Building Continuous Performance Management into Company Culture

The following blog comes to us from Rae Steinbach of 15Five.

The verdict is in: annual performance reviews are ineffective and typically disliked by everyone involved. That doesn’t mean managers and HR professionals should abandon the idea of evaluating employee performance. It simply means they need to adopt better ways of doing so. After all, most employees actually want more feedback than they currently receive. The solution is continuous performance management. By providing more consistent feedback and focusing on clear, short-term objectives, managers can boost employee engagement and overall productivity. However, utilizing the management by objectives process requires more than just knowing you should adopt this approach. It’s essential to know how to incorporate this method into your company structure. Keep these points in mind to successfully make the shift. Start Now Again, if you rely on annual performance reviews, they aren’t delivering any genuine value for your business. The first step in switching to continuous performance management is simply ditching your current process. Once you do so, you’ll have more freedom to develop a new one. Discuss the Topic There’s a chance some managers within your organization already conduct some form of continuous performance evaluation. It may be informal, like a weekly email check-in. However, it’s important to find out what managers are already doing to evaluate employee performance on a frequent basis. This can help you determine how to design a new system that works for everyone. Once you have developed a new process, you need to convince senior leadership and management to embrace it. This is easier if HR creates a presentation highlighting the clear benefits it offers. For instance, you could highlight the fact that a continuous process provides employees with actionable feedback. Thus, they’re more likely to address weaknesses in a timely manner. It also boosts engagement among employees by giving them more opportunities to grow and develop. Offer Training Getting management to accept the new system is important. That said, you also need to be sure they know how to leverage it effectively. Train all managers thoroughly to ensure they understand the process. When you’re ready to explain the new performance management format to employees, they might also need some degree of training to understand their roles. Use the Right Tools Luckily, you don’t need to design an entirely new performance management system on your own. Software can streamline the process. With the right tools, managers can efficiently provide employees with regular feedback. This makes the transition easier for everyone. Again, don’t neglect taking these steps. The way you evaluate employees now almost certainly isn’t working. It’s time to shift to a method that does work.

Rae is a graduate of Tufts University with a combined International Relations and Chinese degree. After spending time living and working abroad in China, she returned to NYC to pursue her career and continue curating quality content. Rae is passionate about travel, food, and writing, of course. Follow Rae on Twitter @araesininthesun.