anitsh
commented
1 year ago When done well, performance reviews can help employees understand:
What is expected of them What they’re doing well How they can improve How their work supports the company’s goals
Performance Management Processes
5 Most Important Performance Management Models
Traditional The annual performance management model. The yearly review model of performance management works well for teams that work with long-term, yearly goals with fixed plans. This performance management model is ideal for organizations that have exceptionally high employee retention rates.
Bi-annual Employee will be evaluated for their work twice over the course of a year. This performance management model is again perfect for teams that work with long-term goals but have some room for change. This model gives teams a chance to bring all operations back on track in case of deviations and calibrate the processes that are in motion.
Project-based Employee are evaluated on a project-by-project basis. For this model to be successful, one needs to decide on every outcome one wants from a project and have the exact evaluation metrics mapped out in advance.
This works well for teams that work with different clients and receive different requirements from each project they take up.
Reviews might not be the perfect barometer for the evaluation of an employee’s overall performance, since the reviews are only based on performance in one particular project.
Stack Ranking Stack ranking is a relatively old model of performance management that works on the foundation of improving performance by driving competition amongst employees. It is a model in which management gives ratings to employees, and the stack ranking fosters a competitive atmosphere in the workplace that motivates people to perform better. With numbers and defined metrics in place, evaluations become easier to understand, document, and analyze.
High-growth The high-growth model of performance management is one that is holistic and built on the pillars of planning, monitoring, reviewing, and rewarding.
The high-growth model is relatively new and is suited for agile teams across industries. This model supports annual and bi-annual review sessions, reinforced by smaller periodic check-ins to evaluate employees more extensively and frequently. Since the high-growth performance management model involves shorter assessment periods and frequent evaluations, incorporating performance improvement feedback becomes easier.
Goals for a high-growth performance management model are typically set based on a lot of factors and are SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Different Approaches to Performance Management
Five approaches one can take to craft an efficient performance management process
A performance roadmap for a particular employee should have components like:
The goals you want the employee to achieve within a defined period Milestones that will lead to said goals The action plan that will help achieve the goals and milestones Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will help measure the performance of the employee
KPIs work when you set tangible and achievable goals for the employee and are drawn after goals are finalized.
Rewards and recognition do not only mean rewarding outstanding performance or exceptional efforts; they could also be an acknowledgment of the investment that employees make to the company by putting in their best efforts every day.
Continuous feedback is all about the 5 Cs; feedback must always be:
Clear: For any feedback session to yield results, it is essential that employees get a clear picture of what is expected of them, and what improvements need to be brought in. Clear feedback is useful feedback. Candid: Feedback needs to be candid, that too, on both ends. It is important for both the manager and the employee to be honest to ensure that the feedback is effective. Continuous: Feedback works best when it is provided regularly. This way, the employer can ensure that employees can course-correct if they go off track and are able to show consistent growth.
Constructive: Feedback has to be constructive in that it enables people to reflect on their performance positively and not lose motivation or doubt their own abilities.
Collaborative: Feedback must be a collaborative process with both parties working towards encouraging the other and helping them grow.
A mentorship program will help employees:
Learn from the experience of others Gain exposure to new ideas and different ways of working
Develop soft skills
Stack Ranking
Jack Welch writes in Wall Street Journal (Opinion), "If you want teamwork, you identify it as a value. Then you evaluate and reward people accordingly. You'll get teamwork; I guarantee it."
**Decide who to reward, who to put on performance improvement plans, and who to let go." Some call it “rank and yank".
Employees needed a different kind of feedback system to thrive. The competitive and seemingly cutthroat style of stack ranking did not scale well long-term for these organizations.
Stack ranking can help you understand your workforce. Use that understanding not to fire, but to maximize your employee potential.
Stack ranking brings transparency to your promotion and — when need be — lay-off decisions. It allows you to identify and retain high-performing employees while you understand how to help under-performing ones.
Stack ranking removes ambiguity around what your assessment criteria are. If an employee is working hard but not getting promoted, there’s a feedback system that tells them why.
May help improve performance, it may do so at the cost of innovation, empathy, and employee mental well-being.
Stack Ranking Alternatives
We rise by raising others - The Team Attitude
Management by objectives (MBO) The MBO system uses goals employees set for themselves to increase company performance. Managers share company objectives with employees. Employees collaborate with their managers to identify and set personal goals that can further those objectives. Employees meet with managers one-on-one to discuss challenges and progress, and to get real-time feedback. And the end of the assigned timeframe, the manager can measure employee performance based on the set goals. This performance review system makes the employee feel included and builds trust in management.
Peer performance reviews With peer performance reviews, co-workers rate each other’s skills, competencies, performance, and attitude. The feedback is anonymous, or open if the culture allows for open feedback. Feedback indicates areas where the employee is strong, average, or needs improvement. All feedback — whether from reports, peers or managers — carries the same weight. Since teammates work together more often than with a manager, they may provide a more accurate evaluation of performance.
360-degree feedback Coworkers, managers, and customers or clients review each employee in a 360 feedback system. The results give managers a more comprehensive picture of an employee's performance. It enables better talent management too. Managers learn where employees can improve, and tailor training efforts accordingly.
Play to employee strengths
Despite its benefits, stack ranking can foster a culture of fear, competition, sabotage, and shame. That culture doesn’t harm your people alone, your company may suffer too.
What’s a better way to improve performance without jeopardizing culture, innovation, and profits? Personalized reviews that play to employee goals and strengths.
You can coach employees to get better at their areas of interest and strengths. Those strengths will drive innovation and productivity for your organization. And that is the goal of good people management.
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