What is Performance Management?

Performance management is a continuous process that takes an all encompassing approach to people management. Its goal is to develop, correct, sustain, and improve individual performance—thus benefiting
your staff and your organisation as a whole.

Performance management follows a clearly defined process. It’s an ongoing cycle that can be broken down into three core stages: plan, monitor, and review.

1. Creating a strategic development plan and setting SMART goals
2. Monitoring staff through regular check-ins and coaching
3. Reviewing employee results and offering feedback

These three stages can be expanded on in more detail to include 5 steps:

Step 1: The first step of the PMC is to identify and establish a measurement of current performance, or the gap between performance desired and performance actual.

Step 2: Generate objectives and action plans. In this step, we take the initial measurement and establish clear goals and objectives to be achieved by the employee in a given period.

For example, goals could include becoming more productive, more accurate or more collaborative. Next, a set of actions, or tasks, is defined for the employee.

Step 3: Communicate the performance management process. Finally, the employee is notified of his or her expectations for the next performance cycle.

The employee can expect that there will be a meeting to discuss performance and that he or she is responsible for being informed of expectations. The action plan is then presented to the employee and he or she is asked to sign a commitment that he or she will adhere to the goal(s) and objectives of the plan.

Step 4: Review performance. Performance is reviewed at regular intervals (typically every six months). The employee is again asked to commit to the goals set out in the plan and is held accountable. If there is no improvement, a new plan may need to be established and a new review initiated.

Step 5: Provide feedback. After the review of performance, feedback is provided. In many cases, there are further steps that follow this feedback such as coaching, development opportunities or career development.

There are many tools you can use to measure performance. Some are general, such as employee self reporting, manager observation, supervisor ratings and 360-degree feedback.

Some are very targeted, such as employee records (such as employee surveys, goal progress and job documentation). Others may be new, such as the use of new tools such as performance graphs, performance maps and performance dashboards.

When the cycle is consistent and ongoing, you can develop, correct, sustain, and improve individual performance. And that leads to job clarity, accurate employee assessments, and boosted staff engagement and motivation—benefits that promote both staff development and
overall workplace results.

Remember PMC is a year-round activity. Life gets busy, and it’s easy to place your performance management system on hold—delaying or cancelling meetings and saying: “We’ll chat soon.” But to achieve long-term results, ongoing check-ins and coaching sessions are necessary. So, keep that cycle consistent and stay in touch with your staff, regardless of what else is happening.

The key takeaways

Performance management is a continuous process that takes an all encompassing approach to people management. Its goal is to develop, correct, sustain, and improve individual performance—thus benefiting
your staff and your organisation as a whole.

Performance management follows a clearly defined process. It’s an ongoing cycle that can be broken down into three core stages: plan, monitor, and review.

1. Creating a strategic development plan and setting SMART goals
2. Monitoring staff through regular check-ins and coaching
3. Reviewing employee results and offering feedback

Remember PMC is a year-round activity. Life gets busy, and it’s easy to place your performance management system on hold—delaying or cancelling meetings and saying: “We’ll chat soon.” But to achieve long-term results, ongoing check-ins and coaching sessions are necessary. So, keep that cycle consistent and stay in touch with your staff, regardless of what else is happening.