4 Important Performance Management Objectives

What is Performance Management?

Performance management is an ongoing process of communication between an employer and an employee that occurs throughout the year. The purpose has always been to assess employee performance compared to company goals and set additional goals for the upcoming year. 

Effective performance management techniques will be able to highlight what’s lacking and what deserves credit. The strengths and weaknesses of your company will become more evident and hence, easier to improve.

Important Performance Management Objectives

A successful performance management process can improve the efficiency of your entire organization, and getting to know the objectives is a tiny, but essential part. The following objectives can help enhance your organization’s performance in 2021:

1. Regular Coaching and Communication through 1-to-1s. With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing most workforces to operate remotely, managers have had to adjust their communication practices with their direct reports in order to manage effectively. Through weekly or bi-weekly 1-to-1 meetings, HR can make sure employees are meeting regularly with their managers to discuss updates--both professional and personal--as well as provide feedback and support. These meetings also empower managers to be better coaches and ensure ongoing compliance using documentation that tracks progress from one week to the next.
2. Defining Employee Goals and Organization Goals. Managers should also want to help guide an employee’s performance to achieve organizational objectives and the employee’s own personal goals. By aligning individual objectives with organizational objectives, employees can better see how their day-to-day helps with the organization’s overall success and will be motivated to perform at their best. To help with this, HR and employers should work to set SMART goals. A SMART goal is a productivity tool that can be used to set more effective objectives for any given project. "SMART" is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely, which describes the ways in which a person or a team can establish criteria that help clarify how a goal can be reached or met.
3. Enhancing Employee Engagement and Satisfaction. Employee engagement generally refers to a worker’s attitude toward their employer, their role within the organization, and their colleagues. Research shows that in a work environment, efforts that demonstrate appreciation and affirmation can promote employee engagement and performance. When employees are engaged and feel appreciated, they’re more likely to perform better. Tracking and developing engagement strategies can seem arbitrary, but  employers can start by maintaining open dialogue through 1-to-1 meetings, tracking productivity, maintaining your organization’s culture with happy hours and team lunches (even if you have to do them virtually), and providing employees with rewards and recognition.
4. Using Technology to Aid Performance Management. Employers are now relying on intuitive, digital tools to document conversations and feedback between employees and their managers. These systems were especially important in 2020, when countless employers and employees worked from home during the coronavirus pandemic. By adopting a robust HRIS, you can better manage performance and save time doing it. A human resources information system—otherwise known as an HRIS—is a software that combines many different systems and processes to ensure the ease of HR management. Systems like BerniePortal that have performance management tracking can help by providing a space where employees and their managers can keep a record of their 1-to-1 agendas and meeting recaps. Without a dedicated tool that tracks progress and stores meeting transcripts, your process lacks the accountability that’s essential for growth and development.