If you want a high-growth business, you need high-performing employees. Performance management at your organization is made of up of several things, including employee performance reviews and appraisals as well as career guidance, clear career paths, training, professional development, and more. Investing in performance management processes and in developing your employees is one of the most important things your business can do to build a strong foundation for success.
Here are some performance management benefits for organizations and their employees.
Benefits of performance management for your employees
1. Reduced stress
Regular feedback and a consistent, established performance review process can improve employee-employer relationships, enhance communication, and reduce employee anxiety. Employees who have a clearer understanding of expectations, what metrics they’re being reviewed on, and how their performance is affecting the overall business experience less stress ad be more engaged in their day to day work.
2. Enhanced skillset
One of the benefits of employee management for your team members is that they can be coached and trained to help expand their skillset. This sets them up for greater success in their current position and can also be a bonus if and when they look for a new job at a new organization.
3. Higher morale
Employees who know where they stand and feel confident in their performance – or are actively aware of the steps to take to improve it – feel more engaged in their jobs and have higher morale. Increased morale and positivity can lead to more productive work culture and reduce certain issues that management would otherwise have to address, such as tardiness, late work, or poor attitude.
4. Promotion possibilities
If managers are having regular conversations with their employees about their job, their responsibilities, and their performance, employees have more opportunities to showcase their work and communicate the value of their contributions to their boss. They can also express a desire for advancement. Management, in turn, will be able to regularly see a high performance from employees and be more likely to promote them to higher positions.
Benefits of performance management for your organization
I. Better documentation and reduced risk
Businesses have a huge responsibility to be compliant with employment and labor laws. Without proper documentation, you could be at risk for lawsuits or other legal issues if a terminated employee sues your business for unlawful termination or discrimination. Employee reviews and other employee performance documentation help protect your business and ensure that you’re following all necessary and relevant laws.
II. Better productivity
Without consistent and formal reviews of employee performance, it’s impossible to identify the gaps that are hindering your employees from doing their best work. It’s not necessary to hire perfect employees – those who have a solid skillset, good experience, and a personality and work ethic that fits your company culture can be incredible assets. If they lack certain training or need motivation, it’s possible to address these things as part of your performance management process and create the strongest team possible for your organization.
III. Identify and promote high performers
If there are members of your team who’d be suited to leadership, management, or additional responsibilities within your organization, performance management helps to identify and nurture these employees. If you can promote internally, you may be able to save on recruiting costs; additionally, employees who feel valued and recognized are likely to stay on board with your company, and better employee retention is good news for most businesses.
IV. Cost efficiency
Reversely, there are times when no matter how much guidance and training is offered to employees, they simply won’t excel in their positions and meet the criteria of their job title. There are also times that employees turn out to not be a good fit for your culture or can’t get along with supervisors or members of their team. Performance management processes help to identify these issues and confirm that your efforts to help improve their performance aren’t successful. This allows you to let these employees go and save your company money on salary, benefits, and other expenses rather than spend them on an unproductive employee.
Having a solid employee performance management process in place means that you will have better communication with employees, better employee retention, improved productivity, and more engaged, effective work contributing to the goals of your business. Finding the right performance management technique is an important first step in cultivating the best performance management experience possible. Making sure it’s a regular part of your HR process and built into the fabric of your human resource management policies can help your business see continued success and employee engagement.
Your performance management process matters, to both your business and your employees. It should be a priority within your HR team, as well as among your executive leadership. The best businesses are built with the best employees, and better employee performance management helps to make that possible.
