The performance management is a crucial business process. It is extremely important for a business to align all its resources with its goals and objectives. The performance management help businesses unlock the true potential of its employees, teams and departments. The performance management help businesses in establishing a high-potential workforce to ensure maximum productivity. Maximum productivity means high profitability and long-term sustainable growth. Another most important aspect of performance management is the employee retention. The businesses can’t retain an employee if the employee is unsatisfied or disengaged. The performance management help managers motivate the employees, increase their engagements, provide them opportunities to grow and develop themselves. When employees are motivated and happy with their job they tend to perform excellent. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the market conditions are very favorable, the government policies are supportive, and it is very easy to startup a new business. This lead to higher competition, which makes performance management even more important.
The performance management is not a new thing, it was a very old processes and businesses are applying these methods since the early ages of modern business. However, it has been continuously evolving and improving. The modern day performance management is heavily relying on technology based software solution which help businesses improve the process and make it more efficient. The digital performance management system or software help managers easily and quickly do the reviews and evaluations, earlier this took a lot of resources, time and efforts. This also enable businesses to conduct multiple performance reviews and evaluations in a year. Furthermore, the performance management software or PMS helps automating several steps, it provide a well-structured framework which makes it even more efficient. The performance management systems allow businesses to adopt to modern methods and trends. The performance management have become a highly advanced and sophisticated process, however, it is still evolving. Businesses might think how they could adopt to the most modern and effective performance management methods and tactics, in this blog we will discuss top 5 trends that will serve as a foundation for the modern performance management in the future.
Performance Management Trends: 1. Continuous Performance Management
Businesses in Dubai and all around the UAE or in fact all around the world have realized that the traditional performance management is losing its impact and is no longer viable. Another drawback of traditional performance management is that it is a manual process, it requires a lot of resources, efforts and consume a lot of time too. Usually the traditional performance management have once a year evaluation or at most twice a year, which is not enough. The manual methods lack transparency, and cause employees to lose trust on the system as well as the business. Then the bias and favoritism is also a very impactful factor which can completely undermine the benefits of the performance management. That is why a continuous performance management system or agile performance management has started replacing the traditional performance management. The continuous performance management have more frequent reviews, evaluations and discussions.
Most of the business in Dubai and all around the UAE prefer performance management activities once in a month. However, some businesses do it on weekly bases and some do it on project bases, which is usually less than 3 months. The modern businesses are very dynamic, fast-paced and required to respond to the continuously changing market and customer trends. Businesses need agility to grow and be competitive in the market. This require a continuous monitoring mechanisms which can provide up-to-date data. The continuous or agile performance management also help managers to quickly identify a problem or if someone loses the focus or get off the track, etc. the manager can easily identify such issues and take actions to ensure all resources align with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. More frequent discussions, one-to-one meetings and reviews boost employee engagement. Employee engagement is an essential ingredient for the better performance.
When employee are engaged and connected with the business they tend to perform well. It also help them align with the high-level organizational goals and objectives and it also help managers to improve communication. The continuous or agile performance management also encourage collaborative goals and objectives setting, which itself is a great method to boost employee performance. These are some of the main reasons why continuous performance management is getting popular and this trend will continue for several coming years. The continuous performance management also provide real-time performance data to the higher management and strategy makers, it gives them a chance to correct course and remodel their objectives as per the current scenarios. In general the continuous performance management increase the readiness of the organization to deal with incidents, disruptions and unexpected scenarios.
Performance Management Trends: 2. Collaborative Goals & Objectives
For any performance management strategy the goals and objectives are the most important and crucial part of it. Traditionally the high-level organizational goals and objectives are set according to the mission and vision of the business. Then these goals are scaled down up to the individual level. The managers set the goals and objectives for the individual employees, and make plans for them. However the modern performance management system also include the say of the employee in the goal setting process. It is important to understand their point of view and let them participate in the vital decision making processes. There are several benefits of including employees in the goal setting process. The collaborative goals and objectives are more likely to be achieved. As the employees were agreed with the managers in setting up a particular goal or objectives, they feel more responsible for completing it. These methods increase employee engagement, give them more trust and help bridging the gap between the strategy and implementation.
Another great advantage of collaborative goals and objectives method is that it allow managers to acquire a deeper insight of the employee performance, their capabilities and the actual situation on the ground. When the managers and employee discuss the high-level organizational goals the employee knows what is to be expected from them in order to achieve company goals. Most of the time managers are not fully aware of the employee situation, the limitation and obstacles they might be facing, only the employee knows very well what they can achieve. But important thing here is to understand that the goals shouldn’t be too easy to achieve, they should be challenging but realistic. If a goal is too easy, then it might not produce enough value, if it is too hard or extremely difficult, then the employee might not even attempt to complete it. That is why the collaborative goal setting process is a great method to help managers achieve a balance between the value and the attainability of the task. The collaborative goals and objectives tend to produce the maximum value and help achieving high performance and efficiency.
Performance Management Trends: 3. Employee Engagements
The employee engagement is basically the emotional attachment or connection that an employee has with the business and its goals. It is easy to understand why the employee engagements are considered to be the most important factor in performance management. When an employee is emotionally connected to the business and its goals, they will behave differently, they will take more responsibility, the will get motivated and work harder, and they will become more efficient. There are several factors that help increasing employee engagement and there are several factors that could distant employees from the business. The employee engagement begins with communication, if there is no effective communication between them and the manager they will feel disconnected from the system. It is important to establish a healthy two-way communication channel between the employee and the managers. The best way to do is to increase the one-to-one discussions and meetings.
The recognition and acknowledgement of the good work is one of the best way to increase employee engagement. A positive constructive feedback can significantly boost the employee morale and encourage them to perform well. The managers should focus more on meaningful feedbacks, such as if an employee showed a great performance at some task, the managers will appreciate them. But it is also important to explain them the impact of their good performance/achievement on the high-level organizational goals, team objectives, and their personal development. Furthermore the employee engagement can be increased by gaining their trust. The managers should communicate the high-level organizational goals and objectives with the employees, they should explain them why these goals and objectives are important, and they should allow the employees to come up with their own goals and objectives that they think will produce some value aligned with the company goals and objectives. Such activities and discussions can significantly boost the employee engagements.
Performance Management Trends: 4. Digitalization & Automation
The traditional performance management is a manual process, it requires a lot of time, efforts and resources. That is the reason the conventional performance management is done only once or twice a year. However, the modern performance management heavily rely on digitalization and automation which makes it quick, low-cost, and an easy task. The modern performance management system is based on a software. The performance management software is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) based application with smart analytical algorithms which makes it more effective and convenient. The modern IT infrastructure is usually based on a centralized information system which is linked with almost all other digital systems. The performance management system can integrate with other systems and get valuable performance data automatically. This digitalization and automation simplify the performance management and make is easier for both the managers and the employees.
It also provide a structured framework for communication, reviews, rewards and development programs which further enhance the effectiveness of the performance management program. A well-organized performance management system not only boost the outcome but it also help dealing with several inherent performance management problems and obstacles. For example, a structured communication framework facilitate one-to-one discussions and review processes. The digital data inputs enhance the accuracy and transparency of the system. The performance management software provides dedicated dashboards for different user groups. The senior managers can conveniently view the performance data at their dashboard, similarly the line managers, and even the individual employees can view their progress in real-time on their dedicated dashboards. Moreover some businesses also enable visibility for peers, other teams and even departments, to encourage competitiveness. The digitalization and automation make performance management more convenient and effective.
Performance Management Trends: 5. Project-Based & Contextual Performance
The project based performance management and evaluation is a relatively new concept. The project based performance management is s two-step process, the first step is to monitor and measure the performance in real-time which is done after the completion of a project or after achieving a milestone. The second step is almost similar to as the traditional performance management, the annual review. Thus the project based performance management includes both micro view and macro view. Most of the time when the annual reviews are conducted it is very hard for the managers and the reviewers to remember the performance for a project that was completed a few months ago. That is why the project based feedbacks and reviews are recorded. With the modern performance management system the project-based performance management has become simpler and convenient. The project based performance is rapidly gaining popularity among all business sectors.
The modern performance management leverage the technology. Which makes the performance management very convenient and less expensive and it also provides businesses a chance to adopt continuous or agile performance management. The modern performance management is transforming into a more context based evaluation process. Because there are several factors that can impact the performance of the employees, especially the external factors that are not visible to the managers. For example, if someone is having some problem at home, or if someone is having some other personal matter which is not letting them focus on their work and so on. These factors can have huge impact on the employee performance. But as soon as those problems are solved the performance resumed gradually. That is why the project based performance management include the employee performance at every milestone, project completion and also at the end of the year to improve the accuracy.
See More: 5 Challenges in implementing Performance Management System
Conclusion
The performance management is one of the most crucial business process. Businesses need to build a strong workforce in order to gain competitive advantages. The skilled and high-performing workforce is not only about recruitment, but it take continuous nurturing and gradual improvements which results in the brilliant and efficient workforce. The performance management is a tool that help businesses improve the employee performance. The modern day performance management system utilize technology and make the process simpler, easier, less expensive, semi-autonomous and very convenient. The digital system is very capable and it can automatically collect valuable performance data from various other systems and central information center. In this blog we have covered top 5 trends that are most likely to shape the future of the performance management. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to implement a very cost-efficient 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 someone will get in touch with you soon.
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