TECHNOLOGICAL BOON IN PMS

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In employee life cycle, PMS works as dose of life. This gives new lease of life to employees on year-on-year basis. This works as booster and source of new energy

A talented and skilled workforce is the lifeblood of every organization. As the war for talent escalates, companies are quickly learning the importance of having the right people:

“Talent is one of the last frontiers for differentiation. Any company can have a patent or produce a product. The difference is the quality of that product comes with the value of the talent you have.” – Elaine Orler, President and Founder of the Talent Function Group.

This investment in performance management is unsurprising, considering the top three challenges for organizations are:

Retention, engagement, and culture

Building a global leadership pipeline

The need to revamp and improve employee learning

Challenges in Performance Management

Many companies are guilty of treating performance management as a yearly event. Would Tiger Woods be one of the most successful golfers of all time if he was only given direction, feedback, and development once per year? It’s time to stop equating performance management with a dreaded annual appraisal. In reality, it’s much more.

However, research shows that organizations with an ongoing focus on performance management have better business results. Companies where employees revise or review their goals quarterly or more frequently are:

45 percent more likely to have above-average financial performance and

64 percent more likely to be effective at holding costs at or below level of competitors.

But are these figures really that shocking?

Why organizations opt for “Ongoing Performance Management”

Performance appraisals and assessments are just one piece of the talent management puzzle. In order to build an empowered and skilled workforce, companies need do more than audit employee achievements. Organization should work towards a management cycle where judgement isn’t the sole focus— ongoing support and improvement should be just as important, if not more.

So what exactly does “ongoing performance management” look like?

It’s a series of continuous events that include the following processes and benefits:

Target and easy to revise: Every employee needs a clear understanding of expectations for their work. This starts with company and executive goal setting, which cascades into manager, team, and individual goal setting which can help feel ownership in the business through individual objectives.

Mentoring and coaching: Though some goals may need adjusting, other times employees just may not have the skills to reach them— yet. Performance appraisals were intended to identify gaps in employee skillsets. But it’s self-defeating to identify the gaps without offering any type of solution. Improved employee performance and engagement is a result of consistent feedback and coaching.

Development Path: Employees need regular, quality feedback on their performance and specific details on how they can improve. Once skill gaps are identified, employees have clear insight into the skills they need to develop if they wish to progress in their career.

Rewards and recognition: Recognition helps employees receive a balance of positive to negative feedback. A little unexpected appreciation can go a long way. It satisfies our fundamental need for praise, reinforces the right behaviors and culture, and leverages social engagement. Rewards and recognition can improve employee retention and engagement, which creates ambassadors of your organization and its culture.

Performance management doesn’t end once a performance appraisal is delivered. Managers should take an integrated approach to employee learning. This means creating development plans that support an employee’s goals, career interests, and potential, as well as the organization’s business and talent needs. Evaluation is only effective when used as a tool for growth and success.

To recap, ongoing performance management should produce

Increased focus on driving business results

An empowered and engaged workforce

Foundation knowledge of talent

Interpretation of Technology in PMS:- Manual working in Performance Management system may not bring the desired results. The human memory has it’s own implications and limitations. But, the use of Technology and help in setting the systems and eliminate human interventions. Technology will also bring in transparency. The importance of performance management to measure and improve employee capabilities cannot be understated. Technology that supports modern performance management not only facilitates a transparent process, but provides valuable data you need to measure your success. This data gives HR insight into where deficiencies exist and how that affects other processes, like recruiting and training.

A performance management system should integrate with existing human resources software, like talent and learning management suites. Integration is key to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration, as well as to provide metrics and analytics. Investing in modern performance management processes and technology that supports it can be the competitive edge your company needs. As businesses tackle the intersection of retention, engagement, culture, and learning, modern performance management will just become good management.

Another key piece of value that comes from having the right technology is mobility. In a previous article, I wrote that our employees are evaluating our value as employers based on technology we offer. Allowing them to use a technology that is mobile, intuitive, and user-friendly is a great way to demonstrate the value we place on them. Although not yet mainstream, mobile access is important because it encourages managers and employees to assess performance on-the-fly when they see/think about it as well as when it is convenient. Look at how this delivers value for both managers and employees:

  • A manager accesses performance goals on his tablet during one-on-one meetings with his/her employee so they can discuss daily tasks and long-term development and objectives
  • An employee is preparing to ask for a raise; as she rides the train to work, she uses her smartphone to access her performance goals and accomplishments from the last year or two to refresh herself and help build her case
  • A group of leaders is discussing succession planning and who is the right fit in terms of performance and potential. Managers can have the previous accomplishments of their top candidates on their mobile device during the meeting to go to bat for their inclusion in succession

These use cases illustrate how leveraging a purpose-built system is more valuable than a traditional, paper-based approach. Again, performance management is just one example of how technology can bring value to a legacy HR process, but it helps to demonstrate how important it is to have the right technology in place to solve those common, yet challenging, problems.

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