In addition to the political changes and shifts in society that occurred last year, several businesses also made adjustments to their strategies in 2016, especially for recruitment and HR.
After all, a recent pulse survey from the Institute for Corporate Productivity revealed that 67 per cent of 244 companies were rethinking current performance practices. Reasons for this included feedback from employees, a mandate by executives, and the need for improved results.
Consequently, more and more businesses are turning their backs on annual reviews in favour of redesigned performance management initiatives. Companies that have already put the wheels in motion to empower their workforce like this include Adobe, Deloitte, GE, and Accenture.
So, what do you need to know about 2017 performance management to implement more effective and advantageous appraisals? The following advice comes courtesy of Skillsarena, a recruitment and HR expert.
Essential elements of performance management:
Regular conversations
It is imperative that you have a mechanism in place that allows for regular performance conversations between employers and employees. But even if such a framework already exists within your organisation, you should consider meeting more regularly for greater empowerment and effectiveness. Also, the timeliness of feedback can help members of staff perform better, for longer and at a higher level.
Honesty and transparency
It is all well and good telling your employees where they are going wrong and what they should be improving upon. However, real change will only come about if they understand the reasoning behind their feedback. Such openness will contribute to a more honest and transparent working environment where everybody understands their role and how they can improve.
Feedback from peers
Despite the fact that employees can learn a great deal from senior staff or their supervisors, it also helps if colleagues on the same level provide feedback too. In many respects, this can be the most valuable feedback of all, as peers will have a deeper understanding of the challenges that exist. The benefit for the business is that members of staff can build stronger, more meaningful relationships with each other.
Looking forward not back
Regular conversations enable both parties to focus on the present and the future rather than bringing up performance and behavioural issues from many months ago. This is a rather pointless exercise anyway, as better informed employers will already be aware of what happened in the past, while empowered employees can learn from their mistakes without fear of condemnation.
Importance of training
If you give your workforce the opportunity to deliver performance-related feedback, they can take ownership of their own career development. This has a number of far-reaching advantages, which includes but is not limited to improved morale, greater productivity, and job satisfaction. Above all else, you will have a workforce that wants to contribute more.
Remember that you don’t necessarily need to ditch traditional performance reviews. Instead, try to improve the overall process by prioritising better communication and continual improvement, as this is what will boost employee performance.