Performance Options!!!

The choices for performance management are many. Take your pick...

• Total performance management is the most preferred approach to managing performance in organisations
• Continuous learning approach is best suited for monitoring individual performance

Performance management is the “amoeba” of the HR function. It can take any shape and form depending on the organisational requirements. There is no “one” best way of carrying out performance management systems as every organisation has its own unique performance requirements and objectives. However, whatever be the form there are three basic “employment rights’ that performance management strategies cater to. These include:

• To know job-related expectations
• To know how well a job is being done with relation to the set expectations
• To know how performance levels can be strengthened and improved

Using these rights as the premise organisations can further their performance management agenda.

The best approach

There are many approaches to corporate performance management. What an organisation chooses depends on what it wishes to achieve through the exercise. To get an insight into the various performance management choices managers should have the right understanding of the purpose behind imposing it. For instance, a simple performance management system that works through annual performance reviews is good enough as it serves all three fundamental employment rights. However, most organisations are constantly working towards adding more features to the basic performance management framework. Understanding why they are doing so is important for managers before they fulfil the new performance management outline.

A thorough understanding will help managers make the right choice. There are five basic performance management options that managers can choose from. These options represent the depth and breadth of performance management stressing its role in corporate talent management.

The options include:

Total performance management

This is the most proper and appropriate approach to performance management. It covers important performance features like-role profiles, individual achievements and objectives, expectations management, goal setting, appraisals and self-assessment and feedback. This approach mainly helps an individual to understand the business objectives and the best approach to achieving the same. In addition the approach focuses on “skill gap analysis” and competency assessment of individuals by standardizing the skills and competency requirements for the organisation as a whole. If delivered well this model aids organisations in framing business excellence model that represents individual contribution of employees to the larger corporate agenda.

Skills or competency-based performance management

This is the scaled down version of total performance management. It mainly focuses on an individual’s skill and competency state and reviews performance based on how well the individual is able to apply his skills for achieving organizational goals. It works on the premise that success of an organisation depends to a large extent on the way employees leverage their skills and gain new skills. This model works well for ‘knowledge workers” as their performance is largely based on their technical skills and ability to use them for organisational benefit.

Team-based performance management

This approach is best suited for showing a new business unit or a project where team-based objectives are more relevant and hold greater significance. Assigning team objectives that get broken down to individual goals is the underlying principle of this approach. It works best in project-based work culture where tasks are jointly owned and carried out. It is the best approach for improving team effectiveness and designing a performance management plan for workers in a team set up.

Continuous learning and development

This approach is best suited for noting individual performance. Here the manager sets individual goals and reviews performance regularly. The approach stresses on the need for learning and training for strengthening individual performance levels. Performance reviews are used for training recommendations to find out whethert the individual is provided with the right resources for supplementing performance levels.

Further, the continuous learning approach to performance management also ensures that individual weaknesses and faults are attended to. It helps ease the drag levied by the drawbacks by instilling confidence in individuals and converting their losses to quick wins.

Project-based performance management

Performance management has been traditionally based on the formal wiring of the organisation. This means, the performance features are based on what a worker is supposed to do and not what he is doing. Traditional job profiles are used as the templates for deciding performance. This however discounts the project-based contribution of individuals. Hence, shifting from the traditional approach to performance management to a more project-based approach that caters real work is best suited for client-servicing professionals who go on-site and work on assigned projects.

While each of these approaches seems mutually exclusive there is a certain degree of overlap between them. Therefore when an organisation chooses a particular approach it cannot abandon others. . In fact in some case more than one approach may be used. Irrespective of the approach leaders and managers should bear in mind the three fundamental employment rights are not violated by ensuring the real needs of the organisation are met and not compromised.

Reference:
The ManageMentor
cnkonline.com