Are you looking for performance management tools to track, monitor, and boost your and your team's overall success?
A well-managed workforce not only increases the bottom line but also makes work a place people want to be. The benefits of performance management are well-documented (and detailed below). Let's take a look at what they are and how to get there.
Performance management: what is It?
Performance management is about helping employees perform better. Improved employee performances result in productivity, efficiency, and profit gains. Also, it brings a sense of team accomplishment and personal development.
Unfortunately, you can't entirely automate performance management. However, you can streamline it a lot by using best practices and management software.
Performance management tools: best practices
Companies have been trying to improve their performance for many years. Through constant testing, a few best practices have emerged. Let's take a look at five of them.
#1: Set SMART or 5A goals
Goal setting is a major part of performance management.
Both the SMART method and the 5A method help to define clear, attainable goals that keep you and your team accountable.
SMART is an acronym that means specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Defining goals with these five elements allows employees to know the following things:
- exactly what they should do
- how they should measure it
- when they should consider it finished
- why it supports the company vision
- what the deadline is
Although SMART goals are a great management tool, they don't work for everyone. The 5A method can provide an alternative.
5A stands for assessable, aspirational, aligned, accountable, and agile. This best practice helps develop goals that are measurable, improve performance, ensure responsibility, and fulfill company objectives.
#2. Check-in with employees regularly
In the past, managers took employees aside for a yearly performance management session. Although this can be useful at times, regular check-ins are far more effective.
Companies ranging from HarperCollins to Google use regular one-on-one performance check-ins. This best practice improves accountability and reduces turnover. It also leads to more trust, engagement, and productivity.
#3. Personalize performance management through Personal Development Plans (PDPs)
People love personal development, as can be seen by the success of the self-help industry. Employees — especially millennial employees — yearn to become as productive and effective as possible.
Companies that help them in their journey can attract and retain highly driven employees. One of the best ways to do this is through a personal development plan for each employee. This allows employees to take a more active role in improving their careers.
To turbocharger your PDPs, consider using the SMART or 5A method to guide the PDP process.
#4. Focus on employee wellbeing
Although businesses need to work hard, that doesn't always mean longer hours. There's a big difference between being productive and being busy. The former leads to success, the latter to burnout.
Companies that want to manage overall performance need to pay special attention to employee wellbeing because overworked and underslept employees rarely perform at their best.
That's why employee wellness programs are so important. These can range from having a gym on-site to offering flexible work hours.
5. Reward and recognize great performance
Although paychecks are essential, they aren't the only reason people go to work.
People choose to do well at work because getting praise from others can feel amazing. Praise can help increase teamwork and decreases turnover. That's why some of the best management software out there uses praise to provide feedback.
Performance management tools: best software
Determining the best software for your team's performance management can be tricky. That's why it's important to evaluate each management tool for the following:
- easy usability
- a clean user interface
- employee evaluation templates
- available training and knowledge hubs
- performance improvement templates
- robust analytics and reporting capabilities
- integration with other management tools
- an appropriate price
With that in mind, let's take a look at 3 of the best management software tools out there.
#1: Mesh
Mesh is run by a remote team that understands the benefits and challenges of managing a hybrid environment. Their performance management system can help you visualize employee progress, review individual performance, and give actionable feedback.
They do this by focusing on six aspects of performance management:
- Goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
- Plans and Tasks
- Performance Reviews
- Recognition and Feedback
- One-on-One Conversations
- Engagement Surveys
#2. PerformYard
With PerformYard, HR and employees can work together to create customizable strategies. These spread out to benefit the entire work environment.
This includes employee performance reviews powered by real-time data that you can customize. It offers a variety of strategies ranging from comprehensive, 360-degree performance appraisals to project-based reviews. On top of that, PerformYard can raise workplace morale by praising employee performance and then spreading the word to others.
#3: Zugata
Zugata is geared around a continuous form of employee development that's concerned with improving performance each day. To do that, Zugata has employee performance dashboards and employee development plans.
Alongside the benefits to individual employees, HR professionals can monitor the entire team to engage the workforce, support collaboration, and improve accountability.
Performance management tools that work
The right performance management tools can improve your team's success dramatically. They not only improve productivity and efficiency, but they also increase the bottom line.
Best practices such as SMART goals, one-on-ones, and personal development plans, are essential to keep in mind. To really turbocharge your performance management, however, it's important to use the best software available.
Through its goal setting, feedback, and performance review tools, Mesh provides an all-in-one solution to manage and boost performance. Request a demo today to see how we can help.
