Performance
management techniques are for more powerful than most senior leaders realize.
Many believe that these techniques simply allow you to measure performance but
when they are applied within a larger framework that identifies core,
performance management techniques can help you achieve key organizational goals
including the following, fifteen goals that are important to achieving any
organizational goals are as follows:
1. Support Workforce Development
Workforce development addresses the workforce needs of the organization.
Managing based on performance allows for tighter control between workforce
capacity and actual operational needs. Best practices in performance management
also tie workforce development to other critical factors including employee
engagement, financial goals, and even customer satisfaction.
2. Respect Workforce Capabilities and Requirements
Workforce capabilities address individual skills and capacities. Keeping a
close eye on operational metrics allows for closer alignment between individual
capabilities and personal capacity to perform. Managing performance requires
can be better supported when capabilities are well aligned with tasks and
workforce requirements are provided as necessary even down to the individual
worker.
3. Create Open Communication
Nothing can impact organizational performance more than good, open
communication. If everyone understands the purpose, goals and operational
objectives and organization can run effectively. Rarely is over communication a
problem. Be sure you take the time to communicate the vision, values, and
operational objectives to maximize employee engagement and improve performance.
4. Align Vision with Goals and Objectives and Results
Objectives and results are the outcomes that flow from specific action plans
that are designed to help achieve organizational goals. If these action plans
are not well aligned with the vision and goals of the organization they will
fall short of producing the kinds of outcomes that you expect. Take the time to
think through how well action plan objections are designed to produce the kinds
of outcomes you really want.
5. Create Workforce Engagement & Loyalty
Workforce engagement grows out of a healthy organizational culture that
recognizes individual effort and personal achievement. Performance metrics
provide the perfect way for both manager and employees to understand exactly
what tasks are required for organizational success. Such clarity aligns persona
effort and operational outcomes. That in turns creates strong motivation on a
personal level which leads to high levels of engagement and loyalty. When
workers know exactly what is expected of them and they have been given the training
and resources to perform successfully on the job they will respond accordingly.
When compensation and recognition are tied to clearly defined metrics
performance will naturally be maximized with minimal management effort.
6. Better Manage Risk Taking
Risks are often difficult to manage. Building performance metrics around
actions that are tied to good risk management is one of the best ways to
minimize any risk in any form, including both financial and physical risks.
Award programs focused on increasing risk awareness and risk abatement
strategies can go a long way to improving behaviors that could otherwise
produce unwanted and dangerous outcomes.
7. Improve Decision Making at all Levels
Some decisions must be made at the senior level but a lot of responsibility can
be pushed throughout the organization as long as employees are properly
supported with good training and are clear about overall organizational goals.
This leader/leader model fits nicely into a performance management system as it
increases many key metrics such as employee engagement, improved operations,
customer satisfaction and improved risk management.
8. Improve your Leadership Process
Leadership processes focus first on good communication but an organizational
culture that embraces learning and encourages employees to assume
responsibility will support better decision making at every level in the
organization.
9. Increase Customer and Stakeholder Value
Performance management theory puts customer and stakeholder value a top priority
and can help ensure the successful fulfillment of the organization's vision. A
customer centric organization always keeps a keen focus on customer value which
in turn drives the overall value of the organization and thereby increases
stakeholder value as well.
10. Increase Long Term Sustainability
Long term sustainability is often overlooked and even sacrificed for the sake
of short term gain. Good performance management practice includes
sustainability as a key goal in the organization. Sustainability should rarely
be sacrificed for short term gain but it is easy for senior leaders to drop the
ball when they focus only on short term metrics. Long term metrics should be
defined and tied to key sustainability issues so that they do not get lost when
making strategic calculations.
11. Improve Market Awareness & Understanding
Customer value can only be fulfilled when the organization understands the
market in which it operates. Business ecosystems are growing increasingly
complex and opportunities for creating customer value evolve rapidly.
Understanding the market and the entire business ecosystem is the best way to
ensure that opportunities for increasing customer value are not overlooked.
12. Improve Workforce Capabilities and Capacities
Performance management is the best way to tie current operational needs to
workforce capabilities. Measuring performance both at the process level and the
individual employee level allows for better alignment and prediction of both
current and future needs.
13.Apply Lessons Learned
A performance management system is designed to create learning, based on the
collection and analysis of performance data. Applying those lessons is the key
to creating a mature organization that is continuously improving.
14. Achieve better Integration and Harmonization
Integration is the process of applying lessons learned into organizational and
operational processes. As an organization learns and matures, better
performance is measured not only in immediate outcomes tied to specific processes,
but also in terms of how different processes work together. Improvement in the
harmony of interrelated processes can result in significant improvement in
measured outcomes.
15. Discover and Apply Innovative Breakthroughs
A good performance management system results in continuous improvement in all
processes but not at the expense of innovation. An organization that perfects
its process will ultimately become bureaucratic and moribund, incapable of
adapting to changing conditions. Innovative breakthroughs demand change
management which can be highly disruptive to an organization but a mature
organization will always be open to making significant and even painful changes
when innovative breakthroughs promise great rewards.
