Is Continuous Performance Management Right for Me?

The core principle behind Performance Management is getting employees to identify and take ownership of their own goals – using this approach, the manager’s role is to become more of a coach and a resource that enables their direct reports to achieve what they set out to do.

Some of the benefits realized by employees using Performance Management include:

• Helping employees be proactive and self-directive in accomplishing their day-to-day roles

• Improving both short-term and long-term results

• Consistent work at their full potential

• Sense of pride in both team and organizational goals

As a manager you have many goals and responsibilities; you have a duty to each employee, the greater team, and of course your company or organization as a whole. And so, the more you can motivate employees to set and achieve their own goals, analyze mistakes, and find new paths to success, the more that you, as a manager, can lead your team and ultimately, your organization to consistent, long-term success. If you find yourself asking these questions, there’s a good chance performance management is right for you.

Q1: Why aren’t my annual performance reviews working?

Engag­ing with an employ­ee to review their ongo­ing work­place per­for­mance and devel­op­ment once a year leaves so much room for error. Humans are flawed. And 1 off day or week could skew an entire year of work, progress, and accomplishments. And, with a traditionally backward-facing view of work items, the annual review never ends up being as effective as continuous performance management which offers real-time support and feedback allowing employees to pivot behavior in order to more efficiently meet company-wide initiatives and goals. Moving away from meeting with employees 1x per year can not only reduce laborious (and often wasted effort) paperwork but can often make employee interaction more productive and actionable.

Q2: How can I show my employees I care about them and their career trajectory?

Regular, year-round check-ins with employees offer support and improvement opportunities in consistent intervals. With close to 85% of workers stating that recognition for work well done positively affect workplace culture, it’s important to maximize recognition opportunities where they make sense. Mean­ing­ful reward and recog­ni­tion sys­tems can only oper­ate in busi­ness­es where there is an accu­rate, vis­i­ble, and regular process of per­for­mance feed­back and dis­cus­sions. Con­tin­u­ous per­for­mance man­age­ment enables man­age­ment to iden­ti­fy activ­i­ty and efforts wor­thy of praise or reward. In turn, this pro­motes a growth mind­set among your team members, often leading to happier, more productive, and ultimately successful people. So, if you want to show your team that you care about them as people... check in with them more often.

Q3: Turnover seems higher than average. What gives?

More frequent employee check-ins routinely lead to increased employee engagement. And, When employees are given the chance to regularly interact with managers, communication becomes more fluid and managers are kept informed regarding progress, negative sticking points, and any potential issues. This increased involvement will ensure that your employees are truly engaged in and rooted in the wellbeing of the team and the direction of the company. Removing the barriers between employees and management often helps to resolve issues, offer professional growth opportunities more often, and help employees feel like they have a real impact on organizational growth. All of these things combined can help retain talented employees.