Performance Appraisal & Management Services
Submitted by c4ioe on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 19:17
Providing feedback on performance is the basis for motivating a workforce, if done well. If used in an ineffective manner, feedback (or lack of) can also be very de-motivating. Feedback needs to be provided in a balanced (both affirming & adjusting), fair and frequent manner. Formalized individual feedback typically occurs on annual or 6-month performance reviews. Sometimes performance appraisal or performance management is also known as performance partnering because it is a partnership between the employee and manager. Performance evaluations are most often tied to merit pay, and sometimes incentive pay. Organizations typically evaluate some combination of these things:
- competencies (organization or position),
- job responsibilities (also outlined on the job/position description),
- annual goals (individual goals related to organizational or department goals).
Performance reviews are also typically connected to merit pay, and may be connected to incentive pay. One of the issues we've seen with some clients' performance management systems is having no relationship between performance reviews (and merit pay) and the employees' individual goals (which are tied to incentive pay). So in this scenario, you can have employees who focus only on their goals because the incentive pay is far more appealing that the merit pay, and they do not focus on fulfilling regular job responsibilities (because there's no requirement for them to do so before they can receive incentive pay). Or, teams that should be working together because it's a part of their job roles, focus instead on individual goals (which are not aligned) and thus create tension and competition while trying to meet their own individual goals (so they can receive their own bonuses/incentive pay). Here are some of the services we provide:
- Discuss and provide recommendations to managers on how to tie Performance Evaluation System to organization objectives and requirements to make it a useful tool
- Develop competencies (with behavioral indicators) and/or develop a competency model - organizational, departmental competencies or consultants will define competencies/model based on company benchmarking within similar industry
- Develop a performance evaluation process & form - determine how to assess groups, divisions, companies, and based on competencies, goals, and/or job responsibilities
- Assist in connecting performance evaluation(s) to compensation options - e.g. tied to base pay, bonuses, etc.
- Ensure alignment with all other HR strategies
- Assess performance issues - determine where managers, groups, individuals could get best return (ROI) for efforts particularly around specific goals or objectives
- Provide coaching to individual employees regarding performance improvement in particular areas
- Provide training for managers on how to manage performance of employees
- Provide training for managers and employees on the Performance Evaluation System
