Performance Management Training
Performance management plays a critical role in any successful business. It provides an opportunity for meaningful dialogue to enhance an employee’s career and strengthen employee manager relationships.
Over 30 years experience
Building high performing teams through effective performance management
The performance review process plays a critical role in align the reward and promotion decisions, while encouraging employees to learn and develop their skills. Unfortunately, today’s approach is widely unpopular. Strategic business leaders are realising that there are a few key problems with the traditional approach to performance reviews. They are:
- Too Infrequent: An annual review doesn’t provide enough feedback to effectively develop an employee, let alone the individual is on track to meeting their objectives.
- Not Conversational Enough:The traditional appraisal system often becomes an annual tick box exercise with form filling being and capturing notes being more important than the discussion itself. And in many cases, weaknesses and areas of development become the dominant focus. Without a conversational approach, employees won’t feel engaged or motivated to improve.
- Backwards-Facing: When you have annual employee reviews, the focus inevitably falls on the year past. Successful performance management must balance past performance with future development.
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If you would like to discuss your training needs and explore options, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you and discuss how we can help.
Ongoing performance development
The aforementioned are just a few of the problems that are pushing businesses toward a more proactive, comprehensive performance management system. And as a result, talent development leaders must be prepared to facilitate effective training for performance management.
Without ongoing performance management training in place, managers may gradually fall back into traditional ways of delivering these reviews.
The Basic Performance Management Process
Selecting performance management training programmes requires an understanding of each of the key stages involved in the actual process. While there are many individual steps that can come together to form a unique performance management process, most systems will consist of 4 key components—the planning phase, employee assessment, performance recognition, and career development.
For every new recruit, there needs to be a process of goal setting within the onboarding stage. Employees should have a complete understanding of both their goals relative to the business and expectations for their roles.
These goals should address both personal and company-oriented objectives and managers should leave the process with as much understanding as the employee. Any goal agreed upon should be attainable within a year, but the specifics will depend on the context.
Having these goals in place gives managers and employees a reference point for ongoing evaluation.
Modern performance management is about more than just annual appraisals. But that doesn’t mean annual evaluations shouldn’t be part of the process.
Rather, performance assessments should occur on a more regular basis through good quality 1-2-1 conversations. Whether it’s daily, weekly, monthly, or anything in between, employees should have a regular source of feedback and an opportunity to discuss their workload or concerns.
Engaged employees are more productive and more effective at driving business results. Lack of recognition leads to disengagement and frustration.
Having clear goals and a regular assessment process gives managers an opportunity to recognise outstanding work. But that also means strategic leaders must take part in performance management training that focuses on building effective recognition programs.
Performance management often falls (incorrectly) under the responsibility of human resources. And one of the biggest challenges HR faces at every company is retaining employees. Anyone involved in hiring knows that employee retention and promoting from within is far more cost effective than constantly hiring external talent.
Performance management must include an ongoing focus on career development for individual employees and must be led by managers and not HR. HR teams cannot assess an individual’s performance as they don’t work with them every day, a manager can do that. And HR cannot support an individual’s development from afar either. A manager is the most critical person to develop, assess an employee. enhance strengths and provide opportunities for new skill development.
Here at Optimal, we work hard to understand the culture, the organisations values and the key objectives to supporting performance management within the Company.
Our Performance Management workshops include the following:
- Explain the importance of assessing performance in the workplace
- State the key areas of any Company Training & Competence Scheme and what this means to you
- Identify ways to manage performance of individuals within a team
- Create SMART motivational objectives for team members
- Confidently deliver effective feedback in order to improve performance
- Identify potential areas of underperformance in the workplace and how to address these
- Effectively use your organisations new Performance Management Process and supporting documentation
Our Performance Management training can be delivered both online through a blended learning solution of workshops, online courses and tutor 1-2-1’s or face to face.
To discuss how we may be able to support your organisation with enhancing the performance management process, give us a call on 0330 0881857 or email enquiries@optimal-hr.co.uk
What our clients say
Optimal People and Business are experts in all things HR. We worked successfully with them to produce a series of information videos to help businesses during the Corona lockdown. We are looking forward to working with them again in the near future as we grow our business.
We personally dealt with Vici at Optimal and she was a delight. She was open and honest and gave great advice and guidance. She helped us deal with what could have been a very difficult dismissal with a problematic member of staff. I would not hesitate to recommend Vici to any business for their HR.
Can’t thank Mel and the team enough. Really helped my business in a crisis. Looking forward to working with you and the team.
Brilliant service, friendly staff, lovely team
Amazing service and support from extremely knowledgeable people, who also take great care in the standard of their work. Can't fault them, thank you so much!
5* all round, Mel was extremely helpful and answered all my questions, very friendly and professional. Recommended to others and would definitely use again. Thank you again Mel and Helen.
Mel and her team are fantastic, help me all along the way with some complex issues. Couldn't recommend more.
I've used Optimal PBS on a couple of occasions now to assist with due diligence on an acquisition i've been working on and also to provide contract and handbook production. Cannot fault the support or advice provided.
We love this company and Mel is a god send to our business, she sorted everything for us from employee contracts to helping us source the right accountant, she is at the end of the phone whenever I have any HR questions (even when on holiday) can not fault her commitment. Keep up the good work!
Meet our Learning & Development experts
Melanie Stead
Managing Director
Helen Murphy
Operations Director
Amanjhot Dothar
Senior HR Administrator
Caroline Mann
PA and Senior Administrator