Mbryan Consulting

TYPES OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
There are three main types of Performance management.

1. Strategic performance management: The enhanced competition in the private sector stimulates organizations into delivering great quality, efficiency and more flexibility of services. This condition imposes supplementary demands on the organization’s information processing capabilities. In trying to achieve these strategic objectives, organizations adopt more sophisticated and comprehensive management information system. These offer top level managers with comprehensive and wide range of information about various dimensions of the organization’s operations, facilitating decision-making and performance achievement. Organizations however, differ in the extent to which they achieve strategic performance successfully.

2. Developmental Performance Management: To achieve an enabling Performance Management system, organizations follow a developmental approach to design and implement the Performance management system. This approach assumes that in an organization there is already considerable experience, and employees might be to utilize existing experience and engage staff in the design and ex*****on of the Performance Management system. The challenge is to develop a performance management system as an enabler of performance improvement, rather than simply as a control device. The organization can adopt a development approach to performance management, based on the following principles:
• Experience-based,
• Allowing experimentation,
• Building on employees Professionalism,
• Outside facilitators.
• Transparency and employee ownership

3. Administrative Performance Management: The performance Management system for Administrative employee is designed to provide a process for supervisors and workers to discuss and provide input on work accountabilities, expectations and Competencies. The process encourages ongoing training and input. At the end of the performance cycle, the supervisor and worker discuss feedback on the worker’s performance, as well as any opportunities for development.

THE PROBLEMS WITH MOST PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT THINKING
Are you wrestling with the complexity of different types of performance management in your organization? You are not alone – many are.
To understand why and to improve how performance is managed in your organization, it helps to understand which management problems you are trying to solve and the complex mix of different types of performance management approach that exist. The various types of performance management solve different problems.

Here are five problems we regularly encounter with traditional thinking about performance management:
1. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IS OFTEN OVER SIMPLIFIED:
There are many out there who take a very simplistic approach to performance management. They assume performance management is about measures, targets and KPIs; It is not. That it is a simple, closed-loop, feedback model; too simplistic. They believe that basic collections of measures and targets on scorecards are adequate, this works only in some case. This description of Performance Management is far too simplistic and the cause of many performance management problems in organizations.

2. ORGANIZATIONS ARE FAR MORE COMPLEX THAN MERE MEASURES AND TARGETS:
If it were that simple, that measures and targets were enough, then we could manage organizations and make all decisions with computers. Instead we need experienced, intelligent, sensible Human Beings that use evidence and exercise judgement. People and organizations are far more complex to manage than mere measures and targets.

3. WE MUST REMEMBER THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH HUMAN BEINGS IN COMPLEX SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS:
Too often we see performance management approaches designed in closed rooms, focused on simplistic models of influence and change, dealing with “normal populations” that ignore that our organizations are full of individual Human beings; real people. Our organizations are not simple organizational chart structures but complex social systems. Managing performance requires both left and right brain thinking.

4. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT IS OFTEN SEEN FROM A TECHNICAL AND SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE.
Sure, technology can help. Sure, the discipline of performance management is important. Of course, we need to understand the types of performance management system; of which there are many, and how they serve different purposes. However, those systems should support decision making conversations, behaviors and processes.
Understanding the wider picture landscape of types of performance management will help us understand the type of systems that will help most, getting a clearer link between technology, systems and the financial benefits. Performance management is about the quality of conversations, thinking, decisions and learning… in a social system.

5. VARIOUS TYPES OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT INTERACT TO CREATE THE WIDER PICTURE
In the real world, performance is managed using a combination of ways of thinking and working. There are demands from a large variety of sources with quite different reasons for looking at performance. So, we need a rich full picture of these different ways and how they fit together, to manage performance overall. We need a clearer view of the different types of performance management and how they work as a set. This is what Performance Management truly entails.

ESTABLISHING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT – EMPLOYERS PART 2

Employee engagement starts with understanding
It’s a manager’s job to engage their teams and drive performance. When you are starting a business, every day brings with it some new unexpected twist or turn. However, the moment you add employees into the mix, that challenge increases many times over.
The good news is that there are some simple things you can do to ensure that your people are fully involved in, dedicated to, and enthusiastic about their work. Take these 7 steps and your employees will be as engaged in your business and its success as you are.

1. Create a Partnership
The best way to encourage your people to consistently give their very best on the job is to create a partnership. Treat each employee as a valuable member of your team, and give them the autonomy to make decisions and do their work as they see fit, so long as they meet their performance standards.

2. Involve Your Employees
Involve employees more deeply in your organization by inviting them to join cross-functional teams that draw on the expertise and talent of people from different parts of the organization. Let each team have the authority they need to make decisions on their own, especially when the decisions directly affect them.

3. Let Your Team in on the Plan
Be as transparent with your people as you can be, in terms of providing information on how the company makes and loses money, letting them in on any strategies you may have and explaining to them their role in the big picture. When your employees understand the overall plan, they will view themselves as an important, vital piece of the puzzle.

4. Provide Feedback on Performance
Regularly set aside time to tell your people what they are doing right and point out any areas for improvement. If performance is not up to par, work with them to develop ideas on how to improve. It is important that employees feel they are supported by you and the organization, rather than being left behind because of an occasional mistake or bad call.

5. Keep Promises
Never make a promise you cannot keep, and when you do make a promise, no matter how small it might be, be sure to follow through with it. Even if you think your employees do not care about it, you can be sure that they are keeping score. If you aren’t certain that you will be able to follow through on a promise, then don’t make it.

6. Create a Productive Work Environment
A workplace that is trusting, open and fun will be the most productive and successful. Be open to new ideas and suggestions that come from your employees, and show them that their voices are being heard. Regularly set time aside for team-building exercises and meetings, and make them fun so your employees actually look forward to participating rather than looking for reasons to ditch them.

7. Thank Them
A sincere thank-you for a job well done can be a powerful motivator for continued success and is an essential tool for every manager. Thank your employees personally and promptly when you catch them doing something right by writing a quick thank-you email or text message, or by dropping by their office to tell them in person.
Take a walk in your employees’ shoes; would you be enthusiastic about working for yourself? If not, then give these 7 steps a try.

(picture gotten from gallup.com)