Performance Management System (PMS) is imperative, and it is compelling that any organization which intends to survive the turbulence of the market competition and retain its share of the market without losing its position will have to provide both quantity and quality services timeously to its customers.
Organizations that are desirous to make maximum use of PMS must first have in place its objective for the year and strategies to actualize them. In the case of Ghana, it is stated in Section 8(b) of the Labour Act, 2003 Act 651 that employers can have their policies and set targets for their workforce to meet.
It is understood that the organizational objective and strategies would be cascaded to the various departments to enable the various heads to engage their team members to plan the execution of the strategies to achieve the overall vision and mission of the organization for the year under review.
The next step is for the departmental heads to engage the various sectional heads in a conversation, who will in turn meet the individuals or teams together in the various departments and set targets or KPI’s to achieve those departmental goals assigned them.
When these assignments are given out and discussed in a dialogue format, the various individuals in the team or department will sign onto it and agree that this is the way to go in the year. If there is a requirement such as training, re-training or skill development to entitle that fellow to perform, the employer is under obligation to provide that kind of opportunity for those concerned to undertake.
Talking about best practices in performance management system, it is proper for managers/supervisors to engage the workers in setting of the targets and to have conversation about the strategies together, and both sides to give feedback at least every quarter.
If there is any failure to meet set targets at the end of the first, second or third quarters, the worker is notified in person and in writing, so it would not sound strange if the worker is told that he has not performed up to the optimum to meet the criteria or standards set by the organization.
It is expected that the employer will then set-up a Performance Enhancement Plan (PEP) to help the worker to improve or suffer the consequences of non-performance if at the end of the scheduled date the worker fails to meet the requirements of the employer.
Again, in the case of Ghana, under Section 98(g) of the Labour Act, it is stated that “the principles for matching remuneration with productivity” should be part of the negotiated items into a Collective Agreement. It is for the employer to initiate the process to help motivate workers to perform their duties conscientiously knowing that as a Star Performer, he might just reap the benefits.
Under section (62) (a) of Act 651, if a worker underperformes and fails to meet the PEP demands, the organization reserves the right to terminate his/her employment on the basis of incompetency.
As stated earlier, performance management system is very essential to the success of any organization. Here are some benefits of having a good performance system in place:
- It allows the company to put a meter on everybody’s performance. So, you know the contribution of every worker and identify if there is the need to help a worker through mentoring and coaching, training or the development of skills.
- At the heart of it is the sharing of information through conversational approach. The conversational approach creates an opportunity for the manager/supervisor and the worker to share relevant information that pertains to the job and overall organizational objectives.
- It helps define organizational goals.
- It helps the worker to provide necessary feedback. Through the discussion the manager/supervisor has with him or her about his/her roles.
- The manager/supervisor can monitor continuously the performance and progress of work.
- He/she can now evaluate and review the performance and provide feedback on which the worker can be appraised and recommendations made.
When effective performance management systems are clinically followed, the vision and strategy would have worked, then the financial perspectives would be glorious, shareholders, customers, workers and all stakeholders would be delighted.
Performance Management System and Appraisals well done is the future for any organization!