2.

Performance Management Process

Introduction:

Performance management can be defined as a systematic process for improving organizational

performance by developing the performance of individuals and teams. It is a means of getting better
results by understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework of planned goals,
standards and competency requirements. Processes exist for establishing shared understanding about what
is to be achieved, and for managing and developing people in a way that increases the probability that it
will be achieved in the short and longer term. It focuses people on doing the right things by clarifying
their goals. It is owned and driven by line management.

Aims of P.M :
The overall aim of performance management is to establish a high performance culture in which
individuals and teams take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business processes and for
their own skills and contributions within a framework provided by effective leadership. Specifically,
performance management is about aligning individual objectives to organizational objectives and
ensuring that individuals uphold corporate core values. It provides for expectations to be defined and
agreed in terms of role responsibilities and accountabilities (expected to do), skills (expected to have) and
behaviours (expected to be). The aim is to develop the capacity of people to meet and exceed expectations
and to achieve their full potential to the benefit of themselves and the organization. Importantly,
performance management is concerned with ensuring that the support and guidance people need to
develop and improve are readily available.

Elements of Performance Management Process:

Performance management and review is a vital management tool that has significant influence over
careers and work lives. It links organizational strategy to individual work efforts. According to David
Grote, management consultant, when used properly, performance appraisal focuses employees’ efforts
toward the achievement of the company mission, vision and goals. Managers should implement the
performance management and review process properly to deliver the intended organizational benefits.

1.Planning: Planning is an inclusive process where organizational supervisors and managers meet with
their employees to discuss, identify and set performance plans for the next appraisal period. An effective
planning process spells out what employees are supposed to do and the standards they are to attain. For
example, the planning process could identify a key work responsibility that directly contributes to the
achievement of organizational goals, which the employee has to undertake and will be held accountable
for during the performance reviews.

2. Identify organizational goals: Performance management systems help rally staff members around
your organization's goals because they help staff know how they are to be involved in reaching that goal.
Take the time to clarify what your goals are for the next year as a company.
 Identify processes or procedures that could be simplified or done more effectively.
 Declare your sales goals for the next year or new products you would like to develop.
 Share your hope for better communication between departments and staff members.

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3. Set performance expectations: As you sit down with each employee, clearly lay out your expectations
for them.
 Acknowledge what they are already doing well. Use this to encourage them.
 Share some weaknesses that you have observed in them and in their work habits, and how
overcoming those would help their performance in the company.
 Identify specific things you would like them to accomplish over the next year, or whatever time
frame works best for you. Prioritize these so the staff member knows which is most important and
make sure to give them a deadline for each task.

4. Monitor and develop their performance throughout the year: As employees begin to work on their
performance, keep an eye on how they are doing. If they appear to be struggling to meet performance
expectations, talk with them and see if you can offer any support or coaching.

5. Evaluate their performance: At each performance review, let the employee know how they are doing.
It is often helpful to assign a numeric value on a scale, rating the employee from "not meeting
expectations" to "meets expectations" to "exceeds expectations."

 Provide feedback on their performance. Be as specific as possible, noting key examples of when
they demonstrated a certain quality.
 Talk about the consequences or rewards of their performance. Let them know if they are on
probation, are getting a raise in pay, changes in vacation days, or any other relevant action.
 Discuss any problems they may be having. Listen to their concerns or worries as you talk through
potential solutions.

6. Feedback: Feedback is an essential element of effective performance management and review because
it creates awareness among employees about whether they are adequately contributing to the
organizational goals. It also indicates the areas in which they can improve. In giving employees open and
transparent feedback, managers are able to guide employees’ careers in the organization and facilitate
their progress through mentoring, coaching, training needs analysis and creation of opportunities.

7. Reward: Performance appraisal is incomplete without reward and recognition. Formal rewards and
recognition should form part of the performance review and management process to motivate employees
and teams that have met or surpassed their performance targets. Offering rewards and recognition for
good performance is a way of modeling employee behavior so employees can make every effort to
qualify for the same at the next appraisal through continuous contribution to the organization’s goals. The
rewards and recognition should be fair and equitable and based on a formal record of outstanding
performance.

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Coaching-Ongoing feedback:

Feedback in performance management is always based on evidence. It refers to results, events,

critical incidents and significant behaviours that have affected performance in specific ways. The
feedback should be based on fact, not opinion, and it should be presented in a way that enables
individuals to recognize and accept its factual nature. Of course, there will often be room for some
interpretation of the facts, but such interpretations should start from the actual situation as reported in the
feedback and not from the subjective views expressed by the provider of the feedback.

Coaching is a personal (usually one-to-one) on-the-job approach to helping people develop their
skills and levels of capability. The need for coaching may arise from formal or informal performance
reviews, but opportunities for coaching will also emerge during normal day-to-day
activities. Every time a manager delegates a new task to someone, a coaching opportunity is created to
help the individual learn any new skills or techniques that are needed to get the job done. Every time a
manager provides feedback to an individual after a task has been completed, there is an opportunity to
help that individual do better next time.

Ongoing feedback and documentation is the key to effective year-round performance

management Formal and informal coaching sessions should take place every few weeks. It may cover:

 Progress made toward objectives and developmental goals.

 Recognition for a job well done
 Correction or additional direction if the objectives are not being met as desired
 Acknowledgment of progress toward objectives that were changed or eliminated
 Requests for additional support, training, resources, etc.

Guidelines on providing feedback:

The following are important aspects of the process of feedback, and guidelines are given for how each
should be tackled. Thus:

 Build feedback into the job. To be effective, feedback should be built into the job or provided
within 48 hours of an activity taking place.
 Provide feedback on actual events. Feedback should be provided on actual results or observed
behaviour. It should be backed up by evidence. It should not be based on supposition about the
reason for the behaviour. You should, for example, say: We have received a complaint from a
customer that you have been rude. Would you like to comment on this? rather than: You tend to
be aggressive.
 Describe, don t judge. The feedback should be presented as a description of what has happened
but should not be accompanied by a judgement. If you start by saying: I have been informed that
you have been rude to one of our customers. We can t tolerate that sort of behaviour, you will
instantly create resistance and will prejudice an opportunity to encourage improvement.
 Refer to specific behaviours. Relate all your feedback to specific items of behaviour. Don’t
indulge in transmitting general feelings or impressions.
 Ask questions rather than make statements. Thus: Why do you think this happened? ; On
reflection, is there any other way in which you think you could have handled the situation? ; How
do you think you should tackle this sort of situation in the future?

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  Select key issues and restrict yourself to them. There is a limit to how much criticism anyone can
take. If you overdo it, the shutters will go up and you will get nowhere.
 Focus. Focus on aspects of performance the individual can improve. It is a waste of time to
concentrate on areas that an individual can do little or nothing about.
 Provide positive feedback. Provide feedback on the things that the individual did well in addition
to areas for improvement. People are more likely to work positively at improving their
performance and developing their skills if they feel empowered by the process.

[* For Coaching, see the next point. It is not in Syllabus but read it for extra knowledge]

Preparing for Coaching:

Planned Coaching: Coaching may be informal, but it has to be planned. It is not simply checking
from time to time on what people are doing and then advising them on how to do it better. Nor is it
occasionally telling people where they have gone wrong and throwing in a lecture for good measure. As
far as possible, coaching should take place within the framework of a general plan of the areas and
direction in which individuals will benefit from further development. Coaching plans can and should be
incorporated into the personal development plans set out in a performance agreement.

Informal Coaching:
Informal coaching helps to shape performance and increase the likelihood that the employee's results will
meet your expectations. Informal coaching also allows you to support and recognize the employee when
work is being done well or is improving. On an informal basis, you may:
 Observe your employee in action. Notice the quality of work, how the employee manages his/her
time, and relates to other employees and customers.
 Communicate. Ask questions, listen to answers, and clarify any misunderstandings as quickly as
possible.
 Provide appropriate feedback on performance. The nature of the feedback and the time and place
in which it is given are important considerations.
 Provide recognition for a job well done.
 Consider changes in your own objectives, changes in the business climate, and changes in staff.
 Watch for early signs of declining or unsatisfactory performance and take appropriate action.

Formal Coaching:
Formal coaching sessions provide you and the employee the opportunity to meet and discuss his/her
progress toward meeting the key objectives and responsibilities outlined in the performance plan.
Schedule formal coaching sessions periodically during the review period, ideally once each quarter. In the
one-on-one meeting, you typically should:
 Assess the results of the employee's performance to date with respect to the performance plan,
notifying the employee if the performance level has changed.
 Provide positive feedback on performance that meets or exceeds objectives.
 Provide specific suggestions on how performance can be improved.
 Encourage employee input about performance and possible improvement.
 Include any unplanned activities and the criteria for measuring accomplishment of those
activities. Unplanned activities are significant activities or projects your employee undertakes
during the review period that were not part of the original plan.

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The coaching process

Coaching as part of the normal process of management consists of:

 Making people aware of how well they are performing by, for example, asking them questions to
establish the extent to which they have thought through what they are doing;
 Controlled delegation ensuring that individuals not only know what is expected of them but also
understand what they need to know and be able to do to complete the task satisfactorily, giving
managers an opportunity to provide guidance at the outset (as guidance at a later stage may be
seen as interference);
 Using whatever situations may arise as opportunities to promote learning;
 Encouraging people to look at higher-level problems and how they would tackle them.

Coaching skills

Coaching will be most effective when:

 The coach understands that his or her role is to help people to learn;
 Individuals are motivated to learn they should be aware that their present level of knowledge or
skill or their behaviour needs to be improved if they are going to perform their work to their own
and to others satisfaction;
 Individuals are given guidance on what they should be learning & feedback on how they are
doing;
 Learning is an active, not a passive, process individuals need to be actively involved with their
coach;
 the coach listens to individuals to understand what they want and need;
 the coach adopts a constructive approach, building on strengths and experience.

The manager as coach: Coaching should provide motivation, structure and effective feedback if
managers have the required skills and commitment. As coaches, managers believe that people can
succeed, that they can contribute to their success and that they can identify what people need to be able to
do to improve their performance. They have to see performance management as an enabling, empowering
process that focuses on learning requirements. Successful coaching depends on a clear definition of work
and development objectives and on managers recognizing that this is one of their key responsibilities. But
they need to be trained in coaching skills if they are to carry out their important role effectively.

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