Define your performance management goals

All companies with a performance management system have some sort of goal.

In fact, it’s a best practice to write down your organizational goals before you write down your performance goals.

By taking a wide-angle approach to performance management, you can ensure you don’t miss anything. Two, it frames the conversation around performance management in a way that lets your employees know that this isn’t about just them. It’s about the organization as a whole.

This can help with employee buy-in and can help you avoid resistance, especially if you decide to use a 360-degree feedback system, where employees rate each other.

Why is this important? When you know your goals, you’ll be able to focus your performance management system and make sure it actually contributes to achieving those goals.

Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) you will track

Once you know your goals, you can start to identify the KPIs you’ll use to track performance and make decisions about pay, hiring, and promotion.

There are a few ways to do this. You can start with the goal you’ve already identified and brainstorm the KPIs you’ll need to track to achieve that goal.

You can also do the opposite and start with the KPIs you want to use and then try to figure out what those KPIs are contributing to. If you’re unsure where to start, you can always ask your employees what they think is contributing to success in their job.

The most important thing is that you identify the KPIs that align with your organizational goals. Once you’ve identified your KPIs, you’ll want to decide how to track them. Ultimately, tracking your KPIs is what will allow you to evaluate employee performance and make decisions about pay, hiring, and promotion.

Choose a performance management system

There are a variety of performance management systems available to help you track employee performance. These include 360-degree feedback, goal setting, and annual review systems.

360-degree feedback is a system in which employees rate each other. It’s a bit like the “rate your professor” systems you see at the end of some college courses. It’s typically done through an online platform and is used to track things like employee skills, strengths and weaknesses, and developmental needs. It’s a great way to track performance because it takes feedback from your manager and peers into account. But it can be time consuming if done quarterly.

Goal setting is a system in which employees set their own metrics. However, these metrics are designed to help employees meet organizational goals. It’s a simple system, but it doesn’t offer much insight into how employees are actually performing and can be subjective.

Finally, annual review systems are the most common performance management system. They’re based on the feedback you give your employees at the end of the year. This can be either a quantitative or qualitative assessment of your employee’s performance. Typically, this is done through a written document or an online system. Annual review systems can be effective, but they can also be biased since they’re based on a single source of information.

Train your employees on the performance management system

It’s important to train your employees on the performance management system you decide to use. This will help them understand the system and how it works. It will also help them understand how to track their KPIs and what’s expected of them.

It’s a good idea to provide your employees with examples of performance feedback so they have a better idea of what kind of feedback to expect. This can help prevent your employees from feeling defensive or like they’re being bullied. It’s also a good idea to provide training on the performance management system at the beginning of the year.

This gives your employees time to reflect on the previous year and think about how they can do better in the new year.

Collect and analyze performance data

Once you’ve implemented your performance management system, it’s time to collect some data. The best way to do this is to use an online system that automatically tracks KPIs.

You can then use that data to make informed decisions about your employees. If you implement an annual review system, you can use the data from that process to determine an employee’s salary increase and promotion potential.

You can also use the data from 360-degree feedback to inform promotion decisions and to help you determine whether or not someone should be let go. Whatever performance management system you choose, you can use the data from it to make informed decisions about your employees.

Use performance data to make informed decisions about your employees

Once you’ve collected the data, you have a few options when it comes to using it to make informed decisions about your employees. The first is to compare the data you have to industry averages. If your employees are lagging behind the industry averages, you might want to consider making some changes.

A good way to do this is to start with suggestions for improvement. It’s possible that your employees are aware that they’re under performing and need some guidance on how to improve. It’s also possible that they’re not aware of how they’re under performing.

In either case, they’ll benefit from suggestions for improvement.

Conclusion

Performance management is a key component of any successful organization. It’s especially important for startups, which need to be able to track employee performance in order to make informed decisions about hiring, firing, and promotion. Implementing a performance management system can be a challenge, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

One of the best things about performance management systems is that they’re flexible. You can use the same system for several years, or you can change the system every year if you’d like.

The important thing is that you implement a system that helps you track employee performance and make informed decisions about pay, hiring, and promotion.