performance management

How Businesses around the World Should be Doing Performance Management in the New Reality

80% of the survey respondents are currently unhappy with their current performance systems are keen on upgrading them.” 

Organizations are not satisfied with their performance management systems because it is difficult to know the progress of the teams toward the business objective. According to a study, 61% of the managers do not have clear visibility on how their team members are executing their job responsibilities. However, this was the condition of most organizations during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

People-centric organizations managed their productivity and employee performance well during the pandemic as they always had work from home policies and many other employee-focused plans. Other companies strived to sustain initially but eventually learned to adapt to the new reality and adopt the new practices in the performance management system because that was the only way to bounce back from adversity. 

This blog gives away a few tips to help companies to revamp their performance management system to thrive and reach heights even in these times of uncertainty.  

Agile Performance Management System 

In this unprecedented period, an annual performance management system is more of a bane than a boon. It could have been a present for companies when they had decided to become employee-centric. However, since then, the performance management system has evolved a lot. The form that supports growth in this pandemic period is an agile system. The agile performance management system enables businesses to set new tracks in order to adapt to changing business environments. Regular Check-ins and continuous feedback are the highlights of an agile performance management system.  

More than 50% of the workforce in various organizations feel that mentorship culture is the driving force toward growth and development, especially in times of crisis. Regular conversations, exchange of ideas, and collaboration help companies to move forward through the difficult period and thrive with innovative ideas from fresh minds. Continuous Check-ins can guide the thinking process of employees and mitigate the chances of failure of any work by providing direction and guidance to the workforce along the way. Managers acting as a coach also enhances employee experience in an organization, and the employees see growth for themselves which would increase workforce morale and also build mutual trust and loyalty. “Continuous delivery without continuous feedback is very, very dangerous,” says Colin Humphreys. Because that would affect the quality of the work. 

Rewards and Recognition 

The employees are isolated, and whenever they exceed the expectations of the managers and put in a great deal of effort, they look forward to the company to recognize their achievements. Recognition gives a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment to the workforce and that also motivates them to perform better. It is also a way of connecting with your employees. Synergita awards the best performing employees with the “role star” award to encourage the high-performing employees and also to create a healthy competitive culture among the employees. Rewarding the employees and recognizing them also make the workforce feel that their managers are watching them to mentor and is also giving autonomy to employees for themselves to figure out a situation. 

Before COVID, to recognize the employees, companies will plan a small celebration or appreciate the employee in front of all other employees on the office floor, which is not possible today. So, different organizations have come up with different solutions like appreciating the employees in the quarterly meetings or putting an immediate message of recognition on a social platform within the company. The technology aids in business continuity and also employee performance management and engagement. A study reveals that 55% of employees out of 1,700 give a lack of recognition as the primary reason for resigning from a job.  

Outcome Focused Performance Management System 

The thin line between personal and professional space is disappearing ever since the workforce started working from home. In this situation, one of the priorities of organizations should be supporting their employees to effectively handle and balance their personal and professional lives. To successfully execute this goal, flexibility is the key. Focusing on the work hours, checking on the progress of a task every hour, and nagging the workforce will only stress the employees and there would be a decrease in productivity.  

Employees should be given flexibility and autonomy. This is an opportunity to create a high-performing work culture by closely working with the employees and creating an environment that ensures to bring the best out of the workforce. The companies should focus on the outcomes rather than the hard work put in by the employees. Goal-setting frameworks like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), SMART goals help in measuring the progress of the remote teams toward the overall business objectives. These management tools focus more on the outcomes than the outputs. 

Objective Reviews  

Biases exist everywhere. In this pandemic, if managers do not throw away their biases against a few employees or prejudices, that will affect the overall team, in turn, the entire company. Managers, despite knowing the employees before COVID, should put in the effort to learn about their team members in this new reality. The low performing employees might become a high performer, given the change in the working condition and vice versa. Managers should objectively evaluate the employees and offer help accordingly. This would help in creating a high-performing team that trusts in its leaders and perform better. For reviewing the performance of employees more objectively, 360 degree feedback can be adopted. 

360 degree feedback helps in giving a more objective review without the influence of manager bias, halo effect, the horns effect, the central tendency bias, etc. The tool helps in identifying future leaders and high-potential employees. The feedback is delivered by peers, direct reports, primary managers, cross-functional managers, and other internal and external stakeholders. This helps in having a two-way communication, both downward and upward. The employees also get a chance to deliver feedback to their superiors anonymously. 

The performance management system is evolving, and these are the major trends that are seen in most of the performance management systems adopted by companies. 

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