PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDBACK
A study sponsored by the International Association for Human Resource Information (IHRIM) indicates that performance management ranks third among HR professionals in their top human capital priorities for 2006. This ranking tied with aligning people and business goals.
A check out clerk cashes a check without following the established policy and the act results in a loss. A programmer takes a shortcut causing a new software package to perform below expectations. A newspaper reporter prints a story without checking the facts and sources causing a subsequent retraction.
These are all examples of poor performance. How the company deals with it determines whether the results are learning and improvement or demoralized employees.
Golfing in the Dark
For many reasons, giving positive and constructive feedback to employees is often an intimidating task for managers and HR professionals; however in absence of this, you are effectively asking your employees to play the game of golf in the dark.
In fact, a Gallup Poll of over 1 million employees and 80,000 managers found that “knowing what is expected” has a great impact on employee satisfaction and effectiveness.
In today’s ever-changing world, resilient companies have a competitive edge. Leaders in these companies are more productive, output is higher, and quality is consistent. When hit with rapid changes, organizations need their employees to comprehend the issues, be motivated, and bounce back in agreement and commitment to change. The result is improved performance.
Performance and Human Capital Convergence
Human capital and performance management should be in a state of convergence in your organization. This means that management and learning professionals should be in alignment, and they need to be paying attention to the kind of performance management that develops a more productive and resilient workforce.
The elements of your human capital package should include the following:
- Hiring and recruiting talent
- Supervisory/leadership development
- Aligning people and business goals
- Talent management metrics
- Succession planning
- Workforce planning and retention
- Training and development
- Skills and competency assessments
- Career development
- Pay for performance and recognition systems
- Performance management and feedback
Performance planning is step one in performance management. It is having clear criteria, setting clear expectations, and communicating so that all parties are in understanding. Step two is performance management. This is a continuous activity that keeps employees in the loop and in agreement with what is expected.
Training professionals, who teach managers and supervisors to use a fair, fact-based, and collaborative model for performance feedback, create more self-motivated people who feel in control of their own performance.
Want to know more?
Providing Performance Feedback (2006), Vital Learning Corporation.
International Association for Human Resource Information (2006).
