Performance Management
Performance management processes aim to acknowledge employee achievements, support ongoing personal and professional development, and motivate and empower people to perform their work roles effectively. Performance management helps employees to develop their understanding, knowledge and skills, so that they can contribute to the achievement of the enterprise’s goals and gain personal and job satisfaction. It is an integral component of any quality human resource system.
Every enterprise wants and should expect high performance from each employee. The elements of a competency-based performance management system will, if implemented well, enable high performance, which will define enterprise and personal success. Using performance management processes, an enterprise can be better placed to meet competitive challenges. This is done by:
§ identifying the critical positions
§ determining the most important competencies for those positions
§ providing the education, training and feedback required by employees
§ holding each person accountable for their results.
Performance appraisal
The key to the performance management process is ‘performance appraisal’. Performance appraisal is simply an evaluation of how well an employee performs his or her job compared to a set of predetermined standards’. It is a systematic process of feedback on an employee’s work performance, and agreement to future training plans, job goals and job aspirations.
To be effective, a performance appraisal needs to have a set of agreed criteria that will be the basis of feedback as well as of setting future goals. Units of competency provide a very effective tool for setting benchmarks or criteria for work performance. The performance criteria within units of competency can be used as measures to assess against in a performance appraisal or review.
The advantage of using units is that they provide an industry-agreed benchmark for what encapsulates effective job outcomes together with the necessary knowledge and skills. This detail can be easily adapted to fit specific job, site or individual requirements and then be used as the basis for systematic assessment (self, peer and supervisor). Units can also be easily customised to form objectives or key performance indicators by including specific measures within units employees will have measurable targets to aim for. Where gaps in performance exist, training needs are more easily identified.
How is it implemented?
Training Packages can be used to assist enterprises to implement performance appraisal, and to help employees to perform to the standards required by their job. For example, using the process below, employers will be guided through the creation of competency lists or profiles for each staff member. Employees can undertake self assessment to rate their level of skills and knowledge against the units that are relevant to hem, and the result of their assessment can be printed off and brought to the appraisal meeting between them and their manager. The advantage of using nationally endorsed units of competency is that they provide objective criteria for job requirements.
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1. Ensure that each employee has a current job or position description based on units of competency. If these are not available, a job analysis can be conducted as the basis for developing job descriptions. |
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2. Identify with each employee which units are critical to effective performance, and if appropriate, the units in which it is agreed that there could be improved performance. |
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3. Assess the employee’s performance against the standards as described in the critical units - this can involve a combination of self assessment, and feedback from supervisors and colleagues. |
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4. Discuss the employee’s performance with them in an objective way. Provide positive feedback and recognition for occasions when performance criteria were met. |
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5. Where gaps in performance are identified, training needs can easily be identified. |
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6. Provide the employee with opportunities for skill development if required. |
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7. Agree on the performance goals and date for the next performance appraisal. |
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