Performance management can be one of the most challenging aspects of a manager’s job but when done strategically and with an end in mind it can be a positive and sometimes rewarding experience both for the manager as well as the employee.
When I speak to managers, I try to help them understand that managing employees and doing performance appraisals should just be a part of how “things are done around here”, ingrained into the culture of the organization. The following 3 tactics can help a manager ease the pain of performance management and help affect a positive work experience.
1. Setting Expectations
One of the first and most critical steps in effective performance management is setting expectations for the employee. Employees need clear direction on what their responsibilities are and a good understanding of what is expected of them. There are a couple of ways to do this effectively:
- The first is to have a job description that is tied to departmental goals which supports organizational goals. A job description should have very specific job tasks and SMART goals attached to it.
- The second is for a manager to spend time with the employee to be sure they are trained and have a clear understanding of how to do their job, who to go to with questions and what to do when they get to a stopping point.
- The third would be for the manager to meet with the employee at about 90 days and reiterate the expectations and clarify any possible confusion in task responsibility that sometimes comes with actually performing the task.
- One trick I’ve learned is if you have the employee verbally repeat expectations that are given to them, you can hear how they interpreted them and this allows you to guide them to appropriate actions.
2. Confront Issues
- Confronting the inevitable issues that come with managing people is sometimes a difficult, time-consuming, challenging and a stressful part of management but is also critical in “course correcting” when needed. Unless issues are nipped in the bud when they first happen they can often get worse and create an environment that is not conducive to a healthy work environment.
3. Note Taking
Note taking is a simple documentation of employee performance. While this can be a tedious and cumbersome task, there are short cuts you can take to streamline the time put into it. Some things that have worked for me are:
- If you use a calendar or day planner, keep a separate page in the back for each employee that you manage. For example, have a page for Sue Smith, Tom Tucker, Amy Foster, etc. On those pages you should jot down incidents that happen and keep the following columns:
- Name
- Date
- Time
- Incident
- Persons involved
- Action Taken
Example Note Taking Log
| Name | Date | Time | Incident Description | Persons Involved | Action Taken |
| Sue Smith | 1/3/09 | 11:00 am | Sue went above and beyond by proactively preparing for presentation without being told. | Sue Smith | Verbally acknowledged and thanked Sue for taking care of project without being told. |
| 2/9/09 | 9:00 am | Sue was 45 minutes late for work. | Sue | Verbally reminded Sue of tardy policy. | |
| 4/6/09 | 1:00 pm | Quarterly report to the Board had three typos. | Sue | Verbally pointed out typos and coached Sue on proofing. | |
| 6/12/09 | 6:00 pm | Sue worked late without being asked to finish report for Jim. | Sue | Verbally thanked Sue for going above and beyond. |
As you can see from the above log, if a manager documents all incidents, both positive and negative, the employee is constantly receiving feedback and learning what their behavior boundaries are and positively reinforcing behaviors that go above and beyond job expectations.
When a manager prepares for the annual performance appraisal with this log, they have all the information they need to be objective about performance over the past 12 months and ultimately have an honest, factual and unbiased conversation with the employee that celebrates the successes and corrects behaviors that may have veered off course.
While this may seem to be a lot of extra work, the rewards are great when you see an employee grow and develop. Coaching and seeing employees grow professionally is one of the biggest rewards in managing people. Often their professional future is in your hands and the way you manage them may set a professional course for them. That responsibility should not be taken lightly.
