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How important is a performance management tool in the workplace?
In short, very.
A report by McKinsey attempts to answer this very question. Employees are largely divided, almost down the middle, on the effectiveness of such tools in their respective organisations. But a sizeable number (60%) of those who feel their company is making positive changes to their performance evaluation systems believe that it is helping boost morale and increase retention.
The process of performance management involves a systematic procedure that allows a company to engage its workforce in a way that enhances efficiency. This is done to make the workspace more efficient which helps it attain its objectives.
Over the years, such modules to improve performance have become a go-to option for companies to be more productive. This in turn has led to the development of HR performance management software.
Such a performance management system is crucial to the performance of an HR and a manager, ensuring proper employee reviews. To put this in perspective, a survey found that 40% of managers lack access to the information required to make a fool proof evaluation of their team.
And dissatisfaction with manual evaluation goes both ways. An HR Dive study found that 85% of respondents think about leaving their job in light of an unfair performance review.
The performance management software is structured in a way that ensures it can be measured and compared with others.
The best feature of such programs is that they remain uniform while retaining their individual innovative aspects. Such innovation, however, depends on the demand of the company.
Thus, this structure ensures employee and HR contribution and coherence toward their strategic goals. Employee engagement increases while turnover decreases. This results in higher revenues per employee.
Key Elements of HR Performance Management Software
An HR software for performance management works in a collaborative manner that encourages employees and managers to work better and mutually establish objectives. It can be used in the cloud, on premise, or even when employees are working in a hybrid manner.
It involves working towards the holistic growth of a company by maintaining performance standards, and sharing appraisals and feedback on individual performances. The last bit, again, depends on what your organisation needs. For instance, while the two major parameters are behaviour and outcomes, 22% organisations want to focus on behaviour while 12% focus on outcomes.
Thus, making the structure for a proficient performance management system helps in enhancing the total company performance. This is done by managing the performance of every individual to achieve the goals and ambitions of the company. So what are the key elements of an HR performance management software? Let’s find out.
A proper HR software for performance management should include the following.
In a good company, both the HR and the employees have perhaps been actively working on performance enhancement their whole lives anyway, so how do the apps help?
Every employee no matter what the position, practices each major element of enhancing their performance regularly. However, while working in a company, it can be difficult to monitor your own performance or for the company to monitor without using a tool.
And not just the employees; managers too feel the inadequacy of current performance management systems. Only 45% of managers feel that their evaluation tools are consistent, and 58% of companies continue to use basic spreadsheets to monitor performance. Naturally, the margin of error is wide.
This is why these tools are vital.
They set the right objective and keep proper track of how everyone is performing, aligning their objectives slowly with those of the company.
Why Is It Important?
- They provide powerful insights and data by closely monitoring performances.
- An HR performance management software will provide frequent and unbiased feedback based purely on one’s performance. And this is immensely important; a Joblist survey found that 33.4% of respondents feel more frequent performance feedback is necessary for them to stay.
- A tool will not have any biases or would not play favourites. Thus delivering a fair performance analysis of employees.
- The tools make it super easy to track and monitor performances.
Management Tools for Better Performance
Several aspects need to be considered before opting for HR performance management software. A few of these factors involve identifying and evaluating talents, integrating performance management, planning toward development, competency tracking, and reporting and analytics.
As per a DDI report, companies with similar programs outperformed their peers by over 19%. Now let’s look at some of the most popular tools developed by some highly qualified websites working on the same:
Success Circles™ is a holistic succession planning platform that aims to identify and develop high-potential employees in a company. It may provide features such as skills gap analysis, talent assessment, and individually tailored development programs.
The major advantages of this tool are that it measures efficiency, has coaching courses, and plans for profit. Additionally, Success Circle also offers evaluation and accounting possibilities so that HR experts and business leaders can utilise information when selecting employees for future positions.
The term “circle” implies a rounded view of performance management which considers different sides of the employee’s career development.
Succession Wizard’s PlaygroundZero is a user-friendly tool for simplifying the planning process. It provides a step-by-step approach to identifying pivotal roles, developing plans, and assessing potential successors.
The very name of this tool “playground” means that it provides the scope to present a gamified or interactive interface. This interface will make performance management more efficient.
Succession Wizard can have features such as role-playing scenarios, skills assessment tests, and dynamic org chart graphics. This tool targets companies searching for simple or guided HR performance management software.
Plum’s PlumThrive tool targets identifying and nurturing talent through data-driven methods. Such methods include psychometric assessments, AI algorithms, and behavioural science to provide objective insights into employees’ potential and if they fit for different roles.
Among its functionalities is talent matching. This helps in aligning employees’ natural abilities with the most appropriate positions within the company.
The tool focuses on making adjustments and enhancing future capabilities rather than reviewing existing performance, thus preparing companies to transform their skills.
Cornerstone Galaxy, part of the Cornerstone OnDemand suite, is a cloud-based HR performance management software. It has powerful development planning features. Additionally, it can also provide many functionalities such as performance management, learning, and development, among others, as well as analytics.
Talent Guard uses its Talent Pool Builder as a special tool that creates and manages talent pools within a company. The tool aims to identify high-potential employees who work in different departments and levels across the company. This facilitates their grouping into pools for targeted development.
Conclusion
Overall, an efficient HR performance management software would identify the performance of an HR in managing a particular company. It will help in working towards a more functional environment that offers growth and development.