Category: Performance Management

The transition throughout the pandemic has not been easy for anyone. Both the employees and the organizations are still struggling to adjust to the new normal. While for some it was easy, but for some it was a major cause of disengagement and distractions. So the question is, are you checking on your employees often and what is the best way to do so.

Employee surveys can be used as an effective way to manage your employees and gauge their engagement.They are designed in such a way that they drive employees to engage more and have a positive impact on them. Once you know how your employees feel, it will be easier to figure out how to better engage them and obtain employee engagement ideas.

Here are eight steps to embrace when you conduct employee surveys.

1. Identify The Objective Of The Survey

Determining the objective of a survey is the most important aspect of conducting a survey. Clarify the purpose of the survey by asking yourself why is the survey important to your organization and what you aim to achieve through the survey. A clear objective gives your survey a direction and motivates your employees to take it more enthusiastically.

For instance, you can carry out a survey to gain insights into your employees’ perception of their work or to increase employee engagement. The point is that you need to have an absolutely clear objective before you give your employees a survey. A survey without an objective is pointless and has high chances of failure as you will get responses which you will not be able to do much with.

2. Communicate To Your Team

Once you’ve figured out the objective of the survey, the next thing you need to do make sure that your employees realize this survey is important. And that their participation is necessary. A lot of surveys tend to fail because the people taking them do not take them seriously. In order for your survey to work, you need accurate and honest feedback. You can also use a third-party provider to administer the survey, to assure your employees of anonymity and fairness. Using a third-party provider increases the response rate and provides you with an unbiased end report.

Also Read: Traits Of High Performing Teams[Infographic]

3. Determine The Survey Method

It is important that you select the appropriate survey method. As there are different types of surveys, there are also different methodologies to conduct the surveys. The survey methodology depends on a few factors like the participants of the survey, ease of distributing the questionnaire, ease of receiving the responses, etc. Online questionnaires are widely used now tools such as engagedly you can design and implement a survey rapidly. You can choose one of the two methodologies to conduct an employee survey.

4. Ask The Right Questions

Depending on the survey objective and the target audience, make a list of important topics to be included in the questionnaire. Make sure that any question doesn’t have a negative impact on the relationship of your work staff. Mostly, try to formulate positive questions and avoid typical social norm questions which encourage criticism of their coworkers. You may want to have some questions that can bring out employee engagement ideas you may not have thought about. You might need to make multiple questionnaires and validate them before you can release the final version.

Also Read: Goal Setting Software Guide For CIOs

5. Encourage Participation 

Now that the questionnaire is ready, all you have to do is get your employees to take the survey. To get responses across the board, you might have to promote the survey aggressively. Encourage your employees to participate in the survey. Help them understand how they can benefit from it. Once they are clear about the outcome and benefits of the survey, they will be more eager to be a part of it.

6. Make The Outcome Of The Survey Public

After the survey is conducted, make sure that you communicate the results of the survey to your employees. Don’t suppress them results. In fact, your employees deserve to know what the survey says and what the general consensus is. You can probably have a short presentation about the results of the survey and then discuss the results with your employees.

Also Read: 7 Proven Ways To Be A Better Leader In The Workplace

7. Create An Action Plan

After presenting the results, make sure that you act on the results as you discussed with your employees during the presentation. Create a plan of action and a set of goals to be achieved. Also, involve your employees in the plan and assign them responsibilities so that they solve the issues themselves and feel empowered.

8. Conduct Surveys Often

Carry out employee surveys at regular intervals of time. Any survey is of no use if it is conducted once in a year or once in two years. You will only know how your employees feel if you make it a habit of asking them.

Have you carried out surveys in your organization? Share your experiences with us in the comments section below!

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Want to know how Engagedly can help you implement effective employee surveys? Request for a demo from our experts.

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Bias exists in everyday life. It’s a very common human failing, and no one is immune to it.

Bias essentially tend to be preconceived notions which often reflect inaccurate information. In some cases, bias serves to further enforce a stereotype and in others, it creates false perceptions.

Though bias exists in everyday life at the workplace, it hurts employees the most when it crops up in performance reviews. Rater bias can damage to an employee’s career. At best, it allows some of them to coast through without anybody picking up on their lack of performance. At the worst, it prevents others (such as minorities) from moving up the ladder; it prevents hardworking employees from getting their due and it certainly ruins an employee’s chance of growing within an organization.

Also Read: Stay Interviews:A Tool To Retain Your Best Employees

The task of dismantling rater bias is up to us, the individual. It is important, especially during performance reviews, to approach the review with an impartial state of mind.

Performance, compensation, etc are all factors that should be devoid of bias and instead should focus solely on an employee’s performance, skills and abilities.

Here are 4 ways to prevent rater bias from damaging performance reviews.

Establish A Benchmark

Another way to objectively review performance is to establish criteria for what is good or bad performance. This, of course, will vary from department to department and can vary from manager to manager as well. However, it is important to see that these criteria for performance don’t unfairly penalize some and reward others.

Also Read: A New Manager’s Guide To Employee Performance Reviews

Even when applying criteria for reviewing performance, managers should take note of how objective they are being. Are they extending the same treatment to everyone? Or they giving no one special treatment? However, they choose to evaluate performance; it is necessary that everyone get treated the same way (save for extenuating circumstances). Same treatment across the board treatment ensures a lesser chance of bias unless, of course, the manager is one of those who chronically over rates people or underrates them. In which case, they need to rethink their approach to performance evaluation completely.

Also Read: How To Create A Feedback Culture In Your Workplace?

Document Everything

Maintain documentation throughout the year, be it about your own performance, or be it with regard to someone else’s.

This way, when performance review season rolls around, you are prepared to approach the review with information based on facts, as opposed to your own judgment. Everybody deserves fair and impartial reviews. And while it is impossible to be 100% fair and impartial (it’s a statistical impossibility) we should strive to do as much as we can.

Inequality in the workplace hurts everyone, but it might hurt some subsets of employees more than the others.

Train your Leaders And Managers

Sometimes rater bias isn’t evident to us until we are faced with evidence of it. Undergoing bias training can help us confront some deeply rooted instances of bias and then dismantle those preconceptions. It can also help us evaluate our own performance better since evidence has shown that men tend to overestimate their performance, while women tend to underestimate their performance.

This might be especially helpful for organizations who are discovering that their work culture needs a bit of a rethink or an overhaul.

Also Read: Here’s Why Employe Rewards And Recognition Fails

Reshape and Realign Your Processes With Time

Sometimes, the problem is not in the person, rather it is in the process. In such cases, it is worth revisiting your performance review process and seeing what needs to change to get rid of bias. For example, subjective questions in a performance review process only increase the occurrence of rater bias, because there is no measure of accountability. Or there are stack rankings, a damaging practice that pits employees against each other and further increases bias.

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Do you want to know how Engagedly can help with the performance review process? Request for a demo with us.

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The use of technologies by companies has become more common and important than ever. One of the most important softwares used by many modern companies focuses on setting goals. The Chief Information Officers must make sure that the technologies used by their company are implemented and managed across the entire organization. There are many factors to consider when choosing the right goal setting software and how it will be implemented. 

Utilize OKRs

OKRs are “Objectives and Key Results”. OKRs help managers utilize goal setting software to align and connect individual goals with larger company goals. Good OKRs align employee goals with their team goals, and each team goals with organizational goals. Setting OKRs in the goal setting software will help employees see how they contribute to larger goals and impact other employees / departments. This will improve employee engagement. Using OKRs in the goal setting software will also bring transparency for expectations and deadlines of different teams. 

Also Read: How To Maximize The Potential of OKRs  

Engagedly offers a customized consulting service program for OKR launch and coaching. Working with a coach is a proven best practice to help drive business outcomes and implement your OKR strategy. There are three phases:

• Phase 1: OKR Training and Launch
  Educate the leadership on how to use OKRs and align them with business strategy.
• Phase 2: Coaching
  Redefine leadership OKRs after the initial training workshops and 1:1 coaching.
• Phase 3: Ongoing Feedback
  Continuously set effective and challenging OKRs and refine them continuously with ongoing feedback from OKR coach.

Visualize The End Users Needs

When considering what you want in your goal setting software, consider the needs of your employees and other end users of the software. CIOs should study the processes used by your employees in the goal setting software and see if repetitive tasks can be automated. Goal setting software is great for fostering cross-functional leadership. Leaders of each business unit need to work together to recognize dependencies of different teams and how that will affect tracking in the goal setting software.

Also Read: 360 Degree Feedback: A Guide to Get It Right

Forbes shares that good CIOs know how to pull your future goals into the present moment. First talk to each department head and determine the future outcome they want. Work all the way backwards until you define what you can do today to progress towards that future. Make a schedule of important tasks and consult the employee on how much time they estimate will be needed for each. It is a good idea to make stretch goals that will take the employee out of their comfort zone. If you are achieving every goal in your goal setting software, you are not setting goals high enough. Communicate with your employees that it is normal to not achieve every goal. By working towards goals that seem unachievable, we can use goal setting softwares to measure the real capacity of the organization. 

Check Legacy Technology

Legacy technology is when a company continues to use an old or outdated system. Because a CIO might have put a lot of money or effort into a software in the past, they might overlook the higher cost of keeping the software. This is true with goal setting softwares. If you are struggling to set goals and make changes in your current software, you should consider changing to a newer option. Don’t blindly stick to a goal setting software that worked in the past but no longer is best fit.

One of the most common and impactful problems of outdated goal setting softwares is limited integration. If teams rely heavily on another application or platform, then a different and newer software may integrate better. Mike Loukides, VP of emerging tech content at O’Reilly Media says CIOs must ask “What do I want to do now that I can’t do, or only with great difficulty?” when examining a goal setting software. If your legacy technology is not flexible enough to satisfy the needs of you and your employees, it is time to upgrade. 

Also Read: 5 Performance Management Biases to Avoid

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In today’s remote workplace, the need for a performance management software has become unquestionable. It has made managing remote teams easy and effortless. Even small to midsize businesses who were using traditional processes before COVID have shifted or are considering the shift to using a performance management software.

But how to select the best one? 

This is a good question to ask yourself before you embark on the hunt for performance management software.

Performance management is not just about reviews. In fact, performance reviews make up a very small portion of the entire process. Good performance management includes continuous feedback, consistent goals and objectives, gamification, frequent communication and learning and development. The software you are looking for should have these modules and additionally, should support integration with each other. 

Also Read: Performance Management Trends In 2021

Here are our tips for choosing the right one for your organization!

SaaS based or Installed Application

Choosing a cloud-based application or software that must be installed manually does make a difference when it comes to performance management software. Cloud-based software applications do not need any set-up. All they need is a device and a connection to the internet for users to access them. On the other hand, software applications which need to be installed require a set-up process that can be short or lengthy depending on the size of the application. We recommend using a cloud-based software application. 

User Friendliness

We cannot stress how important it is that you pick a performance management software that is easy to use. The main problem with traditional performance management processes is that they can get tedious and cumbersome. When you begin using a software and find it even more tedious than your previous process, you’ve already lost the battle. Do not just request demos and download brochures and decide. Do your homework and request a free trial. And if you have the option of doing so, take the application for a test run with a pilot group.

If your software of choice causes more confusion, you know you need to look for something different.

Alos Read: 5 Things To Looks For In An OKR Software

Does it meet expectations?

When choosing performance management software, it is absolutely vital to have a software that aligns with your own expectations about performance management. It helps if you have a list of what you would like to change in your performance management process or what you want to introduce to it.

If your list of requirements includes, a flexible and customizable performance module, integration with other secondary modules, a goals module, then you should look for software that fits those needs to a T. Because it is absolutely possible for software applications to be great in every which way and yet be completely unsuitable for your own organization and performance management culture.

Supports Flexibility and Customization

For a software to be useful, you need to be able to customize it to serve the needs of the end users. Performance management software that lends themselves to flexibility and customization is what you should look for. Because software makes it easier for organizations to enact change when it comes to the review process. If they can be tweaked to suit your needs, that’s how you know the software is going to be a good fit.

Easy Integration With Existing System

Before choosing a performance management software, make sure it integrates seamlessly and is compatible with any existing system in place. It should sync easily, provide data security, and is compatible with other employee management software. Otherwise, it will require too much IT support and effort before being put to use.

Also Read: How To Support Mental Health Of Your Remote Team

Performance Management Software Should Be Cost Effective

The software is only effective when besides being the right match for your organization; you also receive excellent customer support from the vendor. Good software providers are willing to meet organizations halfway and ease the transition process. Though it might be explicitly stated, take the liberty to check with service providers if they are willing to help you with on-boarding, support, technical issues etc and to what extent do they provide customer support?

Optimized Pricing

We cannot stress this enough but do not blow your budget on software you cannot afford or vice versa. The beauty of the performance management software market is that there is something suitable for everyone in it. Enterprise class software may not be the best fit for you, if you are a small-sized business. Similarly, a simple one may not suit the needs of an organization that has some very specific needs and requirements.

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Employee goals are more than just placeholders with numbers for the employee.

Goals are something that we can work towards, something that motivates us. And tangentially, it also benefits the organization.

In essence, workplace goals grant employees job satisfaction, provide them with a purpose and for an organization, they also grant results and success.

Therefore, it stands to reason that workplace goals are integral to an organization. As a manager, here’s a checklist for you to follow to set goals for your employees.

Employees Goals Should Focus On Personal Improvement

One of the main motives behind creating goals for your employees as a manager should be personal improvement. Employee goals which help them improve and gain new skills become a good goal by default. Personal improvement is a part and parcel of an employee’s development. Employees cannot remain static.

Also Read: 7 Video Conferencing Etiquettes To Follow

Collaborative And Attainable

One of the keys to setting good employee goals is that they should be slightly unreachable. However, managers should not go to the extreme and set completely unreachable goals. If your goals are causing your employees to pull countless all-nighters or are stressing them out, they are completely missing the point. You don’t want your goals to burn out employees. You should aim for motivation.

Employee goals should ensure that employees do not work as individual contributors but rather work with others to ensure the completion of goals. Goals that can be easily met by employees are not challenging them enough or even engaging them. On the other hand, a goal that forces an employee to step out of their comfort zone is a goal that is challenging. And even better if the goal in question forces employees to engage with other employees.

Measurable And Impactful

If we only counted goals in terms of numerical progress, then by that logic, it would be very easy to declare a goal as a failure or success. When it comes to setting employee goals, one thing you should keep in mind is measurability. It’s good if you can measure a goal in terms of numbers and even better if you can measure the impact of the goal. The impact of a goal is always a better indicator of success than the numerical status.

For example, an employee is given a goal where he needs to convince 50 other employees in the office to use a new software. In terms of numbers, if 50 employees have downloaded that software and used it even once, then the goal is a successful one. However, if those 50 employees stopped using the software after a period of time, then has the employee really succeeded at the goal?

Do The Goals Contribute To The Organization Goals?

All goals cannot be tied to team goals and the organization, that is true. However, when setting a goal for an employee, it is important to remember that as much as possible, a goal should contribute towards the overall team and organization goals. If employee goals are not directly contributing to the team’s or the organization’s success, it should at least account for their personal development. If the goal is not even helping the employee improve professionally, then the goal shouldn’t exist in the first place.

Also Read: What To Look For In A 360 Feedback Software?

Employee Goals Should Be Flexible

Ideally, you should be able to modify employee goals in the long run. Because, in the process of achieving a goal, the employee and manager might suddenly find that the objective of the goal needs to change. Or that they might need to add other objectives to the goal.

Employee’s Should Be Included In Setting Their Goals

Harvard Business Review, in their report found that 14% of people who set their goals are 10 times more successful than their counterparts.

Last but not the least, this is one of the most important factors to consider when creating a goal. Does your goal match with what the employee has in mind? If it does, great, you can go ahead and set that goal. If it does not, you’ve got to find a way to meet in the middle with the employee. A goal that is set for an employee without an employee’s input is one that is doomed. If employees are not invested in a goal or even motivated by it, then they will not be able to pursue it.

Consider Its Overall Impact

This is one other thing you need to take into consideration. How does the goal you set for your employee affect you? Does it tie into any personal goals you have? And if it does, how do you measure the goal? How much is the employee contributing towards the goal? These are a few of the questions you should ask when creating goals for employees.

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Want to know how Engagedly can make your goal setting process simpler? Request for a demo!

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According to a study by Adobe in 2017, 47% of millennials started looking for a new job after their performance reviews!

Performance reviews might seem like just another task for managers but they are a huge deal for the employees. Whether you love them or hate them, performance reviews are here to stay!

Different organizations follow different practices for their performance reviews. What really matters is the frequency of performance reviews at your organization. If you’re reviewing the performance of your employees annually, then filling out review forms and evaluating performance could seem like a lot of work and there is more scope for making mistakes and ruining performance reviews for your employees.

Here is a list of common mistakes that you could avoid during performance reviews.

Lack Of Planning

It is never acceptable to conduct a performance review meeting with your employees without sending them a prior notification about it. Performance reviews require both the managers and employees to be prepared. Remember that the agenda of the entire process is not just for you to assess their performance but also to analyze on how to improve it.

Also Read: What To Look For In A 360 Feedback Software?

Holding Off The Process

Annual performance reviews are abandoned by many organizations and are ignored by a few others. While annual performance reviews aren’t exactly seen as an accurate way to evaluate performance, you cannot delay or cancel these reviews without replacing it with a different structure for employee feedback. If you feel that annual performance reviews are too much, then replace them with frequent mini-reviews. Cancelling performance reviews, while your employees’ promotions, salaries and OKRs depend on them isn’t very ideal.

Missing Out On Acknowledgements

Lot of managers underestimate the amount of damage this practice can cause to their employees. The purpose of employee performance reviews isn’t just to tell employees how they failed, but also to acknowledge and recognize their accomplishments. As a manager, employees expect you to recognize and reward them for their good work. Utilize this opportunity to identify their areas of strengths and make use of these strengths to improve your organizational productivity.

Also Read: How To Support Mental Health Of Your Remote Team

Judgement Clouded By Recency Bias

This is one of the most common issues of annual performance reviews. Managers tend to review with a recency bias. It is important to be accurate with the evaluation, particularly when performance reviews affect employee compensation. As a manager, it is important for you to do your homework about your employees’ past work and have a clear idea before reviewing their performance, eliminating the scope for any recency bias.

Using Personal Judgement Instead of Data

Never base your employee performance evaluation on your own personal judgement. Always check for data and numbers from the past. Set goals and objectives for your employees and see how they accomplished them. Setting OKRs for employees helps you assess the performance of your employees based on concrete data.

Also Read: Do These 8 Things To Improve Employee Engagement 

Only Focussing On Performance Appraisals

Most managers forget that performance reviews aren’t just about the appraisals and compensation but also about managing employee performance and discussing about their future plans. So, don’t just focus on the appraisals, but also discuss and decide on how you plan to help your employees improve their performance in the future.

Comparing With Others

One of the most common mistakes that managers do during performance reviews is that they compare different employees to the same job levels and decide their compensation or promotion based on the analysis. Unfortunately, this practice demoralizes employees. And as a result, they will avoid discussing their future performance or career plans with their managers. This can also breed unwanted competition at the workplace.

Also Read: 5 Things To Look For In An OKR Software

Only The Manager Speaks

Performance review is supposed to be a healthy discussion between the managers and employees. Managers usually tend to just ask employees to fill in the performance evaluation forms, get it signed and not bother about giving or receiving feedback. This practice is demoralizing and yields no positive result. If you want your employees to improve themselves and contribute to organizational productivity, encourage your employees to speak up and give feedback.

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Do you want to know how Engagedly can help you improve performance management? Request for a demo!

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Many organizations around the world today are in the process of completing their year-round performance reviews. Whether you are doing it yearly or half-yearly, so far it has been an indispensable process. But globally many companies have now ditched the annual / half-yearly reviews in favour of feedback-based continuous performance management. 

Also Read: Why These 8 Top Companies Redefined Their Performance Management Systems

Often, these reviews are not fruitful, and it is just a waste of some productive hours for the managers and their employees. Both the manager and employees go in unprepared, and the results are not as expected. A little preparation and these meetings could turn into productive discussion sessions related to strategic planning, goal setting, etc.  

The Importance Of Performance Reviews

We all know the significance performance reviews hold in today’s day and age. Efficient processes not only help understand employee performance but can also measure productivity. Managers share constructive feedback, review goals, identify development opportunities, and help employees to identify their strengths and weaknesses. It also serves as the tool for discussion of salary appraisals, incentives, and promotions. Here are some of the benefits.

Helps Align Goals And Objectives

Performance reviews offer a scope to discuss and align employee goals with the team and the organization’s goals. It gives them a sense of direction and helps them understand how they fit into the bigger picture.

Also Read: 7 Reasons To Set Employee Goals 

Promotes Communication

Performance reviews are a great opportunity to promote a culture of feedback and communication in the workplace. Feedback from managers helps employees know their strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, and gaps. It helps them understand where they are going wrong and what they are doing right. It also helps in employee engagement and enhances employee experience.

Clarity in Job Roles

Often employees are not clear about their job roles and responsibilities and how their work affects employees of the same team or others. Additionally, these meetings act as a great platform for them to understand their job roles better and remove any ambiguity.

Praise, Recognition & Rewards

Employees love being praised, recognized, and rewarded for their work as incentives, bonuses, promotions, or some time-off. Employees feel valued, important, and satisfied when the organization and managers show gratitude. Conversely, if you fail to reward or recognize them, they feel demotivated, disengaged, and ultimately leave your organization for other opportunities.

Also Read: Employee Recognition And Rewards During COVID-19

Personal & Career Development

Performance reviews are a great way to plan for the training, mentoring, and development programs. Identify where your employees see themselves in the next few years and what challenges they would like to tackle. These meetings act as a guide for employees to tread the correct path for their skill development. 

Want to know more about skill development?

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What Is Good Performance?

Although there is no specific yardstick to measure good performance, but we at Engagedly have identified six guidelines to measure someone as a good performer:

• Meets targets on time
• Takes complete ownership of responsibilities
• Completes job duties
• Have the willingness to learn and develop along the way
• Follow the ‘Code of Conduct’ and company policies
• Shows a positive attitude and collaborates with the team

Tips For Managers

As a manager, it is your responsibility to give your employees accurate reviews, which would help them perform better and achieve results. Here are some tips which will help first-time managers or even experienced ones to navigate smoothly in the performance reviews.

Prepare Well On Time

Although a performance review is not more than a half-hour or an hour activity but as a manager you can’t go in unprepared. Schedule the meeting well in advance so that it gives both of you time to prepare for it. Send a meeting invite and block a calendar slot of your direct report. Decide on the key points that you want to focus on and discuss and document them. Review their past performance and achievements. Collect feedback from other stakeholders on their performance and document them to share them with your employee.

Also Read: Top 5 Employee Goals And Objectives For 2021 

Communicate Clearly With Your Employees

Communicate clearly and concisely with your employees during a performance review. Make sure they understand what you want to convey. Avoid responding with one-word answers, such as Good Work, Unsatisfactory Work, Poor Work, or even avoid using phrases such as You did an outstanding job, or You did a terrible job. One word or a phrase won’t help employees to understand their performance any better. It would destroy one of the main motives of the performance reviews. Employees would leave the reviews being unsatisfied and with incomplete information. But as a manager, you don’t need to go overboard with your words but let them know enough, so they are at least in the right direction.

Set Goals And Objectives

A performance review is not only to assess what has happened in the past but also the platform to set goals for the future. Help your employees to set goals and objectives for the next quarter, half-year, or year. The goals should be tough to challenge your employees, but attainable so that we do not demotivate them. Track and review them from time to time to track the progress. It would ensure your employees are on track.

However, writing good employee goals is not that easy. Here’s our guide to help create attainable and smart goals for your employees.

Keep Your Employees Involved

Make sure it is not a one-way conversation, jazz up the conversation with question-answer sessions. Give your employees the opportunity to take part and speak. Half of the performance reviews do not create any impact because they are not interactive enough. Give them feedback, ask them questions and suggestions which will allow them to take part actively in the discussion. 

Design Performance Improvement Plans

Performance reviews are a great opportunity to discuss the performance improvement plans of your employees. It does not indicate that your employee performance was not up to the mark. It is a chance to improve future performance based on the previous one. In the performance review, set OKRs and design a performance improvement plan based on previous performance.

Review Frequently

Sharing timely reviews can greatly impact your employee’s performance. It motivates them and allows them to improve continuously. Moreover, it helps them stay aligned with their goals and objectives. Timely feedback, whether positive or constructive, helps employees perform better and reinforce what they are doing right. It also allows you to appreciate and acknowledge your employees regularly, which makes them feel valued and important.

Also Read: How Continuous Performance Management Help Improve Performance

Document Everything

Human memory has a limited capacity, and it can only store a certain amount of information. If you do not document the ongoing performance review, it might cloud your next one with biases. It will serve as a benchmark for the next performance discussion. Not only this, it will provide evidence-based support for your next discussion and help you decide regarding rewards, promotions, or incentives. A performance review software such as Engagedly can help you store and document historical performance data of your employees.

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With many organizations still functioning remotely, it is crucial for employees to have clear and well-defined goals to keep them on track and focused. Having clear goals helps them improve their productivity, enhance their decision-making skills, and keep them motivated and engaged.

It is almost the end of the first quarter of 2021, and it is time to set goals for your second quarter. So it is necessary to set them right, and avoid the mistakes made previously. Here are seven common goal setting mistakes to avoid when setting goals for yourself and the team.

Failing to Set SMART Goals

We understand setting SMART goals might sound a little bit cliche, but you simply can’t ignore it. George T Doran introduced SMART goals in 1981, and it has been used by organizations worldwide since then. When employees don’t set SMART goals, they lack direction and fail to understand their goals clearly. SMART goals have five main key focus areas:

– Specific: Goals should have a specific purpose. It becomes easier for employees to understand. If goals aren’t specific, they will fail sooner or later

– Measurable: Goals must be measurable so that employees can track the progress of their goals. It will help them track achievements and define success

– Achievable: Goals cannot be too easy, nor can they be too difficult. Easy goals will not challenge the employee, whereas a difficult one will demotivate them

– Relevant: Goals should be relevant and linked to the overall organization and department goals

– Time-Bound: There needs to be a specific time within which the goal needs to be completed. When goals are time-bound, it drives performance, and employees stay motivated and engaged

Also Read: 5 Reasons Why You Need A Performance Management Software

Excluding The Employees

As per recent research by Gallup, only about half of employees understand their job expectations.

Often managers commit the mistake of excluding the employees from the goal setting process. This results in employees lacking a clear understanding and expectation of their goals. Instead, it should be a collaborative effort between the manager and the employees. Employees, when they are part of their goal setting process, they feel more accountable for it. Additionally, the employees don’t feel the goals as forcefully imposed, which results in job satisfaction and increased productivity.

Non-Aligned Goals

According to a report by McKinsey&Company, 91 % of businesses noticed an improvement in profits when organization goals and key strategies were linked to team performance goals.

Non-aligned goals lack directions. Furthermore, employees fail to understand how they contribute to the bigger picture. For employee goals to be effective, they should be aligned with the team, department, and organizational goals. Employees who understand what role they play in an organizations’ success tend to be more productive and are more engaged at work. When they know how they contribute to the overall picture, they are more focused and motivated, which results in success for the organization.

Goals Are Not Flexible

It is often possible that the objective of a goal itself changes even after an employee starts working towards it. In this case, it is wise to update the goals as per their needs. Static goals often affect the motivation and productivity of the employees. Most organizations commit the mistake of not revisiting their goals or updating them until it is time for employee performance reviews. Having flexible goals makes them relevant and important for the employee and the organization.

Also Read: How To Conduct An Effective 360 Degree Feedback?

Fail To Track Progress

As mentioned above, organizations often fail to revisit the goals until performance reviews. It results in employees failing to understand what they are doing right and need to keep on doing, and what they are doing wrong and need to stop.

When goals are tracked, it helps identify problems as well as their progress. As a manager, help employees identify key milestones and set up a timeline to achieve the same. Review the progress of the goals from time to time and share feedback with your employees. This will help them to stay focused and aligned with the organizational goals.

Ignoring The Small Wins

“People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards.” — Dale Carnegie, Leadership Training Guru, and Author.

Setting clear and well-defined goals is crucial, but it is also necessary to take out time to recognize and reward your employees. When you recognize or reward your employees on small wins, they are motivated to achieve further. But failing to do so often makes employees feel undervalued and unimportant, and they get derailed from their goals. A lack of appreciation decreases their morale and motivation to work. It reduces the engagement and productivity of the employees. On the other hand, even a small announcement on the company website or social media or paying bonuses is enough to make them feel appreciated.

Additionally, it helps in creating a culture of appreciation throughout the organization.

Also Read: 5 Benefits Of Investing In Employee Recognition Software

Not Using A Goal Setting Software

We all know COVID-19 has changed the way we all work today. Organizations globally have ditched the traditional goal setting process and have invested in a goal setting software. If your organization has not invested in one yet, it is the right time to do so. Goal setting software helps the creation and managing of goals easier for everyone in the organization. In addition to that, it also improves the visibility of the goals and helps to track them easily.

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Do you want to know how Engagedly can help you with setting effective goals? Then request for a live demo.

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2020 has been a year of complex experiences, revelations and learnings. As a result, we have understood that the way the world works can change drastically without warning. Most working people today are facing uncertainties coupled with family needs and probable financial tensity, presenting unprecedented challenges. Our functions and ways of life need to change in tandem. 

A recent research by SHRM shows that ‘work-related concerns have left more than 40 percent of employees feeling burned out.’ In fact, many organizations have even taken the decision to skip performance reviews this year. 

Keeping a tab on these ongoing transitions, we sought to understand how the recent shift in the way we work has affected performance management and people development processes. We curiously asked ourselves the question, “What has changed in performance management and people development during the COVID era?” To have a closer look at the changes and how it affects us, we conducted surveys on performance management and people development processes. 

Want to know what we found? We will get there in a moment. But before that, allow us to give you some details about the survey.

Which industries did we cover? 

The survey covered about 20 different industries. However, our results clustered into 5 key industries: 

• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Healthcare
• Financial
• Telecommunications

These 5 key industries accounted for 50% of responses to the survey. (View survey)

What was the survey about?  

As we have mentioned before in this article, we wanted to gauge how the pandemic has affected performance management. So we asked the leaders to report the degree of change for different performance management processes by reporting whether or not each of the performance management processes was occurring more or less frequently during COVID-19. They responded on a five point scale (1= significantly less frequent and 5 = significantly more frequent).

We focused the questions on these key areas performance management processes:

• Pay for Performance Incentives
• Usage of Performance Ratings
• Focus on OKR/Goal Management Processes
• Frequency of Reviews/Assessments
• Ongoing Check-Ins with Managers/Others

Wait! The survey does not end there. We wanted to be slightly more thorough. So after they reported on the degree of change they experienced during COVID, we asked the leaders two additional questions.

1. Do you anticipate the changes to continue post COVID? (Yes or No)
2. How satisfied they were about the changes to the performance management processes due to COVID? (1 = Very Dissatisfied and 5 = Very Satisfied).

Here is what we found! 

So now that we have a better understanding about the changes in performance management and their impact, we come to the next important step.

Read: Performance Management and Employee Development in the Covid Era

Key takeaways for you:

1. Performance Management process changes from once-a-year reviews to a continuous approach has been an ongoing shift. But it is clear that the impact of COVID to a virtual workforce has been an accelerant in that shift. 
2. Organizations are moving to a more continuous check-in based approach and also towards a Goal/OKR oriented approach to managing performance.
3. Moreover, what we learnt from this survey is that these changes were welcomed by the leaders by and large. 

Then the key question becomes, do these changes stick or is this only a temporal effect?

• It seems (at least from the current responses) that these changes may be permanent in the post COVID workplace. Permanence may be driven due to the fact that these shifts to a more progressive approach were well received and hence, there will be little reason to go back to the ‘Old Way’ of doing things.

Among the other questions, we pondered regarding use of ratings in performance reviews and changes in pay-for-performance models. It appears there was some shift in doing more Ratings-based Reviews and increased Pay for Performance, but the data did not suggest that it was significant enough to make a claim that that shift was more than temporary, possibly due to cost containment efforts. We will need to run another study in a few months to test our hypothesis. So keep a look out for the follow ups on this piece!

Want to view the detailed report? Click here.

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Performance Appraisal is one of the most important process in an organization, especially for the employees. But often, employees feel unsatisfied and harbour a bitter feeling towards the managers and the organization once the process is over. It happens because of some of the common mistakes which the managers make in conducting the process.

Here are some tips to help you measure your employee’s performance better.

Halo Effect

When a real time performance management software is not in place to conduct continuous performance evaluations, managers tend to have a clouded judgement because of recency bias. They tend to forget past work and achievements of employees and conduct the performance appraisal based on just their recent work.

A manager should do their background work on knowing about the tasks and achievements of the employee, or have a real time performance management system in place to keep a track of it.

Also Read: Don’t Let Recency Bias Affect Your Performance Discussions

Make It Regular

Often managers commit the mistake of holding their reviews and feedback until it’s time for annual performance appraisal. They fail to realize what impact an instant and continuous feedback process can have on their employees. As a result, the employees are not sure when they are working in the wrong direction or right.

The managers believe that performance appraisal is the right time to provide feedback to their employees. But as performance appraisals happen half-yearly or annually in most companies, it becomes too late to receive feedback for some work which was done at the beginning of the year. Using a real time performance management software would solve the problem easily. Their progress can be easily tracked and reviewed, and it will not be a surprise for them at the time of appraisal.

Absence Of An Action Plan

Often managers and employees leave out one key component from the performance appraisal… discussion about future plans. A manager’s job involves not only assessing the employee at present but also guiding them in achieving personal and career goals of the future. This helps in an easy career transition of an employee. They can easily switch roles, and also change projects as per their plans.

Also Read: Understanding Employee Wellbeing In 2021

Not Recognizing Achievements

In a recent survey conducted by Bureau of Labor Statistics, they found that 25% of employees leave organization due to lack of recognition.

If your organization is not practicing a continuous feedback approach to recognize your employees, then performance appraisals are just the perfect time to do so. Instead of focusing too much on negatives and criticisms, appreciate your employees for their accomplishments and strengths. This type of constructive feedback will not only improve their productivity at work, but will also improve their engagement.

Using Engagedly’s Real Time Performance Management Software you can publicly praise your employees and also award points for accomplishments. The praises and rewards will be visible to everyone in the organization.

Delaying The Process

Many organizations tend to postpone or altogether cancel the performance appraisal process. They are not the only yardstick to measure employee performance, but employee promotions and salaries surely depend on it. To delay or postpone them creates a bad impression of the manager or the organization on the employees. Employees might feel that they are not given enough importance, and all the organization cares about is work. If managers are not getting an ample amount of time to conduct a yearly performance review, they can opt for continuous feedback or quarterly reviews.

Failing To Set SMART Goals

As a manager, performance appraisal is the correct time to set SMART goals for your employees based on past goals and objectives. Give them an outline of what is expected from them in the next performance cycle. The acronym SMART stands for:

• Specific–Goals should not be vague, or else they are bound to fail soon
• Measurable–An ideal goal should be measurable so that the progress and completion can be tracked. Measurable goals help us define its success
• Achievable–Any goal should be achievable; they shouldn’t be too difficult or easy
• Relevant–Goals should be relevant
• Timely–Goals should specify the time during which it is to be completed

An ideal example of a SMART goal for an IT project would be to complete 60% UI/UX (Specific, Measurable, and Achievable) designing of the website in two months (Relevant and Timely). The goal should not be rigid and should be flexible to changes.

Also Read: Here’s How To Set Effective Goals For Your Employees

No Follow Up

A perfect performance appraisal, SMART goals, timely rewards, and recognition; all of these would be of no use if there is no follow up from your end. Check with your employees from time to time if the project is on track and development plans are met and milestones achieved. If there is no proper follow-up, employees often fall through the gap and lose their motivation, which ultimately affects productivity.

Implement real time performance management software at your organization to conduct your performance appraisal with ease. It will not only help you to track your employee’s progress and goals easily, but also provide continuous feedback to them, which will keep them engaged and motivated at their work.

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COVID-19 has completely changed the way organizations work today. With most of the workforce still working from home and processes gone virtual, it is crucial to have an effective performance management process in place. While paper-based or traditional performance management processes would have been feasible if the workplace was not remote or organizations were small. But considering the current scenario, organizations need to invest in performance management software to manage their employees.

In this article, we will highlight how having performance management software can benefit your organization in this era of remote working. Here are the reasons.

Effective Goal Setting And Management

A recent study by Gallup indicates that about 50% of employees do not know what is expected of them at their workplace.

Performance Management Software or PMS allows organizations to set well-defined goals for their employees. It helps employees to align their individual SMART goals to the company’s vision, mission, and goals. They offer better visibility of goals and help everyone understand how their efforts contribute to the higher-level goals. Moreover, it allows managers to track and measure progress and provide feedback on goals whenever required. It not only makes the process of goal setting simpler but also makes it easy to track and manage them.

Also Read: What To Look For In A Goal Setting Software

Real-Time Feedback

Feedback, whether positive or critical, is crucial for employee development. Additionally, it is also responsible for driving employee engagement and retention. But feedback can only have an impact when it is on time. Having performance management software helps feedback to be instant and real time. Managers can share their feedback whenever they want, irrespective of different time-zones and geographies. It helps in facilitating two-way communication between the employees and their managers, improves collaboration, and thus helps in building a strong team.

Multirater Assessment

Multirater assessment or 360 degree feedback is one of the most popular modules in Performance Management Software. In this process, employees receive anonymous feedback from people with whom they have a working relationship. These participants include peers, direct reports, managers, customers, and even vendors. Employees receive a comprehensive perspective of their performance and behavior. It helps them bridge the perception gap that exists between self-evaluation and what others think about them. Moreover, it helps them understand their potential blind spots and gaps. Since feedback is from multiple sources, it is less affected by bias and is more acceptable to everyone.

Also Read: The Importance Of  360 Degree Feedback For Healthcare

Celebrating Small Wins

Most performance management software has an in-built employee recognition and rewards module. It helps managers and leaders to celebrate the small wins of their employees. It is human nature to love appreciation and praise for their hard work. So when employees receive appreciation or rewards, they feel motivated and engaged. It increases job satisfaction and happiness at work.

Engagedly’s Real Time Performance Management Software comes with a public praise option, where employees can praise each other.Managers and other leaders also have the option to award points for the accomplishments of their employees.

Analytics

Performance Management Software collects data over time and provides a detailed analysis of employee’s performance. With the help of detailed charts and graphs, managers get a clear idea about the performance trends of the employees. It not only helps employees to assess their own performance but also acts as a guide when deciding on skills and developmental needs. Moreover, the analytics report of the performance management software makes the quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly review process more productive and saves time.

Also Read: 5 Simple Ways To Build A High Performance Team

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In 2020, when everyone is working remotely, the importance of setting effective goals cannot be undermined. Having clear and well-defined goals help employees to be engaged and stay focused at work. It motivates them, helps prioritize work, and enhances decision-making skills.

If you are setting or planning goals for yourself, then it might seem quite easy to manage. But as a manager, if you are setting goals for your team, then it is not an easy task to make them effective.

Here are some tips by which you can set effective goals for your employees.

Set SMART Goals

The concept of SMART goals was first introduced by George T. Doran in 1981 and has been in use ever since. SMART goals help employees understand their goals better, which improves their chances of success. It focuses on five key areas:

– Specific: Goals should be clear and specific. It becomes easier for employees to understand what is to be achieved. If goals aren’t specific, they will fail sooner or later

– Measurable: Goals must be measurable so that employees can track the progress of their goals easily. It will help them track achievements and define success

– Achievable: Goals cannot be too easy, nor can they be too difficult. Easy goals will not challenge the employee, whereas a difficult one will demotivate them

– Relevant: Goals should be relevant and linked to the overall organization and department goals

– Time-Bound: Goals need to be carried out within a specific time period. When goals are time-bound it drives performance, and employees stay motivated and engaged

Also Read: Why Healthcare Administrators Should Set SMART Goals

Include Your Employees

As per recent research by Gallup, only about half of employees understand their job expectations.

The goal setting process should be a collaborative effort between a manager and an employee. Encourage employees to identify their own job-related short-term and long-term goals. Once the employees have identified their goals, managers should guide them to align it with the business objectives. When employees set their own goals, they feel more accountable for the results. In addition to this, the goals do not feel imposed, and they tend to be more productive and engaged at work.

Also Read: The Essential Guide To Employee Productivity In A Hybrid Setup

Align The Goals

According to a report by McKinsey&Company, 91 % of businesses noticed an improvement in profits when organization goals and key strategies were linked to team performance goals.

For employee goals to be effective, they should be aligned with the team, department, and organizational goals. Employees who understand what role they play in an organizations’ success tend to be more productive and are more engaged at work. When they know how they contribute to the overall picture, they are more focused and motivated, which results in success for the organization.

Make Them Adaptive

Goals should be flexible so that they can be updated with the changing priorities of the organization. Most organizations commit the mistake of not revisiting their goals or updating them until it is the time for employee performance reviews. Having flexible goals makes them relevant and important for the employee and the organization.

Also Read: Employee Engagement Software To Help Enhance Productivity

Track The Progress

Once the goals have been set, the next step is to create a plan to track and monitor the progress of the goals. When goals are tracked, it helps identify problems as well as the progress of the goals. As a manager, help employees identify key milestones and set up a timeline to achieve the same. Review the progress of the goals from time to time and share feedback with your employees. This will help them to stay focused and aligned with the organizational goals.

Reward The Achievers

“People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards.” — Dale Carnegie, Leadership Training Guru, and Author.

When employees receive recognition and rewards for their work or completed goals, it shows that their work is being valued and appreciated. Rewards and recognition can be in the form of certificates, simple acknowledgments, bonuses, or even announcing it over the organization’s social media. It reflects organization values and helps in building a culture of appreciation throughout the organization. It also works as an encouragement for others to work hard.

Also Read: Employee Rewards & Recognition During COVID-19

Use A Goal Setting Software

We all know COVID-19 has changed the way we all work today. Many organizations globally have ditched the traditional goal setting process and have invested in a goal setting software to set and manage the goals of their employees. If your organization has not invested in one yet, it is the right time to do so. Goal setting software helps to create and manage goals easily for everyone in the organization. In addition to that, it also improves the visibility of the goals and helps to track them easily.https://engagedly.com/request-demo/

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2020 has forced the world into utilizing its virtual platforms, for the reasons we are all aware of. So in this era, having useful tools in place that will help enhance the virtual working experience, is a must-have. Choosing Engagedly is just the beginning to creating a positive work environment and increasing workplace productivity. Employee goals are one of the most significant driving factors for employee productivity. You cannot achieve something without clearly defining what to do and without keeping track of your progress from time to time.

Also read: High Performing Teams In Healthcare

Engagedly’s Goals feature helps you do the same without any hassle or confusion.

Get started with Engagedly’s goal setting feature with these five simple steps!

Step 1: Create a goal

While setting employee goals are never easy, creating them on Engagedly is. All you need to do is go to ‘My Goals’ from Engagedly’s goals module and click on ‘+New Goal’. Goals differ from person to person and from one department to the other. Write your goal and add notes about it. After creating a goal, you can also change its ownership if needed in future. Click here for further details.

Step 2: Pick the type for Check-in

The best part about setting employee goals through Engagedly is, depending on the type of goal, you can select the type of check-in that you want to do for your goal. Quantity check-in allows you to add whole numbers as your goals and check-in to them. Percentage check-in allows you to add key-results to it and check-in to your goals percentage-wise.

Step 3: Add Key results

Key results are generally used if you want to break down a broader goal into smaller, understandable and measurable units. You can only add key results to a goal if you select percentage check-in.

For example:

Achieve $100 in sales can be broken down using the following key results.

 KR 1: Get $20 from existing customers.

 KR 2: Get $80 from new customers.

Also read: Why Do You Need A Performance Appraisal Software?

Step 4: Select and add contributors

While there are projects that you might be handling on your own, there will also be projects where you need to collaborate with other stakeholders. Once you create a goal, just click on ‘Add contributors’ and add the names of the users that you want to add as contributors. Now, you and your contributors can collectively work towards meeting the goal that you have created.

Step 5: Align them with organization’s goals

Now that you have successfully created a goal for yourself and/or with contributors, you can start working on accomplishing it. But Engagedly also gives you a chance to see how your goals can contribute to organizational success. You can align your goals to the company/department goals.

Once the goal is created, click ‘align’ and select the company goal or department goal that you want to align with. With this step, you are all set. Yes, it’s as easy as that.

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“Talent is one of the last frontiers for differentiation. Any company can have a patent or produce a product. The difference is the quality of that product comes with the value of the talent you have.”–Elaine Orler, President and Founder of the Talent Function Group . Continue reading “6 Reasons To Invest In A Performance Appraisal Software”