Better employee performance management at your fingertips

Poor performance management can have a negative impact on your team and your wider organisation. If you fail to place adequate attention on your employees’ progression in a company you risk higher attrition rates, and dips in productivity that could impact your profit margins. Not only this but poor performance management has been linked to other more serious employee issues like misconduct, harassment, and can negatively impact employee wellbeing which can cause higher levels of absenteeism.

An employee performance appraisal, sometimes referred to as a performance review or performance evaluation, is a periodic development discussion that is documented by an employer. Performance appraisals are a core part of employee career development. Conducting staff appraisals allows managers to provide feedback to employees in a structured way. They also help identify training and skill gaps and help managers determine goals and objectives.

An employee performance review is a periodic review of your employees’ performance progress towards goals and objectives you’ve set them earlier in the year. Similarly to an appraisal but less formal, a review acts as more of a check-in with employees on their progress and offers them the chance to raise if they’re having any challenges reaching their goals.

Employee performance management is important for driving individual success but also organisational success. When done effectively, good employee performance management can decrease organisational costs. Positive employee performance management contributes to high retention rates, low staff turnover, and increased company profitability.

In this modern age of working, having employee performance management software is no longer a nice-to-have but a necessity. During times of economic uncertainty when hiring and recruitment costs rise, good performance management strategy helps to minimise costs and retain employees. Performance management software helps create a culture of continuous improvement, reduces admin stress, manager training costs, supports promotions and progression in your company, and offers real-time performance metrics. Investing in the right software provider keeps your performance records compliant and well-organised to avoid employee disputes Ultimately, performance management software is not just a tool, it’s an investment in a stronger and more engaged workforce

When conducting employee appraisals, it’s important to prepare your feedback in advance and likewise give employees plenty of time to prepare. Having documentation to guide the session is key. It also helps if you have a central place to store your employees’ performance metrics and progress so you can gather relevant data ahead of the meeting and systematically go through it with them. Start with the positives and then lead into areas for improvement. Make sure you invite feedback and encourage your employees to share their thoughts for improvement with you. Always document the discussion, the goals you’ve set, and the agreed upon actions.

In a nutshell, performance management software helps you organise and manage employee performance by setting employee goals, objectives, tracking progress and giving feedback. Performance management software helps with succession planning and decision making. Good performance management software will help your organisation align individual employee performance with wider company objectives, retain and upskill employees, and can even increase overall revenue.