Performance Appraisals

Managing Performance

There's constant pressure to achieve performance targets, to reach higher performance levels, and to ensure that people's work supports and furthers the organization's goals.

Performance management is the process used to manage this performance.

The key question asked is, "How well is an employee applying his or her current skills, and to what extent is he or she achieving the outcomes desired?" The answer has traditionally been found in the performance evaluation process, where managers look for hard data to tell how well an employee has performed his or her duties.

What is often missing from this evaluation, however, is the part about making sure that the employee is doing the right thing. After all, you may have a very hard-working and dedicated team member, but if he or she is not working on things that advance the organization's purpose, what is the point?

This is where key performance indicators come into play, and they apply both at the organizational and individual levels. At an organizational level, a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a quantifiable metric that reflects how well an organization is achieving its stated goals and objectives.

Functions of a Supervisor

A supervisor is responsible for the day-to-day performance of a small group. It may be a team, a department or a shift. Typically, the supervisor has experience in what the group does and has earned the position based on management's belief that he/she is capable of guiding the team.

Supervisors with leadership skills help bring accountability to their teams by creating a supportive and motivating work environment.

Leaders can delegate and manage a wide variety of skillsets. It is important for supervisors to lead their teams in the most effective way by recognizing where the strengths are, where improvement is needed, and how to properly use the skillsets of each team member.

Managers need to adjust how they motivate employees by using traditional motivators and a combination of items from the above list. Inspiring employees to perform at their best levels is always a manager’s top priority. How managers go about it needs to change to match the nature of work today and the state of today’s workplace.