How to Successfully Manage Employee Performance in the Workplace

Successfully managing employee performance in today’s workplace is very different than it was a few years ago. 

There is an incredible amount of importance placed on investing in your employees, beyond just their health and wellness benefits and providing a fun work culture. It comes down to the day-to-day processes that are a key function of every employees’ role and the support provided to ensure continuous improvement, training and development are always at the forefront.

Productivity in Today's Workplace

Productivity is a big challenge that many businesses face today. The high job vacancy rates across Canada seemingly have us all dealing with labor shortages while our businesses are still needing to operate at maximum capacity and still have large growth targets to meet. Additionally, let’s not forget the complexity of hybrid and remote work environments that also have an effect on productivity, whether improved or not. This less-than-perfect storm influences the way we manage the performance of our employees and teams, and more often than not impacts the business on a larger scale.

Treading lightly around employee performance issues in such a high-risk work environment is happening far too often. Even though we are cautious, it is critical to the health of our organizations that we lead people effectively and ensure support and coaching is not taking a backseat.

Rethink the Meaning of Performance Management  

By its definition, performance management is an ongoing process of communication between a manager and an employee which supports accomplishing strategic goals of the organization and ensuring the employee is performing up to standard. Thinking back to what this meant for employees before the pandemic, performance management was siloed to the annual performance review or check-in system. Nowadays, it means so much more than a scheduled meeting. 

Performance is a living entity in our organizations; it lives and breathes and needs to be nurtured. Many employees lead themselves these days, whether by choice or by means of vacant positions due to staff shortages. A performance management system needs to be structured in a way that meets the needs of your employees; especially those without a direct manager. 

The following are a few of the critical areas needing support when addressing performance management:

• Support with stress management and overall mental health
• Preferred work environments for each employee (hybrid, on-site, remote)
• Upskilling, training and specializing to promote employee growth and benefit your organization
• Connecting and contributing to organizational goals and purpose
• Streamlining processes and automating with systems/tools

Developing and Implementing an Effective Workplace Performance Program

Supporting the needs of your employees and enhancing productivity during a time when burnout is widespread may seem like an impossible mission. Step by step you can build an effective performance management system that works for your team and can be customized throughout your organization. 

Determine what tools and systems would work best for your team and organization. Ask yourself, do daily, weekly or monthly meetings work best for my team members? Is in-person, virtual or a non-scheduled casual approach more fitting to the current work environment and our working culture?

Ask for help. Many businesses are experiencing similar challenges and have innovated to meet the demands of the changing workforce and variety of work environments. Connecting with others in your professional network or reaching out to a Certified Coach or HR Consultant may help to stir up great ideas on how to improve your performance management system.

Final Thoughts

Although productivity is a daunting challenge most employers face in the workplace today, keeping your employees happy, healthy and well managed provides a rewarding return for both parties involved. Retain top talent and boost your businesses bottom line through rethinking the meaning of performance management.

What's next? Visit our free online resource, Employee Wellness 101: How Healthy Employees Lead to Healthy Returns to learn more about how you can retain healthy workers while boosting your businesses bottom line.