Are you a manager returning to work in the New Year to commence a fresh cycle of annual performance management and development with your staff? The A-Z guide below will give you some tips to help you provide your staff with a best practice performance management experience in 2017:
A
- Align employees’ activities and goals with operational and strategic business objectives
- Appraise performance fairly, objectively and consistently against agreed performance standards
- Attend performance management, goal setting and feedback skills training
B
- Begin with performance planning – setting actionable plans for the successful achievement of agreed goals, performance standards and measures
- Break down large projects and objectives into manageable chunks
- Be balanced in giving feedback (give constructive positive and negative feedback)
C
- Champion the performance development process enthusiastically by communicating its value and engaging others to participate
- Communicate and clarify clear performance expectations
- Coach your staff for improved performance, when appropriate
D
- Develop your staff through identifying and providing relevant learning and development opportunities
- Document individual performance for legal purposes and to support performance decisions relating to compensation and career development
E
- Evaluate performance in a fair, objective and consistent manner
- Exchange regular, informal 2-way feedback about performance at work
F
- Focus on positive reinforcement, goals, skill development, recognition and autonomy
- Follow through on any agreed action plans and commitments you have made to staff
G
- Gather performance information from a number of sources (360 degree feedback) to increase objectivity and ensure all factors impacting performance are considered
- Give employees transparency to business objectives
- Give regular, relevant, specific, timely and constructive performance feedback
- Give examples of how staff have or have not demonstrated the behaviours, competencies and performance you are evaluating them against
H
- Help employees attain the information, resources and technology they need to achieve their goals
- Honestly and genuinely conduct performance conversations
I
- Intrinsically incentivise staff with challenging, meaningful, satisfying work and recognition
- Identify and remove unnecessary barriers to performance
- Identify organisational career paths for employees
- Invest in your own development by learning how to be a better manager and coach
J
- Jointly set goals and find solutions to performance obstacles and problems at work
K
- KISS – Keep it simple by ensuring an easy, efficient, effective and user-friendly process
- Keep position descriptions up to date
- Keep performance plans ‘alive’, i.e. flexible, meaningful and on the agenda, through regular review, discussion, monitoring, updates and follow up.
- Know and understand your staff members’ jobs
L
- Lead by example
- Listen carefully to staff members’ views and opinions and incorporate them into problem solving and future planning
- Look for development opportunities for people
- Link performance to rewards, recognition, and other talent management processes
M
- Motivate staff with intrinsic and extrinsic rewards and recognition
- Monitor staff performance and progress against goals regularly
- Measure performance and results using relevant, fair, consistent, quantitative and qualitative measures
- Manage unsatisfactory performance
N
- New staff are given clear probationary performance expectations and support
- Never avoid addressing performance issues
O
- Observe staff members’ behaviour and performance
- Objectively, fairly and consistently assess performance against agreed outcomes and standards
P
- Provide appropriate learning and development opportunities
- Plan and prepare for performance conversations
- Problem solve obstacles to performance and goal achievement
- Praise and positively reinforce good performance
Q
- Question staff in an open, non-threatening and thought provoking way, to challenge them, stimulate their thinking, and encourage them to find their own solutions
R
- Recognise, reward and reinforce good performance and achievements
- Revisit, review and refresh performance expectations as required
- Resource staff appropriately to progress and achieve their goals and targets
- Review performance regularly
- Record your observations and comments on staff members’ progress and performance
S
- Sell the benefits of staff participation in the performance management process
- Set goals effectively
- Seek input from staff and ask them to self-assess their own performance
- Support employees’ professional and career development
- Schedule regular informal catch-ups with staff as well as formal performance planning and review meetings, ensuring plenty of notice
T
- Train staff to participate effectively in your organisation’s performance management process (e.g. provide training in how to write a performance plan and how to give, seek and receive performance feedback effectively)
- Track progress against performance goals and objectives
- Thank staff often
U
- Update performance plans regularly to reflect changes to business direction, goals, priorities, timeframes and resources
V
- Volunteer informal feedback regularly
- Value good performers and their contributions
W
- Work with staff to develop performance plans, identify opportunities and overcome obstacles to performance
- Workloads are allocated and monitored to ensure they are fair, consistent and manageable
X
- Xers (Generation X), Baby Boomers and Millenials have different workplace needs, motivations, learning styles, preferences for management style and frequency of feedback – understand this and adapt your management style accordingly
Y
- Year round performance dialogue to ensure staff are never surprised by their performance evaluation or feedback received in their formal performance review
Z
- Zoom in on performance gaps early, addressing them before they become bigger issues
- Zestfully and zealously implement best practice performance development with your staff!
Consultrain can provide training in the following areas to support both managers and staff to participate effectively in performance management and development activities:
- Training for managers in how to implement best practice performance development
- Training for staff in how to participate effectively in performance management processes so they can maximise their benefits from it
- Setting effective work goals and performance measures
- Giving, receiving and seeking performance related feedback
For more information, contact adele@consultrain.com.au or call 0412 683 659