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Your Performance Framework
29/11/2021
2 minutes Read
Improve Engagement and increase productivity
Are your employees engaged?
Employee engagement when successful leads to increased productivity, innovative
solutions to challenges, better customer service and higher retention rates. Engagement captures how emotionally connected a team member feels to an organisation’s vision and business goals, their individual contribution to company direction and the overall sense of belonging within their team. Performance Reviews and ongoing check-ins, contribute to this sense of contribution and belonging.
Gallup’s 2021 Global Workforce Report is showing an overall decline in employee engagement to just 20%, a two-percentage decrease in the last twelve months. With 45% of people saying their life has been affected “a lot” by the coronavirus pandemic,
now more than ever, Leaders will need to focus on supporting staff with focus, resilience, wellbeing and development.
What is a Performance Review?
A performance review is an assessment completed by an employee’s Leader to evaluate their work performance and behaviours, identifying strengths and areas for improvement, and providing feedback to set goals for future development. Conversations should be two-way, providing the opportunity for staff members to reflect on achievements and explore projects and tasks that did not go to plan.
Depending on the size and need of the company, performance reviews can be conducted monthly, quarterly, or annually. The key focus should be on capturing areas of development and supporting staff to fulfill the requirements of their role. As
the human resources industry continues to reshape, some organisations are moving towards more casual weekly or fortnightly check-ins, providing real-time feedback and guidance to staff, with a key focus on developing high-performing teams.
Why are Performance Reviews important?
Whether informal or formal, regular conversations with staff members provide insights for both staff members and Leaders. Benefits can include:
- Learning about new areas within your business to be improved.
- Opportunities to coach staff, improving performance and productivity.
- Identification of training areas across your team.
- Improved planning for employee development activities.
- Opportunity to resolve any issues or grievances.
- Fair assessment and application of pay increases.
- Improved succession planning analytics identifying staff ready for promotion or a change of role.
- Increased job satisfaction and motivation, leading to improved morale and teamwork.
Performance Review Process
Too often companies get lost in the process of performance reviews. If not the process, then it will be the supporting system that captures performance ratings. At its core, performance reviews are a conversation between a staff member and their Leader. The goal of a performance discussion is to support employees perform better and help them reach their full potential.
Ensuring all employees have a job description which outlines core responsibilities and deliverables should be enhanced by goals or objectives which align to the future direction of the company. Implementing an Objectives and Key-Results framework (OKRs) will clearly outline expectations to staff and assist employees in connecting their day-to-day duties with the success of the company creating a sense of belonging.
Supporting employees to complete a self-evaluation through-out the year is a critical aspect of reviews providing the opportunity for staff members to reflect on significant contributions and achievements to the company whilst taking accountability for improvement areas.
Leaders should be providing ongoing feedback which remains relevant, fair and accurate to an employee’s current performance. This will reduce any concerns around “major” review processes, creating a framework of progress reviews. This encourages a growth mindset in both Leaders and staff as the focus changes to celebrating achievements and guiding development areas. The opportunity for feedback therefore becomes part of the normal workplace culture.
Where to from here?
Approach is everything…
Heading into your end of year performance discussions, reshape reviews so your staff members are looking forward to the process. Ensure your team members are set to gain something from your discussion, whether it is guidance, additional support, opportunities for training or a new topic to research.
Make sure you allocate enough time and are focused on the discussion, removing all distractions. If you need to provide feedback which requires performance improvements, ensure you give examples and tangible solutions to rectify concerns. Feedback is easier to process when there is a pathway forward resulting in meeting expectations.
If you’re implementing the Performance Framework for the first time and would like additional guidance, please contact us at support@catalystcentral.com.au