Tweet

Smart Planning For Performance Managment

Guest post by: Dr. Fathi El-Nadi

Article Overview: If you have just designed a new performance management process for your organization or if you've made changes to an existing process, you will need to hold information sessions with all staff about the new system before implementing it. This will increase employee buy-in into the process and avoid resentment and confusion.

Smart Planning For Performance Managment

Effective organizations plan their work in advance. Therefore, the first phase in the performance review process is for employees, in collaboration with their managers, to develop work plans for the coming year. The work plan should include:

what is to be accomplished - results that are expected

how it is to be done

measures or standards that will be used
Establishing Performance Objectives and Measures
Often the most difficult part of a planning meeting is finding appropriate and clear language to describe the performance objectives and their measures/ indicators of success.

For example:
What is a valid measure of good customer service?
If the measure used only looks at the number of clients served (i.e. what was done), then the quality of service or 'how well it was done' is not captured. Assessing both 'what' and 'how' would be a more valid measure for good customer service. For example, in addition to the number of clients served, the quality of the information provided, and a complaints rate of 1% or less could represent good customer service.
To assess quality of information provided, the supervisor could do spot checks to listen to or look at the information that the employee provides to clients. The supervisor would then assess accuracy and completeness of the information.

The objectives and the indicators need to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timebound.

SpecificThe objectives should specify clearly what is to be done, when it is to be done, who is to accomplish it, and how much is to be accomplished.In addition to "Specific," the 'S' sometimes stands fo "Stretch." This means that the objective is challenging yet doable.

MeasurableAsk questions such as: How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?The measures used to evaluate the objectives should be valid - they should actually measure the things you are trying to measure.Multiple measures should be used if possible, for example quantity, quality, timeframe and cost.

AttainableAn attainable objective is one for which you see a reasonable path to achievement, and feasible odds that you will get there.

RealisticThe objective needs to be possible to achieve. It should match the level of complexity with the employee's experience and capability.There needs to be an assessment that there are not insurmoutable forces outside the control of the employee that will hinder its accomplishment.

Time-boundYou should be clear about the timeframe in which performance objectives are to be achieved. Normally, objectives are drafted to be completed by the end of the performance review period (usually one year).
Writing objectives and identifying the appropriate measures takes careful consideration.
One format to use for writing objectives is:


Action verb + Object of the action verb + Measures

Write an objective for each accomplishment; don't put multiple elements in one objective

Use positive terms for behavioral objectives rather than stating the objective as what should be avoided
For some objectives, identifying appropriate measures can be challenging.

For Example:
For an employee who is responsible for supervising volunteers at a drop-in centre for youth.
SMART Objective 1: Conduct monitoring visits to the drop-in centre on a monthly basis to assess the performance of the five volunteers against the plans and objectives that were developed with them.
SMART Objective 2: Provide written updates on the work of the volunteers to the Program Manager on a quarterly basis.
Not SMART: Visit the drop-in centre and see how the volunteers are doing.
(image placeholder)

Make sure that the objectives are a good representation of the full range of duties carried out by the employee, especially those everyday tasks that can take time but are often overlooked as significant accomplishments. If it does not cover the most important duties then the resulting evaluation will not be valid. Consider identifying critical objectives. These are objectives that are critical to the overall success of the position. If the employee does not meet his/her critical objectives then overall performance will be evaluated as unsatisfactory. The employee should have a written copy of the performance objectives and the measures/standards that will be used to assess performance.

Related Articles
  Topics You Might Not Want to Share With Those You Supervise
  Strategic Planning Must Include a Strategic Action Plan Filled with WAY SMART Goals
  How much Planning is enough - Use Lean and Standardize
  Successful Succession Planning - Driven By Managing Performance
  What are the 3 biggest challenges faced by supply chain/purchasing professionals today? (Survey Result 16)

Article Tags:



Related Forum Posts
HRPreneur - Hi everyone, I am new to the forum and I recently started my own Human Capital (HR) consulting firm called HRPreneur Inc. HRP focuses on making human capital a strategic differentiator for SME's. Below is a summary about HRP; Who We Are: HRP is a Human Capital consulting firm with 30 years of experience that becomes an extension of your company by providing a full array of services to help you create a highly engaged workforce focused on achieving strategic results in order to build a long lasting great company! Mission: HRP provides small and medium sized businesses a Strategic HR Business Partner to increase employee engagement, resulting in cost savings, increased productivity and results at an affordable rate! Vision: To inspire and warrant SME's reach their full competency! Cost Effectiveness: We provide over 30 years of experience at a fraction of the cost at a strategic executive HR business level You will save between 50% to 60% in costs per year on salary, bonus, benefits, training, office space alone We will provide you additional cost efficiencies through our services Services: • Strategic Human Resources Planning • Organizational Redesign • Change Management • Organizational Culture Development • Employee Engagement Programs • Leadership Assessment and Development • Compensation Design • Talent Acquisition • Assimilation and On-Boarding • Performance Management • Talent Management & Succession Planning • Human Resources Due Diligence • Human Resources Audit • Full Service HR Outsourcing
LEADERS - L- Loyal E- Eager to learn and serve A- Active D- Delegate E- Efficient R- Reliable S- Smart
Re: How do you make the most of your day? - Planning, To Do lists, and deadlines all help me. Also being self critical of my own time management helps me raise the bar. I still check email too often though.
Re: Success - I think it was Gary Player who said the harder I practice the luckier I become when it came to his success as a world class golfer. Planning and dedication to a task can make all the difference between success and failure. MichelleJ
ARTICLE: Performance coaching in the workplace - To create lasting performance change it is necessary to first understand the positive and negative influence that a person’s personal behaviors has on their execution and what impact these have on their ability to achieve success. Only when we fully understand a person’s behavioral patterns and create positive self-managing coaching strategies can we assist a person to create lasting performance change. The vast majority of employers believe coaching can deliver significant benefits to both individuals and organizations. The majority of employers plan to increase the use of coaching over the next few years, according to a new survey by the Institute of Personnel and Development. Nearly nine out of ten interviewed companies expect their managers and supervisors to deliver performance coaching as part of their day-to-day work. In another large industry-wide study it was found that most managers reported that they were confident in their ability to coach. However, the study also showed that the managers’ actual skills levels as coaches were typically poor. As a consequence they were not nearly as effective in their coaching as they believe themselves to be. Often times, they believed that coaching consisted of just providing 1-to-1 instructional feedback to their staff members on what to do in a given situation to perform better. Many recent studies have shown that technical skills only represent at best 20% of the contribution into our performance. The remaining 80% comes from our ability to choose or make a decision, assertiveness, commitment to grow, ability to concentrate, honesty, optimism, persistence, ability to perform well under stress and so on. These traits are commonly called our soft skills or attitude. Few managers understand just how deeply rooted their own behavior patterns are, let alone how to positively change them in other people. Performance coaching is frequently confused with other types of coaching, such as Executive coaching and Life coaching. Performance coaching is a form of Directive coaching. Executive coaching and Life coaching are both forms of Non-directive coaching. Directive coaching is usually more suitable for a manager who sometimes acts as a coach. Performance coaching in the workplace has developed immensely from what it was only 4 years ago. To choose the right coach will make a huge difference. You also better make sure to know what you want. If your coach knows what (s)he is doing – you will get on your way to get it! [i:38tu5pgr]- Peter J Karlsson[/i:38tu5pgr]


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT CONSULTING

LEARNING TO HAVE FUN – EVERYDAY!

Earn More Money - Easy Home Business Ideas

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.