Overall Insights and Conclusions On Performance Management

Performance Management is a very complex topic which is proving to be a lot much challenging as most businesses are going into administration. The economic downturn continues to cause some critical implications that have forced businesses to make many cuts and introduce strict measures that make almost all work environments a tough place to relax were employees are insecure. The rising inflation of 2008-2012 continues to minimise growth in businesses and organisations causing a great deal of unemployment and understaffed facilities or service providers.


Performance Management always requires money to be initiated and as an on going process it needs new evidence, resources or solutions that will boost the stakeholders and management budget to sustain their businesses. So that they are able to pay wages/salaries to their employees who in turn have to look after their friends and families. Therefore certain strategies have to be executed in order to come up with viable pragmatic solutions to the broken system that needs catalytic(literal) mechanisms that will enable the rejuvenation of the fundamentals to promote a healthy working solution.  However we all have guidelines, rules and policies that we should always abide by as illustrated by the video below;

Organisations therefore need to assist where they possibly can to get and retain the best in order to  achieve their goals and objectives so that either way both ends will benefit from the   results that would be on the mission statement.

Our research is more than a text book based one because its a more thorough and work environment related coursework. The reality of the matter is text books has questions and answers of past and solved experiences. However real life is slightly different and bring many important factors such as individuals of different backgrounds who indulge in different beliefs which will express beliefs that are exhibited/decoded uniquely.(Already this is a challenge without a straight forward answer) Clearly we noted that as far as the recession is concerned ~ If the, "US suffers a cold the whole of Europe will have pneumonia" direct translation is the world developed countries tumbled when the US suffered their greatest recession which started 2008. Performance Management tools are there and will continually be one of the best strategic moves that can and will help resuscitate the concerns that are currently in Europe especially  the Greece government, currently planning to withdraw from the European Union which has seen many millions being withdrawn from banks in and around Greece in a day. Impact of such actions affect everyone same as the topic we are currently discussing, the backlash is chaotic and unpredictable.

Formal Discussions and Meetings contributing to PM(Performance Management)

Informal communication structures are the main stumbling block of an effective communication channel in most work places. This can also affect the promotion of effective policies of performance management, structures or memos have to be implemented that encourages formal meetings and discussions which assist a healthy culture of communication that impacts positively to the outcome of the whole organisation or company. Meetings can be conducted and discussions go underway with less influence from the unions, employees have to engage in amicable discussion on how they can best achieve the company goals or create a special day when employees take a few hours to discuss these issues.


Formal structures have proved to yield more and better quality results than informal ones, the reason being that people coordinate more in formally structured companies. Formal structures promotes a support system which builds a firm process other a  weakened one because there is high regard of discipline and respect. Therefore by giving employees ample time to air and discuss their woes, they are able to reflect, maintain or even better their own networks and still afford to make up for lost time. Managers as the tact force will have their jobs cut out for them minimising the queries that normally would cause havoc and chaos within a work place, increasing the level of projected results. Intellectual-practical measures are the ones that are discussed and reviewed before they are actually introduced on a trial basis.


Performance Management is normally underlined with work ethics and culture of the people within an organisation, however its depends on levels of responsibility and the businesses that people are conducting. Critically highlighting what to expect because motivational stages vary with the capacity of each team or a group of people, involving employees in the decision making process is of vital importance because it will give them the sense of belonging and importance. Quality of skill and information still has to be approved and analysed before anything is officially accepted. These are other ways of getting a better and effective Performance Management System.


The organisation's adoption of healthy practices, along with shifting community expectations, have changed what the organisations stands for and how it works. There has been a conscious shift in the team's focus from process to results and lines of accountability have become more complex. Within such complexity, an integrity framework with clearly articulated values becomes vital.

Performance Reward is firmly linked with Performance Management

Performance Reward is a tool used by some organisations and because its proved to be a useful tool most organisations are adapting to using it to greater strengths. Primary objectives for employees to work efficiently and on a regular basis are the wages or salaries they get after providing a skill or service. Recent studies have proved that there are different rewards that satisfy different individuals other than money, these include fringe benefits which can be seen in all sorts of forms and shapes.


Performance Rewards are also incentives that are probably key motivators for employees and creates a work environment full of morale. Since most organisations can not afford to pay everyone high wages/salaries they resort to healthier and homely work environment which makes employees feel as if they belong(a home away from home) some might say but a environment which a culture with a family oriented strategy.

Employee benefits are a growing type of Performance Rewarding system, because employee feel obliged to work harder because of these benefits. e.g private medical insurances, company cars, perks that come as a bonus et cetera et cetera. Most business modules have a chapter if not chapters that explains or discuss this topic because its has become one of the major topics which is closely related and underlined when talking about PESTEL.  Since financial rewards are important components of the reward system it is also of vital importance that you focus on the positive reinforcement and use the most effective tool as a whole or by levels within an organisation.


Formal communication from high up and between teams is a brilliant way to start. Building barriers between top management and the ground staff/employees is an ingredient for trouble. There are simple situations which can easily be resolved through technical feedback and  helpful suggestions, enhancing these skills builds a radically strong organisation which has a very low employee turnover or none at all. Always think outside the box, ask for new ideas and even consult with Humba HR Consultants~ we are here at your disposal. http://www.humbahrconsultants.com

Our Performance Management Research Conclusions

Performance Management is a difficult topic to tackle since there is vast information to be measured and understood before there is a clear line of management. Our research has outlined some points that might make the managers roles easy to tackle. Managers need to be trained so that they are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to delegate or assess the real life situations which lead to major set backs.


Organisations are fundamentally different and promote different cultures which pursue different goals. However each organisation is there to survive in its given market so in order for them to survive, we seek stability and measured stability. Incentives might be an option but with many researches other than our has shown that employees are no longer satisfied with monetary incentives, but job security and better working environments. For this to happen the organisations has to keep on improving their human assets through a series of training courses which keep them focused and up to date with their work which makes them competitive. Through these techniques you realize the hard working employees and those which are not so hard working and how to best move forward with that in mind.


Manager have the best and the most difficult tasks to promote and encourage formal  sound structures of communication so that they maintain and continue to understand that employees' grievances help with reliable evidence and the necessary steps to move forward with the help of giving feedback."A happy employee is the one who gets feedback". For performance to be managed effectively, individuals must know the basis on which their performance will be measured. Measures should be transparent and applied fairly across the organisation.  By fairly we are underlining all levels from management to the rest of the teams. Ideally there should be a mix of individual and team measures, and measures relevant to both inputs and outputs. 


In this past week we have been getting emails on discussions about Performance Reward and this is going to be our next title n this blog because it stands alone to achieve a measurable stretch of goals. Its never easy to get the best results but hard work is half the job.If there are any questions on what you didn't understand don't hesitate to get in touch with us because we always have some extra information for publication if you need more assistance.

Performance Management Review

There is great distinction between solutions and working solutions. So in order to find out whether the solutions worked you need to do a review that  is not compromised and which carries all facts including the negative ones. This information has to be critically analysed and assessed in depth with underlined steps, so starting with KPIs -;


Key Performance Indicators enable complicated and far-flung services to be monitored in ways which allow comparisons and without having to rely on lengthy descriptions. Which highlights that indicators play a vey important role of promoting reputable routines. However, indicators rarely tell the full story. They should therefore be regarded as a starting point rather than a final judgement.
Indicators must not only adequately reflect what is going on but also provide a basis for decision making, identifying areas for improvement or where learning could be shared. Checks that determine whether or not these indicators are actually surfacing the issues that we are continually introducing.  It is easy to underestimate how complex and time-consuming it is to develop an indicator from scratch. For this reason, and because part of the value of a good indicator is in comparing your performance against others, it is wise to use existing indicators wherever possible.

Individual performance measures should be:

• relevant to what the organisation is aiming to achieve. 
• attributable: the measured activity is linked to the actions of an organisation or an individual and it is clear where accountability lies.
• well defined: clear and unambiguous, so data will be collected consistently and the measure is easy to use and understand timely: producing information regularly enough to track progress and quickly enough for all the data still to be useful.
• reliable: accurate enough for its intended use and responsive to change.
• comparable: with either past periods or similar activity elsewhere.
• verifiable: documented so that the processes of data collection can be validated and others can test or audit that this is an accurate measure of performance.

Quality of Information is very essential and has to be arguably measured with complexity such as people’s comments, photos, videos and maps – is important to provide a fuller picture of performance than can be provided by numbers alone. It can fill gaps where data is not available, help identify areas requiring further investigation and provide a deeper explanation of quantitative findings.

By its nature, qualitative information is harder to summarise and is often difficult to collect systematically. It will therefore tend to be used more ad hoc and supplementary to regular numerical data. This also means that there is a risk of such information providing a distorted view, for instance in the selection of particular comments to use or even how a photograph is cropped or touched up.

Credibility Of Data Collected ~ ~If data is not accurate and of good quality it can undermine attempts to use it to drive better performance.

• 
  
•        Accuracy: data should be sufficiently accurate for their intended purposes.
•        Validity: data should be recorded and used in compliance with relevant requirements.
•        Reliability: data should reflect stable and consistent data collection processes across
•        collection points and over time.

• Timeliness: data should be captured as quickly as possible after the event or activity and must be available for the intended use within a reasonable time period. Data must be available quickly and frequently enough to support information needs and to influence service or management decisions. 
• Relevance: data captured should be relevant to the purposes for which they are used
• Completeness: data requirements should be clearly specified based on the information needs of the body and data collection processes matched to these requirements.

Therefore the key reason why Performance Management  reviews are conducted in the light of this analysis is to identify key gaps in knowledge with a focused mind to further the research priorities as far as this subject is concerned. The main areas of PM are highlighted above but for further reading you can refer to these text books; 


 ARMSTRONG, M. (2009) Armstrong's handbook of performance management: an evidence-based guide to delivering high performance. 4th ed. London: Kogan Page. 


BROWN, D. (2010) Performance management: can the practice ever deliver the policy? Brighton:  Institute for Employment Studies. 5pp. Available at: http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pubs/report.php?id=op23   

Performance Management Solutions

While Performance Management ensures that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner we need to find out how to best deal with the measures that help ease the pressure. We have already discovered that appraisals are one way to assist with the feedback that we get from employees. However the points might not be effective because the information might be biased so we need to be optimistic and find avenues to get more reliable information that can make the fact finding mission a success.


Organisations have been conducting reviews of their employees and realised that there is need for constant development in order for employees to stay focused on their goals and the organisation's objectives at large. Therefore there is need at all levels to respect and promote team work to help notice where development and training is needed. Employees tend to work hard to improve if they receive feedback on their performance on a regular basis, so that they can measure when they are improving and (vice versa).


Managers have the competitive urge to know and understand what they are working with, which actually improves the capacity and potential for both Managers and teams formally. Employees tend to perform effectively knowing they have an input on the decisions that affect their organisation, therefore a chance to conduct meetings in small formal groups might be essential and also never forget to give feedback to any ideas/piece of information that they bring up and the organisation intend to use it. Employees also react like any other human being to the behaviours exhibited by their managers, so managers as leaders should always show professionalism in every aspect of their jobs if they expect to be treated as such and more.


Communication being a vital ingredient to many issues surrounding performance management(PM), we need to build a culture that has a healthy positive strategy which build interpersonal relationships within any work place. The best quality relationships between teams and managers have proven to establish a goal driven workforce which engages everyone to meet the desired goals of the organisation collectively. Which actually enhances the desired results which continually reinvests in developing and creating incentives for its employees.


After locating the areas which need development you need to then implement the information that you get from your solution fact-finding-missions. Performance Appraisal- 360 Degree Feedback- Learning and Development-;

• Performance Appraisals - are conducted by managers who assesses what the employee is good at, is lacking as far as their task and role is concerned. Potential, Performance and how to develop them if they are retainable. Appraisals are a still a great solution as long as the managers are not biased or incompetent, in short unable to do their job effectively. Therefore they need someone to overlook their overall assessments and an evaluation can only be viable in such a case. 
• 360 degree feedback is a sort of appraisal which assesses individual performance through a comprehensive process which extends the assessment to the external environment of the organisation and links the business with suppliers- customers- colleagues- managers or even directors to some extent. In its complexity it yields results which might be important but it also invades confidentiality restricted by most employment contracts. However its does the job to a greater extent.
•  Learning and Development is the newest and effective approach to better and efficient performance management solution, which involves the employee's development needs on how they can best execute their role within the organisation(in order to self fulfill). Data collection is supposed to strategical in terms of how you intend to use it but it will help overly for progress purposes.  KPIs(Key Performance Indicators) are important in the sense that they help highlight the improvement path and  clearly illustrates a  pattern to follow or even increase performance rates.

Performance Operations.

Performance Operations deals with the expenses that are accrued over the period of monitoring the Performance Management and evaluate if they can be deemed necessary. The idea is to make sure that employees are trained and retained for the benefit of the company, most employers incentivise this through their assessments and appraisals. Employees need and must receive further training  in their respective roles with the company so that they remain competitive and yield the best results with potential to do better.


Understanding the day to day running of a human mind is really vital when dealing with performance measurements, the first stage is to note the psychological facts that these individuals require before even setting aside a budget to suit their needs. Inventory takes a major part is the day to day running of the operations pertaining to the management of performance within any given organisation, because the company or organisations normally work on limited budgets and would rather break even or be on the upside of their budget. Sustenance is of critical importance so working on a strict and thorough strategic plan is of utmost importance as always. Therefore the human assets can be of secondary importance once these initiated are highlighted, leading to a weak unreliable research which will embellish the real reason why a performance review was being conducted in the first place.


http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D328E151-E1D2-4F74-B8D1-3CC6AEC5BF0E/0/1843981092sc.pdf

Performance Management differs from one organisation to the other because operations are different, however orientation can be an important tool that can be used to achieve the desired goal that everyone can adapt to in time and create a healthy  policies to best suit your work environment.

For performance to be managed effectively, individuals must know the basis on which their performance will be measured. Measures should be transparent and applied fairly across the organisation.  Ideally there should be a mix of individual and team measures, and measures relevant to both inputs and outputs. 

The following examples of performance measures are by no means exhaustive, as performance measures are highly contextual and often job-specific.

Individual output measures could include:

• achievement of pre-set objectives (such as reducing wastage by a specified percentage
• achievement against agreed standards of performance, which might involve descriptions or rankings such as ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’ or ‘poor’ performance
• specific instances of performance, such as commendations received for particular pieces of work.

Examples of individual input measures are:

• competence
• skills and experience and the extent to which news skills are applied in the job
• potential to develop and/or acquire new skills and progress to next career level
• behaviours associated with developing and knowledge sharing
• communication skills and other traits that enhance team roles.

Team measures include:

• individual contribution to the team through involvement in cross-team projects
• support for other team members to achieve their objectives
• participation in cross-organisation initiatives, for instance by providing timely input
• understanding of team role
• engagement scores.

Other Effects and Need for Performance Management

In these past four years the recession has been partly to blame for the economic downturn and lack of efficient performance. Job security has become the priority and with the speculation of 2012 recession roaming around we have to plan the best way forward and position the business with strict measures that will not affect the organisation. Unfortunately these policies and strategies make people redundant and increases individuals who are not in work.http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/Research%20Funding/R268%20Economic%20recession%20final%20V2.pdf

Because performance management is (or should be) so all-pervasive, it needs structures to support it. These should provide a framework to help people operate, and to help them to help others to operate. But it should not be a rigid system; there needs to be a reasonable degree of flexibility over how individuals operate.

Performance management is a process, not an event. It operates as a continuous cycle.

Corporate strategic goals provide the starting point for business and departmental goals as part of the performance management approach, followed by agreement on performance and development priorities. This leads to the drawing up of plans between individuals and managers, with continuous performance monitoring and feedback regularly supported by formal reviews.

Getting the best results when it comes to Performance Management

Performance Management works perfectly well with a fundamental strategy, therefore a plan has to be put in place which clearly denotes what needs to be achieved and  a timescale so that the time-frame can me measurable. This topic is not to be taken equivocally or with ambiguity but on a fact based approach so that the target is met with the right answers or results. Analysts normally are assigned to overlook these tasks so that they keep these statistics in place so that the rest of the team is not led astray. Also engaging employees increases accountability and build strong working relationships which generally has an impact on the overall goal at every level.


Therefore gather the necessary data and group people accordingly to document their views so that you have clearer understanding of their individual perspective on what you are working with and how they operate. Understanding that employees change and seek promotion financially or through (status)progression within a organisation is the only way to start reviews which are better implemented by the proper channels~ this also involves ABRAHAM MASLOW'S HIERARCHY of needs which is a psychological tool which is used to navigate the human mind and what they seek from birth to the day they are old and frail. However the introduction of appraisals is a good point to start because it normally highlights the positives and the negatives within an organisation or company depending on who is conducting them, most employees tend to give false information if the conductor is someone respectable/a friend. When situations like these arise, Humba HR Consultants(an outside company) can offer their services with confidential clauses to handle that crucial part of the process and give you unbiased results on how employees really feel about their working environment through a well researched questionnaire, so that they can put in place the best way to move forward which can benefit your organisation with statistical advantages.


Enhancing the employee's skills through training is another alternative option and also works as a confidence booster which effectively increases morale and knowledge on how employees should be able to do their work easily and with less pressure. In the 21st century we have all encountered many challenges/changes that needed to be addressed due to the internet innovations and the gizmos that came with the generation.Seems most machinery which is technologically mechanized has taken over employees' jobs making them redundant and to an greater extend multiplying the output. Therefore all these issues will need to be addressed in order for there to be a significant and robust approach which will convince the employees that the organisation will retain and that there is a future for them in their work environment.


Key Performance Indicators can also help after the initial appraisals have been conducted therefore highlighting what is really needed to open avenues for a stable structure. Adopting to honest the reviews is necessary to bring the effective processes into effect. E.g

Humba HR Consultants will be happy to help with information and expert advice on how to move forward after the reviews. Performance is critical and Managing it becomes intense if there are no clear factors surrounding the KPIs. Coaching professionals are readily available to assist on executing the strategies which would have been underlined and encourage working closely in line with the fundamentals of the company.

Practicing Effective Performance Management

Certain measures have to be strategically put in place. Since we have noted that organisations are different and still individuals from different backgrounds meet to focus on one goal, its essential to note that a thorough research is needed to help with the evidence given. Communication plays a vital role in the development of steps to increase a favorable approach to good access of performance management, positive communication circulates the much needed formal information in the right channels or quality circles.

One thing that is essential is to make sure that people work in teams so that the results have a sense of uniformity and yield assertive objectives.  Respecting and understanding views that your colleagues might poise leading to discussing rationally to reach amicable conclusions, which will bring you closer to the organisation's objectives. Hence generating bonuses for you that will help with paying the bills and which also makes an organisation a reputable establishment.


Identifying the negatives(weaknesses) are the most important aspect of tackling this initiative although the positives are essential in order to underline what is needed in effective performance management and analyse the ones which need to be prioritised in order to get the best favourable results.

Why do we need Performance Management??

Most employees go to work and look for better jobs but fail to understand the importance of the roles they all have in any given organisation. Tasks within any organisation intertwine to reach a common goal which is set by the initiators mainly the directors and shareholders.

Theoretically the concept of Performance Management sounds straight forward and on point, however in reality its not that simple. Statistically speaking my researches have proved that most organisations hire professional life coaches/trainers to help their employees become engaged or the least to understand their values to the organisations. Most managers find it very strenuous to deal with the same issues pertaining stubbornness towards work or insubordination to say the least. Therefore these issues have to be addressed and solved with evaluating performance management which means that in order for a problem to be fixed the detailed have to be noted in depth.                                                                                     

Performance Management.

May the first is regarded as employees day in most parts of the world. At this time of the year employees evaluate their work and assess the importance of their role in their particular organisation. This is also the time they take to reflect on whether they can escalate(professionally) or change their career path. Therefore performance management plays a vital part in assessing the situation which can yield the best possible results to make that decision. This is also the time to refer to the appraisals conducted late the previous year by the employer and stakeholders to come up with reasonable strategies to retain the good and acquire more talent. 

Performance Management when implemented strategically and on point can yield the best results that will impress  the stakeholders from any point of view. Feedback from conducting these measures can highlight and shed light on some of the dark areas or stumbling blocks  that the organisation might face. The reason employees have a three month probation period is so that they can familiarize themselves around the work environment to adapt to whether or not they can fit in or move on, the same interests applies with the organisation which hired them. 


The video above clearly explains that an employee is a valuable asset and the most priced asset of all assets within the organisation or business environment. This explains that in return for the services that the employee offers, the organisations pay them in form of wages, incentives(Training), salary and fringe benefits. Work environments are different and they operate differently in their unique way so that they can manage to execute their plans strategically.  For organisations to continue with their day to day running of business they needs employees and the employees need job security. In order to do this employees have to be committed, engaged so that they remain focused on their performance so that its not disrupted, in return the employers pay for their services on time.