Performance Management

The purpose of performance management is to help and encourage every employee to raise their performance, develop their abilities, increase job satisfaction and achieve their full potential to the benefit of the individual and the organization as a whole. We want to focus everyone’s attention on what they are expected to achieve in their jobs and how best to achieve it. We would like to help everyone to identify and satisfy their development needs – to improve performance and realize their potential.

We would like to help everyone to identify and satisfy their development needs – to improve performance and realize their potential.
 

BOS Shelf Performance Management is:

  • Based on open and constructive discussion
  • An everyday and natural management process – not an annual form-filling exercise
  • A positive process – looking to the future rather than dwelling on the past
  • Focused on developing strengths as well as considering any performance problems

Objectives

On-going Role or Work Goals - All roles have built-in objectives that may be expressed as key result areas in a role profile. The definition of a key result area states that this is what the role holder is expected to achieve in this particular aspect of the role. Good role or work objectives clearly define the activity in terms of the results and standards to be achieved.

Targets - Objectives that define the quantifiable results to be attained as measured in such terms as output, throughput, income, sales, levels of service delivery, reduction of reject rates.

Tasks - Objectives can be set for the completion of tasks or projects by a specified date or to achieve an interim result.

Performance Improvement - Performance improvement goals define what needs to be done to achieve better results. They may be expressed in a performance improvement plan that specifies what actions need to be taken.

Developmental/Learning - Developmental or learning objectives specify areas for personal development and learning in the shape of enhanced knowledge and skills.
 

Smart Objectives

We use the “SMART” mnemonic to summarize the desirable characteristics of an objective:

S = Specific/Stretching – clear, unambiguous, straightforward, understandable and challenging
M = Measurable – quantity, quality, time, money
A = Achievable – challenging but within the reach of a competent and committed person
R = Relevant – relevant to the objectives of the organization so that the goal of the individual is aligned to corporate goals
T = Time framed – to be completed within an agreed timescale

A defining characteristic of performance management is the importance attached to the integration or alignment of individual goals with organizational objectives. The aim is to focus people on doing the right things in order to achieve a shared understanding of performance requirements.

Integration is achieved by ensuring that everyone is aware of corporate, functional and team goals and that the objectives are consistent with those goals and will contribute in specified ways to their achievement.