The overall goal of any good performance management plan is to ensure the employees’ activities (the tasks they perform and how well they perform them) support the goals of the organization while maintaining a motivated and happy workforce.  That appears to be the easy part.  The more difficult task – developing the performance plans for individual employees.

The rationale for developing individual employee performance management plans is to foster an environment that creates successful and satisfied employees.  Successful performance management plans promote a continuous learning environment and encourage employee professional growth within the organization.  In addition, employees will become supportive of the mission and beliefs of the workplace.

WHY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PLANS ARE USEFUL

• Enhance job/career related skills, knowledge and experience.

• Enable employees to keep abreast of changes in their fields.

• Make employees competitive for employment opportunities within the organization.

• Keep employees motivated and on track for their career goals.

• Help sustain employee performance at a level which meets or exceeds expectations.

Performance plans can be implemented after definition or review of performance standards.  They can also be used as a part of the ongoing process of observation and feedback, as the final element of the performance appraisal process or when an employee initiates a request for education or development opportunities.

WHY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FAILS

•  Managers are not given adequate training.

•  Managers are uncomfortable in dealing with, evaluating and judging employee performance.

•  Manager may misunderstand this is a fundamental requirement of their role as a manager.

•  Managers may reject the development of a plan due to the perceived complexity and length of time to set it up and monitor employee progress

DEVELOPING A PERFORMANCE PLAN

Developing performance plans can be accomplished in a few simple steps:

1. Determine the overall needs of the business.  The first step in developing a performance plans is to consider the needs of the business or organization in conjunction with the needs of the employee.  A strategic plan is helpful in determining the direction a business is heading.  If there is not a strategic plan, you can ponder certain questions that can help focus on the needs of the business.  Examples could include, "What functions will this department/organization need to perform over the next year?  Two years?  Five years?  What knowledge and skills will employees need to develop in order to perform these functions?" 

Conducting an assessment of your organization’s goals and objectives will enable you to identify development opportunities for your employees that will also benefit the organization. 

2. Determine the needs of your employee.  Once you have an idea as to how the business in moving forward, the next step is to assess of the employee.  Help your employees set career goals that are consistent with their skills, knowledge, experience and interests by providing feedback based on your observations and assessment of their abilities, readiness and potential.  Assign employees roles or tasks that challenge them and provide growth opportunity.  Encourage your employees to focus on clear, specific and attainable career goals.  Provide guidance to your employees about steps they might take to improve existing skills and knowledge or develop in new functional areas.

3. Document the plan.  Writing out the plan helps to create a clear understanding between the employee and employer.  The specific steps are identified and a strategy is documented for accomplishing these objectives.  

• A description of the specific steps to be taken 

• The names of those who will assist the employee 

• Target dates for the completion of the plan's objectives

• A statement of how success will be measured 

4.     Review the plan.  The final key in the successful development of a performance review plan is to review it with your employee and adjust accordingly based on the feedback from that meeting.  This is a time where the two of you should be collaborating on the development and growth of job skills and responsibilities.  Use these pointers during the review of the performance plan:

•  Focus on simplicity and informality.  Keep the plan and implementation of the plan simple.

• Try to focus less on the past and more on the present and future.

• Agree to provide frequent and unstructured feedback to the employee on their job activities and performance.

• Set up an annual or bi-annual review meetings to review the job and performance as a whole. 

ENCOURAGE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 

Development of employee skills, knowledge and experience is essential in today's rapidly changing workplace. Employees also recognize that it is essential for them to continue to learn so they will be effective in their current jobs and be able to move into other positions or accept new responsibilities as circumstances demand. Offer opportunities for your employees to work with new technologies or processes, adapt to organizational change, work in cross-functional environments and work in teams and other collaborative situations.

• Encourage employees to attend education and development classes (internal or external).

• Provide on-the-job training (cross-training).

• Allow them to participate in conferences, seminars, training courses. 

• Provide reading materials, articles or books that focus on specific areas.

• Establish an internal mentoring program.

• Encourage participation on a certain project, team, task force or committee.

• Offer continuous feedback.  Employees want to know how they are doing, whether they are doing the right things and whether they’re meeting your expectations.  Feedback is your most powerful tool when it is delivered at the right time and in a constructive manner.  

Developing successful performance management plans for each individual employee is essential to the success of your organization.  When you support and encourage the growth and development of your employees, you build employee motivation and commitment to the organization – resulting in improved morale.  The organization and the employee will benefit when the employee succeeds in developing new skills, knowledge or experience.  Performance management plans are a win-win solution for both the employee and the company!