Everyone dreads a performance review, not only the employees but the managers as well. If you have recently become a manager, then you would surely know how difficult it is to conduct a performance review. With time, the annual performance review has been replaced with continuous performance management in organizations worldwide. The current COVID-19 situation and multiple employees working from home has made it – necessary to have a continuous performance management system in place.
In this article, we will talk about why currently having continuous performance management has become a requisite.
Engaged Employees
A recent research by Growth Divide Study revealed that real-time feedback and development opportunities are preferred by 94% of employees, and 81% would prefer at least quarterly check-ins with their manager.
Consider a situation where goals are set at the beginning of the review cycle, and managers review them only after a year. In such a scenario, employees stay without feedback and check-ins for a long period. This reduces their engagement with their work, and they feel a disconnect with their managers, peers, and organization. But in a situation where there is a continuous performance management system in place, employees feel that organization cares about the work they do. Not only this, but ongoing performance management also helps in building a sense of trust, support, and encouragement in the employee, with their managers and the organization.
Employee Development
Continuous performance management in place allows managers and organizations to assess their employee’s skills and performance. Frequent catch-ups and reviews help them understand where they are lacking; and what should they work on. It helps managers in identifying training and development needs for their employees. It can be rightly said that a continuous performance management system will help in maintaining an efficient workforce ceaselessly.
SMART Goals
A continuous performance management helps in defining SMART goals. Goals which could be modified and updated according to the performance of the employee, team, and organization. The SMART method stands for:
- Specific – Goals should have a specific purpose. If there is no specific purpose to a goal, then it is bound to fail sooner or later.
- Measurable – Goals should ideally be measurable, so that it can be tracked in terms of progress and completion. When you can measure a goal, you will also be able to tell if the goal was met successfully or not.
- Achievable – Goal should be achievable. They shouldn’t be too easy nor too difficult to achieve.
- Relevant – Goal-setting in itself is not enough – you must make sure that these goals are relevant to the people who will utilize them.
- Timely – Goals should be time-specific during which it is to be carried out, and the objectives of the goal should be met. Time-specific goals help in keeping employees motivated and engaged.
Two-Way Feedback
Continuous performance management promotes two-way feedback between employees and their managers and the organization. Constant feedback from managers keeps their employees motivated and boosts their morale. When employees are allowed to provide feedback, they feel that they are given importance, and they can voice their concerns and opinions freely.
Reward and Recognize
A continuous performance management helps managers in recognizing and rewarding their employees frequently. Immediate rewards and recognition encourages employees to take on additional responsibilities. After all at the end of the day everyone likes being appreciated for their hard work. It helps in improving employee productivity and also improves retention of the organization.
Retain Talent
When employees are in continuous discussion with their managers and the organization regarding their goals, feedback, and self-development, they tend to remain highly engaged with their work.
Employees always need a reason to stay, and when they see that their contribution is rewarded, their professional and self-development are looked into, their goals are supported, etc., they have more than enough reason to stay back in the same organization. Thus performance management aids in employee retention.
An efficient continuous performance management system in place will help your employees to stay on track, be focussed, engaged, and motivated while working from home during the COVID-19 situation.
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Author
Srikant Chellappa
CEO & Co-Founder of Engagedly
Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast. He is currently working on his next book, Ikigai at the Workplace, which is slated for release in the fall of 2024.