Do we really know how important it is to measure employee performance in our organization?
Much of the success of our companies depends on all employees, at all levels, performing their activities in accordance with market demands, which involves evaluating the qualities that influence work execution. Companies must therefore build performance evaluation systems that allow them to verify whether their staff is performing efficiently or, on the contrary, whether they are experiencing difficulties that require improvement.
In our country, where most companies are small or medium-sized, it's very common for them not to have any type of performance measurement mechanism, and even if they do, it doesn't always measure what it's really supposed to. However, when companies realize the importance of having this tool, the problem often becomes not a lack of performance data, but a lack of ability to relate it to the organization's objectives.
It is important to keep in mind that performance indicators do not operate in isolation; rather, they must be instruments that allow company management to determine how effective employee activities are in achieving organizational objectives. Furthermore, the indicators must be incorporated into a comprehensive performance measurement system that enables simultaneous and consistent monitoring at all levels of the company's operations, from the achievement of strategic objectives at the highest level to the individual performance of each employee in their specific position.
It is extremely important to consider that people, over time, acquire more experience and knowledge in the performance of their duties; their skills and qualities gradually develop, and as a result, they become increasingly necessary and useful to the company. Performance evaluations and employee rewards contribute to generating a climate of fulfillment when they are willing to provide extraordinary service. Staff know that they will be evaluated based on how they perform their duties and that it is worthwhile to perform them well.
Performance Evaluation is an instrument that allows us to:
Improve performance: Through feedback, both managers and employees and HR team up to achieve better results.
Establish compensation policies: Performance appraisal helps decision makers determine who should receive raises, incentives, or rewards.
Making location decisions: Promotions, transfers, and separations are usually based on past or projected performance. Promotions are often a recognition of past performance.
Detect training and development needs: Poor performance may indicate the need for retraining. Similarly, adequate or superior performance may indicate the presence of untapped potential.
Planning the development of your professional career: Performance feedback guides decisions for developing specific career opportunities.
Detect inaccuracies in the information: Poor performance may indicate errors in job analysis information, human resource planning, or other aspects of the personnel department's decision-making information system. Relying on inaccurate information can lead to inappropriate hiring, training, or counseling decisions.
Identify errors in Job Design: Poor performance may indicate errors in job design. Evaluations help identify these errors.
Help the employee with problems outside of work: In general, performance is influenced by external factors, such as family, health, finances, etc. If these factors appear in the performance appraisal result, it is possible that the human resources department can provide assistance, to the extent possible.
It's important to keep in mind that performance appraisals cannot be limited to a simple, superficial, unilateral judgment by the supervisor regarding the employee's functional behavior; it's necessary to delve deeper, identify the causes, and establish perspectives in agreement with the person being evaluated. If performance must be changed, the most interested party, the person being evaluated, must not only be aware of the planned change, but also why and how it should be implemented. It's also ideal to incorporate other perspectives on the person being evaluated (peers, functional supervisors, subordinates, clients, etc.).
An effective performance evaluation system that establishes and monitors goals for the organization as a whole, for business processes, for products and services, but above all, for the individual performance of the company's executives and employees, helps to continually motivate continuous improvement.
