Performance management is a process whereby a manager and employee work together to plan the deliverables or task, monitor at relevant intervals & review for further improvement. It is also a process whereby managers counsel or coach their team members for more optimal performance in a time bound manner.  

As per some of the management experts, below are some of the steps that are outlined as the objective of any good performance management process, which we are sure is well understood by many of you working in the corporate world. 

• Planning and Expectation Setting.
• Monitoring.
• Development and Improvement.
• Periodic Rating.
• Rewards and Compensation. ...
• Planning and Expectation Setting.

But how do we put a good performance management culture in any organization or business is more critical than just a system for measure. And that is something we all need to understand clearly so that the outcome of any performance management process leads to more positive experience for employees and organizational productivity.

Let’s look at some of the simple processes which you may like to consider for building a good performance management culture.

Build a positive work environment

A work environment is very important for any employee to give his or her best and for any organization to have an optimal output from employees is very crucial. A work culture that boosts of strong employee practices culture have seen better ROI impacts. Here are some tips to build that work culture.

• Trust & Collaborative culture: An organization that help’s first build trust culture between employees through collaborative & transparent communication, have seen their impact on work culture and ROI. When employees within the organization trust each other, and leaders encourage a culture wherein the whole idea of being interdependent while being creatively liberal, is paid special attention to, it not only adds value to the whole aspect of working collaboratively towards the same goal but also impacts the ROI in the most unexpected ways, mostly good, hardly ever harsh.
• Employee engagement: Another aspect is engagement, how engaged is your workforce. Engagement assures consistency. Employee engagement strategies reduce staff turnover, improve efficiency, retain customers at a higher rate, and make more profits. Most importantly, engaged employees are happier personally and professionally.  

Performance conversations:

As managers or leaders when you sit for performance review it is important you listen, converse experiences and show empathy. There must be smiles for achievement or effort and not regret. Such conversation-based approaches build strong leadership or managerial credibility.  

Some of the key factors that ensure a healthy performance conversation is:

Honesty

While a filter of politeness and courtesy is important, being absolutely honest is just as important. This helps employees better themselves, at the same time they know that they can rely on their leaders for honest feedback.

Objective

The objective of the conversation needs to be kept in mind throughout, without too much beating around the bush.  

Expectations

At the end of the conversation, the employees need to have a clear idea as to what is expected of them and what isn't. 

What is feedforward? 

Just like feedback is reactive, feed-forward is a way to measure a disturbance before the disturbance has influenced the system. The effect of the disturbance is thus reduced by measuring it and generating a control signal that counteracts it. This way of controlling a system is called feed-forward. Feedback focuses on the post-execution part of the agenda, feed-forward influences the pre-planning of the agenda. Feed-forward helps to make the system more fool-proof and gives doers an opportunity to come together for making sure of a rather error-proof execution. 

These factors ensure transparency and encourage a healthy culture based on trust. Moreover, rewarding the employees for their commitment, engagement and hard work, plays a huge role in enabling them to give their best. 

Conclusion:

“The Future of performance management lies in placing ownership in the hands of the employees, and teaching managers to coach rather than police” by #culture quote.

How true the above quote talks, performance management is not just about grand systems, process, data, analytics etc., it is more about how we make the entire process more trusting and positive experience for a healthy work culture and future ready workforce.