Ten steps to effective performance management

There are ten basic steps your council needs to take to develop and implement an effective performance management system. The emphasis should be on developing a strategy tailored to help the council perform well which is not too complex for the benefits it delivers.

1. Develop business plans

Business planning must take account of what can realistically be delivered with the council resources available and consider the people management implications. Once council plans and priorities have been established these then need to be translated into service, team and individual performance plans. This is a highly skilled task that is critical for the performance management process to work well. It is important that managers are given appropriate support to carry this out effectively.

2. Establish what aspects of performance need to be measured

Any national or local performance indicators being used must be clearly communicated to staff and elected members, along with other measures being used to define performance. The focus should be on measuring what matters and trying to keep these measures to a reasonable number.

3. Set up systems to monitor and evaluate

Systems need to be set up to ensure that performance can be monitored and evaluated throughout the year to ensure that it is improving service delivery. It is therefore essential that the performance management approach supports the council's organisational development and people management strategies, so that it helps rather than hinders progress.

4. Define the general performance expectations of employees

This may be done through a combination of approaches such as the use of competences, policies and procedures. Line managers should be given specific responsibilities for managing performance. Effective ways of doing this are making it an explicit part of their job role and incorporating how to manage performance into management training programmes.

In return there should be clear and consistent expectations of what is expected of employees while they are working for the council.

5. Agree specific performance objectives

Council plans and priorities need to be translated into service, team and individual performance objectives.

Agreeing individual performance and employee development needs is normally carried out using a combined performance appraisal and staff development process. This approach provides the framework for helping managers to translate service and team plans into individual plans and objectives and agree how these will be met. Individual plans and objectives are most effective when both manager and employee agree them. Objectives should be specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and time bound (SMART).

6. Develop an internal communications system

It is normally accepted that to be effective messages need to be communicated in a range of different ways that really target the group of staff you are trying to reach. There is a wide range of different approaches that can be adopted to ensure staff are kept in contact with key performance issues. For example, there are staff briefings; meetings; lunch time seminars; use of the intranet; mini articles or stories in staff magazines; posters; bulletin boards; email alerts; line management and supervision meetings.

Conducting regular staff surveys and running a suggestion scheme are also important ways of ensuring that employees have opportunities to feedback on a wide range of issues that will impact directly or indirectly on organisational performance.

7. Ensure the performance appraisal system is in place, is well understood and working effectively

A performance appraisal system is traditionally used to set objectives, identify support needs and measure progress against objectives. For it to work effectively it needs to be clearly understood by both managers and employees. This means ensuring that managers have access to guidance and training to ensure that they manage performance effectively throughout the year and employees at all levels within the council have the necessary support, guidance or training to enable them to actively engage in the performance appraisal process.

The performance appraisal system should also be regularly reviewed to ensure that it is achieving what is required.

8. Support employees to help them perform well

Effective induction and probation processes for new employees are extremely important in setting the right expectations for performance on both sides. If this early stage is managed well it may be possible to intervene to prevent or minimise individual capability issues later on through personal development or redeployment. Feedback from this process may also highlight problems with job design or recruitment processes, which then need to be rectified.

Responsibility for meeting staff development needs may be addressed in the team or service or may be fed back to a central HR function for action. Whatever the approach, the council needs an overview of its organisational capability and how it plans to address any gaps that will hamper the achievement of its objectives. This strategic human resource management would normally be the responsibility of the HR function.

Developing employee capacity to deliver council objectives is likely to be achieved in a variety of ways. All employees, even those who have been in the same post for some time, should be encouraged to consider how they are performing and what else they could learn or do differently to deliver better services. In some cases these needs will be adequately met through attending training courses but there are many other possibilities, such as job shadowing, mentoring, e-learning, working on projects or reading manuals. Wherever possible the employee should be given the opportunity to agree the most suitable option.

Performance needs to be actively managed and monitored throughout the year. An essential part of this dialogue is the giving and receiving of feedback. For this to work effectively the organisational climate must encourage the sharing of both success and failure. Without this employees will be reluctant to comply and the quality of the feedback may be lacking. As well as managers, employees at all levels in the council may also need support, guidance or training to enable them to actively engage in the performance appraisal process.

9. Seek performance improvement

Of course, there will be circumstances where performance does not meet the required standard. At organisational level, this will mean identifying what the barriers are to effective performance and putting in place a plan to deliver improvement. At both team and individual level the principles will be the same, but it may be more difficult to manage, as individual sensitivities and complexities may be at the fore.

Having in place a clear process for dealing with inadequate performance is important. However, it is essential that the process does not take over from the desired outcome, which is to seek performance improvement. Identifying the reason for inadequate performance is the first step. From this the council can determine further action, which may involve disciplinary procedures; additional training or support; monitoring and review mechanisms; redeployment; changing job roles or in some cases dismissal. It is also important that learning from these actions is taken on board, for example to improve future performance management mechanisms or selection methods.

Formal capability or disciplinary proceedings take time, effort and resources, which could otherwise be targeted at more positive interventions, such as recognising good performance. If performance management is embedded into day-to-day management practice it is likely that inadequate performance will be managed and improved before it gets to this stage; that is why following the performance management cycle on an ongoing basis is so important.

Councils should also review job design and work flexibility as ways of improving performance.

10. Recognise and reward good performance

This is the part that many organisations forget; instead they take good performance for granted and focus on those who have not met the standard. However, to retain motivation and continuously improve, it is essential that good performance is recognised and where appropriate, rewarded. Recognition and reward will mean different things to different people; for some financial reward in the form of pay rises or bonuses may be important, whereas for others recognition that their contribution has made a difference will be enough.

When determining what will be the most appropriate reward the council will need to understand what motivates their workforce and how they can meet this need. Pay systems and processes will be important, but it will also be necessary to identify other reward mechanisms such as opportunities for development and career progression.

Recognising performance is also about sharing success stories across the organisation and highlighting how good performance helps the organisation as a whole. This may also help with sharing good practice and learning about what works.