Tomlinson (1993:65) describes performance management as 'the process that links people and jobs to

the strategy and objectives of the organisation'. The DfEE (2000a:1) in their performance management
framework suggest that 'performance management demonstrates school's commitment to develop all
teachers effectively and to ensure job satisfaction, high levels of expertise and progression of staff in
their chosen profession'. Good performance management leaves all staff, teaching and non-teaching,
feeling supported in their work, encouraged by recognition of their achievement, helped to overcome
problems they may encounter, and happy in feeling part of a team in which people care for each other.

We live in an era when research tells us that the teacher is probably the single most important factor
affecting student achievement—at least the single most important factor that we can do much about.
To illustrate, as a result of their study involving some 60,000 students, S. Paul Wright, Sandra Horn, and
William Sanders (1997) note the following: The results of this study will document that the most
important factor affecting student learning is the teacher. In addition, the results show wide variation in
effectiveness among teachers. The immediate and clear implication of this finding is that seemingly
more can be done to improve education by improving the effectiveness of teachers than by any other
single factor. Effective teachers “appear to be effective with students of all achievement levels regardless
of the levels of heterogeneity in their classes”. If the teacher is ineffective, students under that teacher's
tutelage will achieve inadequate progress academically, regardless of how similar or different they are
regarding their academic achievement. (p. 63) [emphasis in original]

McCay (1959) developed a concept for a time-management training program, which is still being
used. Critical elements are: giving insight into time-consuming activities,changing time
expenditure, and increasing workday efficiency by teaching people how to make a daily
planning, how to prioritise tasks, and how to handle unexpected tasks