In the modern fast-paced markets such as Dubai or anywhere else in UAE the businesses need a very effective performance management strategy to boost their efficiency and operational capabilities in order to compete with the tough competition. The performance management is an integral part of any business’s success strategy. It help improving the entire work environment and organization’s culture and groom employees to increase their potential, capabilities, skills and performance. For any business producing maximum outcome form the resources they have in hand is a perfect strategy to maximize their profits and sustain a steady growth. It is also not only about the outcome, it is also about the quality of the outcome that matters. For any business it is crucial to utilize all resources effectively and extract maximum high-quality outcome from these resources. In order to have an excellent skilled hard-working workforce, the HR will have to face many challenges, one of the biggest challenge is employee turnover and the second is lack of motivation among the employees.
Here the important thing for the HR is to understand that the employees spend almost most of their day at their work, the workplace environment, organization’s culture and the relationship of employees with the managers and with peers is what determines the success or failure of business. The employee performance have a huge impact on the quality of products and services a business or organization produces. The traditional performance management methods are already failing businesses and both employees and managers are losing faith in orthodox performance management practices. According to several studies both the managers and the employees are not happy with once a year evaluation and appraisal process. The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is one of the most competitive marketplace. The competition is very high due to favorable market conditions and government policies and the customer demands are also very high, which is why the performance management become an essential in order to sustain growth.
What is the Difference between the Traditional and Modern Performance Management?
The performance management is a set of processes and actions that a business takes in order to evaluate and improve the performance of the employees by the end of each year. The employee appraisal or evaluation once a year or twice a year is no longer effective due to highly customer oriented, dynamic, and rapidly evolving markets. There was several other problems with the traditional performance management system such as the entire process was manual, the transparency is poor, and the quality of data is low and many more. The modern performance management systems digitalize and automate the performance management process. The modern performance management system is based on a software application which not only digitalize the performance management process but it can also automate several steps and collect a wealth of performance data. Furthermore the digitalization and automation improve the efficiency and reduce the resources required to conduct the appraisal and performance management processes.
What is a Digital Performance Management System?
A digital performance management system is a software based solution for performance management and appraisal processes. The HR department is responsible for all these activities, however, the performance management system provides a much better visibility with live coverage of performance data and intuitive dashboard which are available for everyone. The HR users can utilize their dedicated dashboard, the senior managers, board of directors, MD/CEOs, etc. and even the individual employee can have their performance dashboard with different level of access to the performance data. For example, the individual employees might be able to see their own performance data or at maximum they might also get an overview of their peers’ performance. The line managers or supervisors will be able to access the performance data for their subordinates and so on. The digital performance management system offers a user-friendly workflow which matches with the administrative hierarchy of the business. These dashboards are connected with the core application that is usually hosted at a server.
The digital performance management system server application is the brain of the system, it contains all of the source codes, algorithms and the actual data collection and analysis is done at the server side application. The performance management system software can be hosted at online hosting, in-premises servers, and at cloud which makes it very flexible and convenient. The different user dashboards are dedicatedly designed for the different levels of the management in order to provide the relevant and important information on the priority. The intuitive user interfaces make navigation simpler and easier and allow managers and user to perform several analysis based on the data collected and it also enable them to prepare performance reports and download them in pre-set formats. The digital performance management system provides a structured framework for the reviews and communications, and help businesses improve their management practices. Furthermore it is a digital tool and it can automatically collect a tremendous amount of performance and analytical data which is not only very helpful but also reduce the efforts required for the performance management process.
How Digitalization and Automation of Performance Management Benefits Businesses?
The digitalization and automation are used to facilitate human work, it help reducing human efforts, bring more accuracy to the processes and tend to produce high-quality outcomes. The digitalization and automation of performance management can help businesses in adopting to modern performance management practices such as agile or continuous performance management which is the most effective solution for the performance management needs in the modern marketplaces. Businesses always adopt new methods, systems, tools, software and solutions to improve efficiency and operational capabilities. With the rise of AI (artificial intelligence) ML (machine learning) and smart algorithms our entire lives are revolutionized. Just think of the social media, people use it for various purposes such as for communication, or for entertainment or to gain commercial benefits and so on. All this is possible because of the artificial intelligence (AI) based smart systems and computer programs. That is why businesses can leverage the digitalization and automation in their performance management process to make it more accurate, highly efficient, cost and resource effective and less time consuming.
The digitalization and automation in performance management process offers many advantages, such as it improve the overall efficiency and efficacy of the process. Traditionally the performance management is a very time and effort consuming process that is also one of the reason businesses conduct performance analysis once or twice a year. But things have changed drastically, especially since past decade, now a day in such a modern and fast-paced work environments the businesses need to be more vigilant and responsive towards unexpected scenarios and abrupt market changes. Which is why the businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE are proactively seeking modern performance management systems which can provide them a comprehensive solution for all their needs. Here are the key advantages of digitalization and automation in performance management processes.
Adopt Agile and Continuous Performance Management Practices
The Dubai or in fact the entire UAE is a very dynamic marketplace, it has tougher competition, the trends are rapidly changing the customer needs are continuously growing and the businesses need to align with those changes and demands very quickly in order to remain relevant. On top of everything the competition is also very high and the businesses need to establish a strong brand image by gaining a greater competitive advantage in order to attract more customers. These circumstances demand unorthodox solutions, which lies in agile and continuous performance management methods. The agile performance management is conducting performance evaluation and appraisal more frequently than traditional methods, usually the performance cycle is three months or less. Whereas the continuous performance management is a cyclical performance management which consists of more frequent performance management cycles throughout the year. The continuous performance management cycle includes evaluation, planning, setting up goals & objectives, conducting reviews, collecting feedbacks, and more frequent communication/check-ins.
Usually the agile and continuous performance management terms are interchangeable however, the difference is not major so businesses often utilize a mixture of both performance management types. Whatever the case is these types of performance management are not possible without adopting digitalization and automation within your performance management process. On an average the performance management and appraisal processes require a lot of efforts and resources which is time-consuming and expensive too. However, with the help of a digital performance management system and the automation it offers, the performance management become easier, less time-consuming and highly cost-efficient. In fact the digital performance management system offers a continuous monitoring and provide real-time performance analysis data which help businesses to quickly adopt to changes and align themselves with the market trends. It also increase the readiness of the management to deal with unexpected situations and interruptions in the regular operations due to internal and external factors which significantly reduce the negative impact of such incidents.
Improve the Transparency of the Performance Management Process
Studies have revealed that both the employees and the managers showed distrust at the traditional performance management process. Mostly it is due to lack of transparency and other problems that are associated with the manual processes. However, with the digital performance management system as most of the steps are fully automated the employees and managers both trust it. As the system keep record of historical data and provide a full 360 degree view of the employee performance hence the chances of missing out something or personal bias are reduced. Furthermore the modern performance management focus more on the contextual performance rather than measuring the outcome alone. Which also goes in favor of the employees and help manager to understand the actual performance of the employee for the entire performance cycle unlike traditional performance management where usually the managers focus only on the most recent events and incidents. Moreover the data is digital and stored in the performance management software which also raise the trust of the employees.
Acquire In-depth Performance Data with the Digital Performance Management System
Another great benefit of digitalizing and automation the performance management process is the ability to acquire highly accurate and in-depth performance data. The system can automatically collect a variety of KPIs, it can link the data from multiple departments and provide a broader picture of the performance. It also help facilitating various performance management methods such as 360 degree reviews, KPIs, OKR, Balanced Score Cards, Behavior KPIs, Technical Competencies and much more. The managers can also manually upload performance data to the system which further enhance the quality of the performance data. The ability to automatically and manually collecting digital data also have other perks. Such as it provides a variety of in-built analytical tools to assess and evaluate the employee performance from multiple angles. The performance management system also help filling the communication gap between the employees and the managers by providing a structured framework for the one-to-one interviews, discussions, and performance reviews. All this data is very helpful in taking effective and impactful decisions and help improving the outcome of the performance management cycle.
Digital Performance Management Help Increasing the Quality of the Personal Development and Training Programs
For any organization the personal development and training programs are very important they are expensive hence the business need to ensure they achieve the desired goals. Designing a training program or guiding employees through a career path is a very complicated part of performance management. The digital performance management system collect a variety of analytical data and performance matrices which can help managers identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their employees and even the entire teams. For example the managers can easily compare the employee performance in different setups or circumstances such as if an employee is working at a customer service center where the business is offering multiple services, when the employee is working on certain services they perform well and when they have to work on certain services their performance might decline. As the digital performance management system brings automation to the process so it can collect performance matrices in real-time which help managers identify the exact cause of poor performance.
The reliability and outcome of the training and personal development programs is heavily depending on the data and information that are being used to design those programs. If the performance data and information are incorrect or insufficient then the managers tend to make guesses or start making assumption which is very bad for the efficiency and efficacy of such programs. Furthermore the employees are continuously monitored hence the business can also evaluate the impact of the training and personal development programs by simply comparing the performance matrices from before and after these programs. Here it is important to understand that the training and personal development programs are expensive and they require a lot of effort and time which means it is absolutely necessary to get the desired outcome of these programs. Thanks to the digitalization and the automation the management can collect valuable performance and business intelligence data to ensure the training program or personal development program they will offer will make the desired affects.
Increase Employee Engagement and Reduce Turnover
The lack of employee engagements and the high employee turnover rate is one of the most common problems any HR department faces. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the markets are rapidly growing the job opportunities are in abundance which makes employee retention more difficult. The digital performance management system not only collect valuable business intelligence and performance data but it also help increasing employee engagements. It offers dedicated employee dashboard where they can see their performance in real-time and it also enable employees to see the performance of their peers which encourage them to perform well. The digital performance management system include employees in the decision making processes which not only increase employee involvement and engagement but also raise their sense of responsibility and encourages them to perform well. It also increase employee engagement by offering them a platform to share their opinion and feedback. Furthermore it facilitates the communication and improve the employee interaction with the management and increase their engagement which tend to yield better performance.
The biggest cause of the employee turnover is the lack of engagement which cause stress, uncertainty, lack of trust on the performance management and training programs and inability to choose a right career path, all these reasons cause employees to switch jobs more often. The digital performance management system address all these problems and offer an effective solution. Furthermore when the employee engagement is increased and their involvement in decision making or other important tasks is increased they feel more connected with the business and tend to stay longer. The digital performance management system brings transparency to the performance management process and it help building a fair reward and recognition system which not only improve the performance but also increase employees’ trust on the system and help them bridging the communication gap which increase their success rate and keep them interested in their work and raise their morale. All these advantages help HR to retain more talented employees and increase employee satisfaction.
Make Reward and Recognition Process Fairer
The reward and recognition is one of the most important part of any performance management process. Employees simply crave for respect and recognition. It is not that the monetary reward that matters, in fact verbal or written appreciation can do wonder. Several studies have shown that the employee put monetary and non-monetary rewards at equal. With traditional performance management methods the biggest problem is lack of transparency and trust. Employees usually don’t trust it, they think and feel that the reward and recognition processes was not fair, another most common perception is the presence of bias and favoritism. Although the favoritism and bias is very common in traditional performance management methods, but the another major aspect is unfair or inaccurate evaluation. Since with manual process the managers tend to focus only on the most recent events and performance they might completely neglect the early year achievements. Furthermore the lack of contextual performance appraisal and consideration of external factors is absolutely absent from the system.
The traditional performance management methods usually failed to achieve the fairness in the reward and recognition process which can satisfy the employees. However, the digital performance management system brings automation to the process, it collect data and provide real-time analysis which are available for both the managers and the employees as well and the peers can also view the performance of their colleagues. These feature brings transparency to the system and make it more acceptable and fairer. The rewards and recognition is purely based on the performance data which completely eliminates the bias and human emotion form the equation and make the process more accurate, fair and justified hence the employee satisfaction is high. The one who got rewards are happy with their performance as they know what exactly they did to earn it, and the poor performer would also know where they have to make improvements in order to compete for the better performance and success.
Conclusion
The performance management is an essential business function these days, every business who want to compete and want to grow must have a great performance management strategy and system in place. The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a very dynamic, competitive and fast-moving market. It requires businesses to be more vigilant, pro-active and prepared for the abrupt changes, unprecedented market trends, competition and innovation. The UAE as a country has proven to be the innovation capital of the entire MENA region. That is why business need to unlock the full potential of their human resource to maximize the quality and quantity of the outcome. Furthermore the HR department’s top priority is to make sure the business have the required talent and technical skills to deal with all the problems they are facing and they might be facing in near future. For that the HR department always emphasizes on employee retention, training and development programs. In order to keep your employee motivated a fairer and justice based evaluation is absolute necessity.
A digital performance management system not only ensures employee satisfaction, but it also ensures the maximum performance which translates to high profitability and growth. The digitalization and automation of the performance management processes help the management acquire a great deal of valuable performance data and business intelligence which help them keep their employees motivated, engaged and loyal all the time. RSI Concepts is a leading custom software development agency in Dubai, UAE and is among the pioneers of the customized performance management system software solutions. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to implement a highly cost-efficient and effective tailor-made performance management system, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.
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