To effectively manage the productivity in an organization, managing employee performance is a necessity. There are performance standards for routine jobs that most employees need  to match and if there are incentives for better performance, the healthy competition among employees raises performance levels all round.

Managing employee performance is necessary for achieving goals that an organization has for itself. Assessing an employees competency, measuring his productivity is essential in the overall plan of the organization. Pacing itself production-wise is important and that cannot be done if the employees potential and his ability to perform is not measured. Employees' performance is directly related to organizational productivity and its success. Managing employee performance requires good managerial and communication skills.

A high performance work force, a team that can take up any challenge and execute it, can only be created by measuring and managing employee performance and segregating the quality from mediocrity. And for that managing employee performance is crucial. Of course in order to be more effective an employee is provided opportunities to upgrade his skills and learn the best that is available to stay abreast with current technologies in the market.

Historically managing employee performance was justified as a tool for determining wages. It was used to get desired results from the employees. It still is but in a modified form, which takes into consideration several other aspects too. Now stress is also on developing potential besides expecting the employees to deliver their best.

Line managers today who are experts in human resource management see that appraisals and managing employee performance at regular intervals fits the big picture of the organization - it cannot and should not be a one time assessment thing else it would fail its objective of  assessing the performance accurately.

Performance management and performance appraisals are two different concepts that should not be confused. Performance management looks more towards congruency of employees and organizational goals and objectives. It aims at linking employees objectives with company's mission. It is assessing what role the individual employee plays in guiding the company towards its vision. Performance management includes the entire performance cycle that in turn includes mentoring, providing feedback, assessing performance, coaching etc.

There are clearly defined objectives for employees to achieve and employees are assessed on achievements of those objectives. Managers have clear framework and criteria provided to them for assessment and they are able to assess the employees on the said basis, hence there is less ambiguity there.

Performance appraisals are appraising the employee in the tasks competitively. It is the process of judging the current position of an employee in delivering and executing his tasks.

Managing employee performance is easier when specific objectives form an important part of the strategic and operational plan package of the organization. If CEO wants 5 % increase in gross margin, employees, teams and departments should be geared to achieve this specific goal. Those who succeed will thus be measured favorably by the performance management team. It is all about achieving organizational goals. It is an inclusive process where teams are able to measure their contribution in organizational success.

(Source: Articlesbase)
* Ryan Fyfe is freelance writer.
* The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of SME Times.