How much emphasis does your organization place on performance management?

If you were able to quickly and easily answer these questions, it’s likely that you have made a priority of helping supervisors understand and embrace the importance of being performance managers.  If you had to think twice about your answers or if your answers were immediately on the negative side, it’s likely that the day-to-day management of employee performance has not been made a priority in your organization.

Performance management, the process managed service provider of providing direction, feedback, and recognition to employees, contributes to workplace culture.  It defines what is important to employees and communicates day-to-day expectations.  However, many organizations, public and private sector alike, have become distracted by the crisis of the day and overlook this important managerial function.

When the management of employee performance is not a priority, employers are likely to see reduced levels of employee engagement and commitment.  A recent study by Watson Wyatt, 2005/2006 Communications ROI Study, found that clear communication leads to greater levels of engagement and higher levels of retention. The study found that most organizations expect supervisors to take on a greater share of the communication responsibilities, but few organizations are providing the tools that supervisors need to communicate more effectively with employees. This study, and probably your own experience, leads us to the conclusion that supervisors need help in managing the performance of their employees.  Supervisory training and development programs play a critical role in helping supervisors become performance managers. The purpose of this article is to provide five tools that will lead supervisors to become better managers of employee performance.

Tool #1:  Help supervisors see the cyclical, constant nature of performance management, using the performance management cycle.