Employee Development and performance appraisal are the “Achilles ‘heel” of a Human Resource Management System. A survey done by Watson Wyatt deduced that only three out of ten workers were satisfied by the company’s employees performance management system. Less than 40% of employees were happy with their performance goals, feedbacks, and the technology used for streamlining the process.
Managers are reluctant to give honest feedback and suggestion to their employee as it scares them that doing so will hamper the work productivity and it will ruin their relationship with the employees. On the other hand, the employees feel that their managers are not true during performance evaluations and not training them effectively.
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Having an effective performance management system can prove to be very important for the organization, its managers and most importantly its employees. The given article will provide an in-depth idea of how to implement a performance management system for your organization.
7 Steps you should consider before getting an effective Performance Management System:
Step 1: Do a proper Research
You cannot just buy the best performance management Software for your company. Thorough research is needed. The research report is generated which is then given to the top officials and after they are satisfied a green signal is given. Some of the important points you should consider convincing your managers are:
Features: Never go for software that has too many features. This might definitely sound strange but too many features can be distracting for users. Concentrate only on what you need don’t get carried away by attractive dashboards and functionalities.
Simplicity: Get software that is easy to use and understand.
Mobile responsiveness: Number of people using mobile phones has increased exponentially so make sure your software doesn’t get distorted when used on mobile.
Reach for the vendor’s client base: Just having a software demo is not sufficient. Contact their existing customers and take their feedback on how good the software actually is! This will give you a glimpse of how good or bad the software is in a live environment.
Data Security: Make sure the performance Management system you are about to purchase is secure enough.
Step 2: Prepare a Business Case study to get a green signal
By now you might have shortlisted few of the software that best suits your requirement. Evaluate all the above factors meticulously and come up with one final option. Prepare a business case study and get a budgetary approval from top officials. People are assertive when it comes to purchasing new software and you will definitely not want your decision makers to roll-out with objections and criticism.
Step 3: Welcome the best PMS for your company
Don’t overstuff your system with too much information. It is not required to collect every aspect of your performance discussions, collect information that is genuinely needed like, performance ratings, agreed objective, priorities and action points.
Step 4: Get the correct data in your Payroll System
Your HR and payroll software almost needs the same kind of data. So instead of maintaining redundant data at two different places, plan on how you transfer your employee data to the performance management system. Not having sufficient employee data can undermine the users confident in it.
Step 5: Train your employees
You have to train your employees are not good with computers. A video can be much more helpful rather than a user guide or presentations. Another interesting technique is capturing stepwise screenshots and create a video out of it. You can also train an employee from each department and called him a “Superuser” who people can resort during technical emergencies.
Step 6: Run a Pilot test
Before you make the application live for your entire team, do a pilot test. Choose a department or two, roll out the online performance management System and check how the system works. Is it configured correctly? Are the data maintenance processes working as expected? Are the reports generated accurate and giving you the expected data? If you have “Yes” as an answer to all these questions you are good to go.
Step 7: It’s time to Go Live
List down all the email addresses who you are expecting to send automatic emails before hitting the launch button. These should be the people who will receive automatic login details on their mail as soon as the best performance management software is made live. Many Organizations exist who will block the access to websites that have not been pre-authorized Check whether your I.T department has added the URL of the performance management system to the list of trusted websites. This will make sure your employees are able to access your website from the very first day.
Let’s Start evaluating the employees
- Communicate to your employees what is expected out of them. These expectations commonly termed as “employee competencies list” can be jotted down for every employee so that they are completely aware of roles, responsibilities and expected behavior needed for the position.
- Create a process for performance evaluation as in decisions on how you want to evaluate your employees, their performance, work ethics etc. Also, decide on how often you want to evaluate your employees. Some prefer doing it on a yearly basis while some organization does it every week.
- Once you have a model in place, start evaluating your employees based on the agreed metrics. Managers should be honest with the appraisals and should provide specific employee feedback.
Bottom Line
Just buying and implementing an effective performance management system is not enough, it is equally important to evaluate the tool that you thought was an effective performance management system for your Company. Ask the question like did the process worked for your company, were the results as per your expectation? Was it the right decision to invest in the software you have chosen, or should have gone with the second one on the list? Asking such question really helps to know the flaws and gives you an insight on steps that should be taken to fill the gap.
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Good reading! Performance Management is a tool that if used properly can motivate high performers to work harder and poor performers to improve or get out of the organization.