Are Your Performance Reviews Up to the Mark? - Part 1
by Linnea Blair
Too often, businesses waste much of the effort they put into conducting performance reviews. Performance reviews can be a lot of effort, because they take time away from other business activities, which are often seen as more important. So, many business owners conduct the reviews, evaluate the results, maybe give out raises which may or may not be tied to the reviews, and file everything away never to be looked at again.
Planning Ahead
Performance management at its best is an ongoing cycle of planning, doing the work of the business, and reviewing the performance of the organization as a whole and each team member as a vital component of the entire machine that is your business. Your vision and strategy should guide your performance management process with your Business Plan and Core Competencies acting as your road map and sign posts.
Your business plan should list the goals that you expect to achieve for the year. It is important to evaluate whether you have the number of people as well as the necessary mix of skills, knowledge and competencies that are needed to succeed in your goals.
A performance management process helps you to assess your team members’ skills against core competencies to determine the level at which they are operating. At that point you can then assess how capable they are at performing the tasks within that level or position. The next step is to develop a personal action plan for each employee to help them to improve their current skills and develop the ability to take on more challenging assignments. Finally, it is important to monitor team members’ performance on an ongoing basis to determine if they are meeting expectations.
A good practice is to include feedback sessions with each team member as part of an ongoing monitoring process. This will allow business owners or supervisors the opportunities for coaching the employee and reviewing their personal goal plans and to make sure that these personal goals also are in alignment with the needs of the business as a whole.
A good performance management process measures employee performance against objective criteria from job descriptions and core competencies which makes it easier to provide a real basis for decisions on raises and promotions.
Best Practices
Good job descriptions for each role in your company are the cornerstone of good performance reviews. A good job description
describes the purpose, responsibilities and tasks, and well as the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform in a given role, and as such identifies the core competencies and key performance indicators that will point to successful achievement in that role.
Your organizational chart should also identify the career structure and a progression path for employees who wish to grow within the organization. Each role within the structure should have a job description – even if that role is not presently filled. - END Part I
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