Top 6 Tips for Effective Performance Management
by Mashum Mollah Management 01 August 2018
Do you know what your employees are saying about you?
Does that question scare you? It shouldn’t!
Effective performance management means working together with your team to create good communication. If you want your business to succeed, nobody should feel intimidated to speak to you.
If you’re a new manager, or just eager to learn better management skills, don’t worry.
Performance management is like any other skill you can study and practice. You can transform your work culture and learn to maintain a happy team that surpasses the goals you set.
Want to learn more?
Below, we’ve collected 10 quick tips for you:
1. Hire Well, or Don’t Hire at All
This much should be obvious: if a candidate isn’t a good fit, don’t hire them.
But you’d be amazed how many hiring managers take on candidates who aren’t right for the job because they don’t want to have an uncomfortable conversation.
In reality, that one awkward conversation will save you and the hopeful candidate so much hassle in the long run. The only way to cultivate a successful, positive team of people is to start with the right people. You can’t teach people who aren’t willing to grow.
Learn to say no to candidates who aren’t the right match, and keep looking. It’ll be worth it.
2. Never Compare Employees to Each Other
You can see how this is a conflict waiting to happen, right?
One of the most common management blunders is appraising employees based on other employees instead of company standards. When people are measured against other people, someone will always end up on the bottom– even if that person’s results are technically surpassing company standards.
As the manager, it’s your responsibility to be aware of your own biases and how they may interfere with the larger goals of the company. It’s not productive or fair to disregard one employee’s growth just because someone else regularly outperforms them.
Only compare each employee’s performance to the company standards and the goals they’ve set individually. This way, your every team member will focus more on improving their own performance instead of sabotaging each other.
3. Communicate Constantly
Okay, stay with me on this one.
Nobody wants work-related phone calls at 3 am on Sunday. But that’s not what I’m suggesting. What I’m suggesting is to communicate with your team most of the time, not just when there’s a crisis.
It’s not productive or motivating if you only speak up to point out a mistake. Feedback is essential! Your team thrives on feedback, be it positive or constructive (but mostly positive).
Communicate often enough to let your team know you see them, you appreciate what they’re doing, and you care about their career development.
Don’t be a stranger! Be comfortable with your team. Give them lots of feedback so they know when they’re on the right track.
4. Set Clear Expectations
This might be the most helpful tip out of all of them.
What if I told you there was a way to do all of the following without creating any unnecessary tension:
- Fire toxic or underperforming employees
- Consistently praise the same overachiever month after month
- Motivate everyone when morale is low
Is it voodoo? Is it a miracle pill?
Nope! Simple: Set clear expectations for everyone.
By getting each person to agree to clear expectations from the start, you can refer back to those agreements any time you want to explain your decisions. And if everyone agreed to meet those expectations, they have nothing to argue.
5. Never Miss a Performance Review
We’ve already talked about the importance of constant communication.
Informal feedback is great a great way to keep your team engaged and motivated. This informal feedback should be happening on a regular basis, just about every day.
Official performance reviews are your chance to review each employee’s past behavior and talk about the future. It’s crucial to use this time to set new performance goals and reaffirm your expectations of them.
Missing a scheduled performance review can mean it’ll be months before you get to have those crucial conversations with an employee. Thankfully, there are tools like this website to help you stay on top of whose review you need to prepare for next.
6. Uplift and Develop Your Team
Here’s where the real magic happens.
An effective manager doesn’t just delegate and boss people around. You’ll begin to see the best results out of your team when you prove you want the best for their future.
Offer solutions instead of just pointing out problems. Give your employees ample opportunity to learn skills they can take with them forever. You’re not just trading their time for money, you’re helping them grow their own careers.
Your feedback will be heard better when it’s for the sake of helping that person grow– not just to point out how they can make you happier.
Even More Effective Performance Management Tips
Like what you’ve read so far?
Remember:
- Keep saying no to candidates until you find the right ones (no matter how nice they are)
- Never measure employees against each other, only the company standards
- Give your team both positive and constructive feedback often, even about the little things
- Set crystal clear expectations for everything
- Never miss a chance to formally sit down and review each employee’s long-term performance
- Uplift and develop each person on your team
Lucky for you, we’ve got even more great posts about effective performance management. In fact, we cover just about everything wealth and business related.
Now, let’s get back to work!
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