How does your organization prepare supervisors to manage employee performance?Supervisory training and development programs play a critical role in helping supervisors become performance managers. The purpose of this article is to provide five tools that will lead supervisors to become better managers of employee performance.
How does your organization prepare supervisors to manage employee performance?

What tools does your organization provide to make performance management part of a supervisor’s daily routine?

How much emphasis does your organization place on performance management?

If you were able to quickly and easily answer these questions,Helping Supervisors become Performance Managers Articles it’s likely that you have made a priority of helping supervisors understand and embrace the importance of being performance managers. If you had to think twice about your answers or if your answers were immediately on the negative side, it’s likely that the day-to-day management of employee performance has not been made a priority in your organization.

Performance management, the process of providing direction, feedback, and recognition to employees, contributes to workplace culture. It defines what is important to employees and communicates day-to-day expectations. However, many organizations, public and private sector alike, have become distracted by the crisis of the day and overlook this important managerial function.

When the management of employee performance is not a priority personalberatung wien, employers are likely to see reduced levels of employee engagement and commitment. A recent study by Watson Wyatt, 2005/2006 Communications ROI Study, found that clear communication leads to greater levels of engagement and higher levels of retention. The study found that most organizations expect supervisors to take on a greater share of the communication responsibilities, but few organizations are providing the tools that supervisors need to communicate more effectively with employees. This study, and probably your own experience, leads us to the conclusion that supervisors need help in managing the performance of their employees. Supervisory training and development programs play a critical role in helping supervisors become performance managers. The purpose of this article is to provide five tools that will lead supervisors to become better managers of employee performance.

Tool #1: Help supervisors see the cyclical, constant nature of performance management, using the performance management cycle.

In many organizations, performance management is thought about once a year—at performance evaluation time. We know it shouldn’t be a once a year activity although many Human Resources departments foster that approach. The performance management cycle, illustrated below, is a sound model to communicate the cyclical, on-going nature of managing employee performance.

If messages about employee performance management are issued only once a year, the result will likely be surprised, angry employees and/or unmet expectations. If the Human Resources department “talks up” performance management on a regular basis by reminding supervisors to address performance concerns immediately, maintain complete and frequent documentation, and have regular, informal conversations with employees about performance, these important activities will remain a point of focus for everyone. If the topic is brought up just once a year, employees will only focus on it once a year.