Performance Management

Performance management
Performance management (PM) includes activities to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product or service, as well as many other areas.
Performance management as referenced on this page is a broad term coined by Dr. Aubrey Daniels in the late 1970s to describe a technology (i.e. science imbedded in applications methods) for managing both behavior and results, two critical elements of what is known as performance.[1]
There are many ways and methods to measure employee performance but one of the most effective ways is using automated tools. The following are the advantages for using an automated performance management systems:
• Automation of Processes:Organisations can improve their HR Reporting and analytics with the automation of their performance measurement process. It also saves time and money.
• Goal clarity and alignment: Everyone in the organisation is clearly aware about the common organisational goals and objectives. Once the goals are clearly defined, everyone works for the growth of the organisation.
• Remote Workers (out of office operations):Technological advancements have lead to the growth of alternate working arrangements. With an EPM, employees working out of offices can coordinate their efforts with their managers.
• Flexibility and customisation: The employee performance management solutions can be customised according to the needs of the organisation.
• Competency management: Every organisation has some competencies around which their business operations revolve. An efficient and effective employee performance measurement solution ensures that the competencies are managed well.
• Talent management ( retention and growth): Employee performance management is an important factor for Talent Management. It helps identify known competencies, develop succession plans, notice talent gaps and establish compensation scales based on employee assessment.
Application
This is used most often in the workplace, can apply wherever people interact — schools, churches, community meetings, sports teams, health setting, governmental agencies, and even political settings - anywhere in the world people interact with their environments to produce desired effects. Armstrong and Baron (1998) defined it as a “strategic and integrated approach to increasing the effectiveness of organizations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors.”
It may be possible to get all employees to reconcile personal goals with organizational goals and increase productivity and profitability of an organization using this process. It can be applied by organisations or a single department or section inside an organisation, as well as an individual person. The performance process is appropriately named the self-propelled performance process (SPPP).[citation needed]
First, a commitment analysis must be done where a job mission statement is drawn up for each job. The job mission statement is a job definition in terms of purpose, customers, product and scope. The aim with this analysis is to determine the continuous key objectives and performance standards for each job position.
Following the commitment analysis is the work analysis of a particular job in terms of the reporting structure and job description. If a job description is not available, then a systems analysis can be done to draw up a job description. The aim with this analysis is to determine the continuous critical objectives and performance standards for each job.
Benefits
Managing employee or system performance facilitates the effective delivery of strategic and operational goals. There is a clear and immediate correlation between using performance management programs or software and improved business and organizational results.
For employee performance management, using integrated software, rather than a spreadsheet based recording system, may deliver a significant return on investment through a range of direct and indirect sales benefits, operational efficiency benefits and by unlocking the latent potential in every employees work day (i.e. the time they spend not actually doing their job). Benefits may include:
Direct financial gain
• Grow sales
• Reduce costs
• Stop project overruns
• Aligns the organization directly behind the CEO's goals
• Decreases the time it takes to create strategic or operational changes by communicating the changes through a new set of goals
Motivated workforce
• Optimizes incentive plans to specific goals for over achievement, not just business as usual
• Improves employee engagement because everyone understands how they are directly contributing to the organisations high level goals
• Create transparency in achievement of goals
• High confidence in bonus payment process
• Professional development programs are better aligned directly to achieving business level goals
Improved management control
• Flexible, responsive to management needs
• Displays data relationships
• Helps audit / comply with legislative requirements
• Simplifies communication of strategic goals scenario planning
• Provides well documented and communicated process documentation
Organizational Development
In organizational development (OD), performance can be thought of as Actual Results vs Desired Results. Any discrepancy, where Actual is less than Desired, could constitute the performance improvement zone. Performance management and improvement can be thought of as a cycle:
1. Performance planning where goals and objectives are established
2. Performance coaching where a manager intervenes to give feedback and adjust performance
3. Performance appraisal where individual performance is formally documented and feedback delivered
A performance problem is any gap between Desired Results and Actual Results. Performance improvement is any effort targeted at closing the gap between Actual Results and Desired Results.
Other organizational development definitions are slightly different. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) indicates that Performance Management consists of a system or process whereby:
1. Work is planned and expectations are set
2. Performance of work is monitored
3. Staff ability to perform is developed and enhanced
4. Performance is rated or measured and the ratings summarized
5. Top performance is rewarded[2]
References
1. ^ Daniels, Aubrey (4th edition, July 2004). Performance Management: Changing Behavior that Drives Organizational Effectiveness.
2. ^ A Handbook for Measuring Employee Performance, by the US Office of Personnel Management
Further reading
• Organizational Behavior Management Network, Dr. John Austin, Dr. Dale Brethower, Dr. Alyce Dickinson. www.obmnetwork.com. 2009.
• Performance Management: Changing Behavior That Drives Organizational Effectiveness, 4th ed., Dr. Aubrey C. Daniels. Performance Management Publications, 1981, 1984, 1989, 2006. ISBN 0-937100-08-0
• Performance Management - Integrating Strategy Execution, Methodologies, Risk, and Analytics. Gary Cokins, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2009. ISBN 978-0-470-44998-1
• Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Published quarterly. 2009.
• Handbook of Organizational Performance, Thomas C. Mawhinney, William K. Redmon & Carl Merle Johnson. Routledge. 2001.
• Bringing out the Best in People, Aubrey C. Daniels. McGraw-Hill; 2nd edition. 1999.
• Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart, Geary A. Rummler & Alan P. Brache. Jossey-Bass; 2nd edition. 1995.
• Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance, Thomas F. Gilbert. Pfeiffer. 1996.
• The Values-Based Safety Process: Improving Your Safety Culture with Behavior-Based Safety, Terry E. McSween. John Wiley & Sons. 1995.
• Performance-based Instruction: Linking Training to Business Results, Dale Brethower & Karolyn Smalley. Pfeiffer; Har/Dis edition. 1998.
• Handbook of Applied Behavior Analysis, John Austin & James E. Carr. Context Press. 2000.
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Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_management accessed on 19 November 2010.