Employee performance management is a process for establishing a shared workforce understanding about what is to be achieved at an organisation level.

It is about aligning the organisational objectives with the employees’ agreed measures, skills, competency requirements, development plans and the delivery of results.

The emphasis is on improvement, learning and development in order to achieve the overall business strategy and to create a high performance workforce.

Performance Management is used to ensure that employees’ activities and outcomes are congruent with the organisation’s objectives and entails specifying those activities and outcomes that will result in the firm successfully implementing the business strategy.

An effective Performance Management process establishes the groundwork for excellence by:

• Linking individual employee objectives with the organisation’s mission and strategic plans. The employee has a clear concept on how they contribute to the achievement the overall business objective,
• Focusing on setting clear performance objectives and expectations through the use of results, actions and behaviours,
• Defining clear development plans as part of the process, and
• Conducting regular discussions throughout the performance cycle which include such things as coaching, mentoring, feedback and assessment.

Points to consider:

• Identify performance management outcomes - define performance expectations and the basic purposes of an effective performance management system
• Deliver both positive and negative feedback in a constructive way in order to build positive working relationships, trust, and effective teamwork
• Identify and utilise appraisal techniques for measuring performance
• Draft action plans and document procedures as a result of a performance management system.