E-learning and LMS blog articles

In today’s fast-paced working world and with remote teams and location-less workspaces, it’s easy for employees to feel overlooked, undervalued and unsupported. With limited face-to-face interactions, there are fewer opportunities for organic performance-focused conversations. As a business whose employees work completely remotely, we find that we now regularly get asked by new potential hires about our internal performance review processes. We have found that a structured performance management strategy supported by the right tools ensures employees feel supported regardless of time constraints or location.

Armed with modern performance management technology, employers can seamlessly bridge the remote working gap to create a high-performing workforce that drives organisational success. Whether your employees are working remotely or in-house, performance management tools will help maximise their potential and ensure they perform at their best – keep reading to find out which five tools you should focus on to achieve this.

Looking for further insights into the L&D tools you should focus on to get the most out of your teams? Read our previous blog to discover the top five engagement tools you should use.

What is performance management?

Performance management is all about supporting employee growth and development whilst ensuring their individual goals and output align with wider company objectives. Performance management practices can range from setting clear expectations of employee performance during the onboarding process to identifying opportunities for upskilling and career development during monthly appraisals.

Which five performance management tools should you be using?

Performance goals

Stagnation, lack of growth and limited innovation are silent killers for any business. So how do we avoid it? One of the biggest mistakes we see business leaders make is focusing on day-to-day tasks in order to simply ‘get the job done’. This short-sighted approach stifles business development and innovation - employers must look beyond the present and encourage employees to focus on long-term goals and objectives to drive organisational growth and development.

Performance goals are an essential performance management tool for outlining a clear roadmap for the future of individuals and the wider organisation. Goals come in all shapes and sizes from KPIs to performance scales and goal frameworks. No matter which type of goals you utilise in your performance management strategy, you need to be able to easily measure and monitor progress so be sure to use a performance management system with comprehensive performance goal tools.

360-degree feedback tools

Traditional manager/employee feedback is an essential performance management practice but is it the most effective feedback mechanism? If you’re looking to maximise the outcome of your performance feedback process, 360-degree feedback tools are the ultimate solution.

360-degree feedback/appraisals gather insights into an employee’s performance from multiple sources instead of just a manager or supervisor. With this feedback mechanism, employers can cast a wider net across the entire organisation and take a more holistic approach to performance management.

If this sounds like a complex process to implement, don’t worry – the right technology gives you the distinct advantage of being able to use a powerful performance management tool. Find out how by reading our ultimate guide here.

Personal development plans

To get the most out of your employees, you must encourage them to play an active role in the performance management process. This requires them to take ownership of their growth, thinking introspectively to identify development opportunities. Try using a structured framework such as personal development plans (PDPs).

PDPs are typically created by an employee and their manager or supervisor, encompassing organisational goals while focusing on individual career aspirations and role-based objectives. A PDP provides a structured approach to growth and development opportunities, creating clear markers for progression whilst identifying the resources, activities and support required to achieve long-term goals.

So how do you utilise PDPs and create an effective plan? A Talent Experience Platform (TXP) is the ideal solution – find out how to use a TXP to create a PDP here.

Appraisals and one-to-ones

If the title of this blog was ‘How to deliver an outdated and ineffective performance management strategy’, our number one suggestion would be to focus entirely on annual appraisals. For the modern worker, this performance management practice simply isn’t enough. 55% of employees say that yearly reviews don’t improve their performance. Now is the time for regular and transparent appraisals or one-to-one performance review sessions.

With a performance management system such as Totara Perform, you can use appraisal tools to deliver flexible performance check-ins that can be built into the natural flow of work. With data-driven insights, managers and employees can build up an evidence bank of performance-related activities that make it easy to keep track of achievements and identify areas for improvement.

Reporting tools

If your performance management strategy is supported by a performance management platform or TXP, be sure to take advantage of reporting tools. Performance management reports provide data-driven insights that allow managers to monitor employee performance in real time and identify issues, patterns and achievements.

However, when using reports and analytics to support the performance management process, it’s important not to focus too heavily simply on metrics and data. Instead, use this data to support meaningful performance conversations and inform a holistic conversation that acknowledges all facets of employee performance and development.

Empower your employees with performance management tools that work for you and your employees. Whether you’re in need of a performance management system or a full TXP, our Totara platforms provide everything you need to create an effective performance management strategy that utilises the tools and technology outlined in this blog. Build a world-class employee engagement experience. Get in touch with one of our experts today.