constructive. They are
not intended to bash or belittle an employee.
Peer Reviews
Peer reviews are monitoring and evaluation activities that involve coworkers scoring one
another on how well they carry out their jobs. During a peer review, each employee is
responsible for monitoring and evaluating one other employee. Monitoring and evaluation
tools are often used for employees to capture information and prompt them on what factors to
look for. For instance, an employee may be asked to rate her peer's customer service skills.

Managers collect peer reviews and assess them to see how everyone on the team scored. The
review scores may be used by the manager to make changes in team assignments or to fuel a
performance appraisal for individual employees.
Secret Shopper
Secret shoppers are activities that many companies use to find out how well employees
perform. In this activity, someone from the company -- or hired by the company -- pretends to
be a customer or client and interacts with the employee. The employee does not know that he
is being monitored and evaluated by the customer or client. The secret shopper's experience
with the employee is scored and given to a company manager for review.
Self-Evaluation
Self-evaluation is an evaluation process in which the employee scores herself on her
performance. Self-evaluations are used to give employees a fair chance to analyze their
strengths and weaknesses. Managers use self-evaluations to formulate performance
appraisals.

How to Assess Employee Performance

Instructions
1 Consult the employee's official job description. Align the organization's goals with the job's
objective. Note any discrepancies and brainstorm ways to bring the discrepancies back in
line.

2 Communicate management's expectations to the employee. A common understanding must

exist between management and the employee regarding the work expectations, the nature of
work to be accomplished and the standards by which the work is evaluated.

3 Offer the employee feedback concerning his performance and it's relationship to the
expectations set forth by management. Be constructive instead of destructive with your
comments while being honest about your appraisal.

4 Coach the employee. Provide the resources required for her to meet and exceed
management's expectations. Coaching needs to be a constant and consistent effort made by
management in order to clarify and modify performance before it is too late.

5 Assess the employee's strengths and weaknesses. Do this by using a narrative form, a
checklist, peer and self evaluations, or by using ranking charts. The employee needs to
understand why you have come to your conclusions so he is able to correct any problems.

6 Decide what type of career development or continuing education might be beneficial to

assisting the employee in developing her skills and improving her performance. Be open to
all options.

Factors That Affect Employee Performance in a Organization

Employees don't perform in a vacuum. There are a variety of factors, personal, companybased and external that affects their performance. Identifying these factors can help improve
recruitment, retention and organizational results.
1. Job Fit
Employees must be qualified to perform a job in order to meet expectations. The best fit for a
job is identified by skills, knowledge and attitude towards the work. If an employee is in the
wrong job for any of these reasons, results will suffer.
2. Technical Training
Employees can bring skills to a position but there are likely to be internal, company- or
industry-specific activities that will require additional training. If a process requires a new
software package it's unrealistic to expect employees to just figure it out; they should receive
adequate training.
3. Clear Goals and Expectations

When everyone understands the targets and expected outcomes, it is easier to take steps to get
there and measure performance along the way. Organizations without clear goals are more
likely to spend time on tasks that do not impact results.
4. Tools and Equipment
Just as a driver needs a vehicle in operating condition, employees must have the tools and
equipment necessary for their specific jobs. This includes physical tools, supplies, software
and information. Outdated equipment or none at all, has a detrimental effect on the bottom
line.
5. Morale and Company Culture
Morale and company culture are both difficult to define but employees will be able to report
when they are poor or positive. Poor morale exists when there is significant whining,
complaining and people just don't want to come to work. On the positive end, the workplace
is energized by a sense of purpose and teams that genuinely want to work together.