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BSBMGT401A: Topic 1 Lead by example

Lead by example

Reading 2: Managing performanceReading for performance criteria:1.3 Develop and implement performance plans in accordance with organisation's goals and objectives1.4 Establish and use key performance indicators to meet organisation's goals and objectives

Contents

Lead by example 1Introduction 2Performance planning – what and why? 3Determining performance expectations 4Developing team goals, objectives and performance standards 7Communicating performance expectations 9Monitoring performance 14Sample employee performance appraisal form 17Giving feedback 19Other methods of performance monitoring & feedback 22

Reading 2: Managing performance

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Introduction

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.

Rossalyn Carter

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

John Quincy Adams

Consider what on earth people did thousands of years ago before there were compasses or maps to help them reach their destinations? They planned their journeys according to the sun and stars. These guiding lights were both compasses and maps. They provided evidence that people were headed in the right direction. If they read the sky well, travellers could rely on the sun and stars to indicate distances and weather conditions.

Having a solid performance plan to guide peoples’ efforts at work isn’t much different from having a map, compass, or a reliable star to follow. Performance plans provide people & organisations with direction to reach their destinations – their goals.

Imagine if everyone in the organisation worked as hard as they could to get somewhere but with no plan to guide them. Would they be successful? Only if they were lucky. How would they feel? Lacking clear direction, they might be frustrated and confused. And the organisation itself? How successful could it be with everyone heading in different directions? Probably not vey productive or profitable.

You’ll know from your experience that organisations have expectations about the way leaders and team members should perform. Frontline leaders play a vital role in establishing performance standards for their teams, and clearly communicating them. When anyone is not meeting the standards set frontline leaders have a responsibility to step in and recognise and resolve the problem as well as to achieve maximum levels of productivity from team members.

We saw in the first part of this section that exemplary leaders ‘inspire a shared vision’ by developing plans with the end in mind. A leader ‘enables others to act’ by establishing cooperative, shared goals and objectives in the workplace. They ‘model the way’ by creating standards of excellence and


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then setting an example for others to follow. They also set interim goals so people can achieve small wins.

Whether your team has just been formed or whether it has developed to the stage of performing well, there are a number of processes to help you plan, manage, and enhance individual and team performance. These include:

Determining performance expectations

Communicating performance expectations

Monitoring and reviewing performance

Performance planning – what and why?Plans are projected courses of action aimed at achieving objectives. Or, more simply said, planning is simply thinking ahead and deciding what needs to be done BEFORE we start doing it. It involves deciding what we want to achieve and when we want to achieve it, delegating tasks, organising our resources, and monitoring our progress so that we know when we have achieved our goals.

Planning is an important function performed by all managers and supervisors at every level of a successful organisation. Whether you are a team leader, supervisor, or the managing director, your ability to effectively plan and support the operation by delivering the goals and vision of the organisation is key to achieving both your personal career goals and those of the organisation.

We devise plans every day of our lives personally and professionally. In the workplace it is critical that each department or team has a clear plan, which may relate to productivity, customer service, quality or quantity. Importantly, the plan needs to be documented, communicated, and be measurable and achievable for all involved.

Without a plan, you are setting yourself up for failure, or even complete disaster. As the saying goes:

If you fail to planYou plan to fail.


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The performance planning processes you may be involved with in your organisation will vary depending on your role. They might include simple plans such as staff rosters, cleaning checklists or training plans, through to more complex plans such as service improvement plans, recruitment plans, promotional plans, business plans, or marketing plans.

Why is performance planning essential?

Performance planning helps teams and individuals to understand what is expected of them, and why. It links their performance to the performance of the rest of their organisation by setting individual and team work goals that contribute to company goals. It also lets them know how they are going and what they can do to improve when necessary.

Performance planning is vital to the success of organisations because it clarifies expectations and provides the support necessary for team members to contribute efficiently and productively. It also increases our sense of purpose, self-esteem and motivation.

Although there are many ways of approaching performance planning and management, it generally involves:

Analysing the strategic intent and the overall goals of the organisation, and breaking them down into team or workgroup goals and objectives.

Analysing the jobs and the skills of individuals as they relate to team goals.

Developing clear goals, objectives and standards relating to individuals’ work performance.

Clearly communicating performance goals and expectations to team members and gaining agreement on those goals and expectations.

Monitoring and assessing the performance of team members against goals and standards.

Recognising and acknowledging good performance of individuals and teams.

Recognising where performance needs to improve and providing the necessary support for this to happen.

We will now examine some of the ways in which frontline managers contribute to this process.

Determining performance expectationsPicture an Olympic rowing team. Each team member has a role, is well trained, and is performing in a way that keeps the boat moving quickly and smoothly through the water. What would happen if each member of the


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team started rowing out of synch with the others? If they rowed at different rates, and pulled unevenly on their oars, or ignored the instructions from their captain? We can safely say that not only would the team not win the race, they would be lucky to cross the finish line at all! It’s highly likely that the boat would capsize.

The same holds true in organisations. For an organisation to be successful, it is vital that the performance of each individual and team contributes to and is aligned with the goals and objectives of the organisation. The organisation’s goals and strategies must be taken into account when developing the performance required of teams and individuals.

The following diagram illustrates the process of organisational goals cascading to individual work objectives.

Performance expectations of both teams and individuals can be determined by reviewing documents such as:

The organisation’s mission/vision statement

The organisation’s values

Codes of conduct or business ethics

Business plans

Policies and procedures

Job descriptions

Person specifications


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Task breakdowns

Values describe what a person or an organisation believes is important in very general terms. They are internal principles that guide our actions and behaviours. For instance, the stated values of AMP are:

We are customer focused.

We are market oriented

We are committed to people

We achieve results through teamwork

We are results driven

We act with integrity

We take responsibility for ourselves

There is more detail about values in the workplace in the second section of your reading notes for this unit.

A vision provides a clear picture of what everyone is trying to achieve. It describes ‘what we do’ and defines the fundamental purpose of an organisation or team. People need to be challenged and inspired by visions so they know their efforts are worthwhile. For example, AMP’s vision is “AMP helps people achieve their dreams and provides peace of mind’. You can find more information in AMP’s Corporate Governance Statement on the website www.amp.com

A mission statement describes ‘how’ the vision will be achieved. It is usually more specific, and reflects the organisation’s standards in areas such as customer service, employee relations, product or service quality etc. AMP says it this way: “We will be the best at providing valued solutions, superb services and excellent results”.

Organisational goals are based on the values, vision and mission, and describe more specifically the destination that the organisation is aiming for. For example, to provide ‘superb service’ an organisation may develop a goal of ‘achieving an overall customer satisfaction rate of 85%’. Another example might be a goal to achieve ‘excellent results’ by ‘increasing our net profit by 15%’.

Business plans are then developed which detail how each goal is to be achieved by identifying specific action steps, timelines, and resources. You’ll learn more about the processes of business planning in another unit in your course.

Job descriptions describe the duties, tasks and activities to be performed in a particular position or job classification. They provide detail about what is to be done and the standard required. It might also list the internal and


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http://www.amp.com/


external relationships, responsibilities and accountabilities relevant to the job.

Task breakdowns provide an even greater level of detail about what the job entails. They describe specific tasks that need to be completed, and how they are to be undertaken.

Person specifications describe the knowledge, skills and qualifications required by the person in a particular position or job classification – that is, they describe the person doing the job.

In addition to the above documents, most organisations develop and communicate codes of conduct and policies and procedures which describe how people in the workplace are required to behave. There is more information about these documents in part 2 of these reading notes.

Developing team goals, objectives and performance standardsIt is usually the role of frontline managers to develop individual and team goals, objectives and performance standards. Since these are the things performance is measured against, they are vital to the success of the performance planning and management system. Without them, any assessment or management of performance becomes difficult, flawed, and often meaningless.

As we discussed previously, individual goals must be related to the goals of the team, the department, and the organisation. Goals are broad statements of intent; they are general and not time-bound. They describe where we are headed if we are fulfilling our purpose. Think of them as ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’.

They are different from objectives. Objectives are based on goals and on the overall purpose of the job, and are specific statements that describe results to be achieved, when, and by whom, in order for goals to be accomplished. They describe quantifiable and/or observable achievements that can be measured; they describe what will be achieved, not how they will be achieved. Objectives are expectations. They may also be further analysed to provide more specific performance requirements in Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or Key Performance Minimums (KPMs).

This diagram below shows the relationship between goals, objectives and KPIs. Keep refining your goals until you arrive at objectives and KPIs you can work with and that you feel are meaningful, believable and specific enough to provide a sense of direction.

An example might be:


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Organisation goal Objective KPI

To maximise returns for shareholders

To decrease overall payroll costs

To decrease payroll costs by 5% during the financial year ending June 2009

So you can see that the KPIs you have at a departmental level reflect the objectives, goals and KPIs set at organisational level. The KPIs you plan to achieve in your department contribute towards the achievement of your organisation’s KPIs, which in turn help the organisation to achieve overall business goals and objectives.

Here is an example of a team performance plan to achieve the above KPI.

TEAM GOAL/ TARGET/ KPI:

To decrease overall payroll costs by 5% during the financial year ending June 2009.

ACTION STEPS BY WHEN BY WHOM RESOURCES/COSTS

1. (start point). Determine current year’s payroll costs

June 30 2008 Self 2007 budget – actual payroll

2. Review 2007 actual expenditure & rosters, plus 2008 anticipated revenue; look for potential greater efficiencies

July 7 2008 Self

Assistant

2008 budget actuals

2008 rosters

2009 anticipated revenue budget

3. Develop plan to reduce payroll costs for 2008 fiscal year; review with Manager; gain approval to implement

July 14 2008 Self

Manager

2009 Payroll Plan

4. Communicate plan to relevant team members; ask for feedback & further suggestions for implementation & contingency plans

July 21 2008 Self

Team members

2009 Payroll Plan

Meeting room

Powerpoint presentation

Whiteboard/pens

5. Begin plan implementation & monthly monitoring; implement contingency plans if required

From August 1 2008

Self

Team members

Manager

2009 Payroll Plan

6. (end point) Determine 2008 payroll costs; prepare & submit report to Manager

June 2009 Self 2009 Payroll Report

Contingency Actions:


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To be determined with team members

Review payroll according to actual business requirements

Reduce or increase payroll expenditure depending on business requirements

Monitoring Strategies:

Review monthly actual payroll reports

Review monthly anticipated revenues

Prepare graphs for presentation to team members

Communication & Consultation:

Initial planning meeting with relevant team members

Report progress to them at team briefings

Ask for formal & informal feedback

Post bar graphs showing progress on staff notice-board

There is more information about the process of developing and implementing operational plans in another unit of your course.

It’s important to remember that business goals and objectives need to be flexible to respond to current volatile global markets. For instance, the economic downturn in the United States which began in 2007 had significant impacts on the value of US currency. This in turn raised the value of the Australian dollar. Many businesses, particularly those involved in exporting & importing were particularly affected by these events.

Communicating performance expectationsThere are many ways in which we become aware and supportive of what is required from us - both in the ways we do our work (performance objectives and standards) and the manner in which we behave while in the workplace.

Here are some of the obvious and the more subtle ways in which performance expectations are communicated, and the frontline leader’s role in this important process.

Performance discussions

Discussions with team members about their performance should happen when they are first employed, and accurately reflect the scope presented at the selection interview and in the job offer or contract of employment. Managers need to make objectives and performance standards clear, and


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ensure that team members understand and agree with these expectations. It is also a good opportunity to discuss how the team member’s job activities tie into the organisation’s business plans and goals.

Once a team member becomes familiar with the organisation, their department or workgroup, the nature of the job, and the resources available, a performance planning discussion should take place between the manager and the team member. The purpose of this meeting is for both to jointly plan performance objectives that are specific with clear performance standards. This discussion should also include an assessment of the skill level requirements to meet the performance plan objectives, and a consideration of what skills or abilities the team member may need to develop

The advantage of involving people in helping to set their own objectives is that they will generally be more committed to achieving them. Also, recent research by Hewitt and Associates described in their study ‘2006/07 Best Employers in Australia & New Zealand’ suggests that in a supportive organisational climate, people working individually or in teams will typically set and achieve greater objectives than those given to them ‘from the top’. You can read more about this study on www.aim.com.au. Go to the articles from ‘Management Today’ and find ‘Engagement Principles from the September 2007 issue.

Discussions about performance and the setting of new objectives and standards may also take place in a formal performance review but this is only one part of the overall performance management process

Other times when performance discussions might be appropriate are:

Changes in processes, technology, work practices, job design etc

When a team member is transferred to a different location and new expectations need to be clarified

After business plans are completed or revised

If a team member’s performance appears to have declined.

Induction and training

Performance discussions should form part of the induction program, be ongoing throughout a person’s employment, and be backed up with on-going training & development activities. Internal training programs can be very effective tools for managers to use to communicate general performance expectations. For instance, OH&S training programs are very useful in helping team members become aware of the importance of workplace safety and the roles and responsibilities of everyone to ensure a safe and healthy workplace.


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http://www.aim.com.au/


Company publications

An organisation’s expectations regarding the performance of its employees are often included in employee manuals and described in new staff induction sessions. Company newsletters may also contain articles about parts of the code of conduct, especially those that appear to be subject to unacceptable levels of non-compliance, to both inform and remind people about company standards.

These are ways of ensuring that people are informed about behavioural expectations; they do not necessarily ensure employee compliance or agreement. Increasing employee ‘buy-in’ may require other methods such as those described in this section eg training, supportive management behaviour.

Company vision and values

As we have seen, an organisation’s expectations of its people are also communicated via its vision, mission and values statements. The best vision/values statements are clear and concise and convey to the organisation’s people exactly what the organisation does, and why and how it does it. Such statements are written in straightforward language that should capture and inspire the imagination.

The link between the vision and the strategic plan should be clearly implied in the way the business is managed. It should look, and continue to look, credible to employees. If it doesn’t, management’s expressions of sincerity about performance are likely to be viewed with cynicism.

Team briefings

In addition to the previous strategies for communicating performance expectations to teams, leaders should consider the value of maximising face-to-face communication opportunities. Team Briefings are a very effective means of regular face-to-face communication between leaders and teams.

In large and complex organisations, it can become difficult to find the time for face-to-face communications – workplaces are busy, customers can be demanding, payroll needs to be controlled. Effective communication needs time and requires skill and commitment from all those involved in the process.

However, face-to-face communications do have a number of advantages over other methods and managers need to be committed to ensuring that all team members have the opportunity, on a regular basis, to meet and receive relevant and timely information.


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There are also many successes and achievements – by individuals, teams and the organisation – which should be communicated. We should take opportunities to recognise and celebrate our achievements.

Ensuring that everyone knows what is going on is vital to the success of the organisation and to the people who work in it.

You will need to consider other options for keeping people informed if they have alternate working arrangements, for example telecommuting or working from home. Make certain the employee's distant location has the technology necessary for successful telecommuting. Find out more about how to manage telecommuting employees on www.humanresources.about.com

Management behaviour

To communicate performance expectations effectively and to increase commitment to them within the team, leaders should lead by ‘walking the talk’. We must be seen to live and model the performance standards we are communicating and prove that they help to achieve business goals. As we have seen, Kouzes and Posner refer to this leadership practice as ‘modelling the way’.

If leaders model the types of behaviours they expect their team members to adopt, there is consistency between words and action and a greater likelihood that others would adopt these performance standards.

For example, a manager may openly state that the team needs to provide high levels of service to its customers, and recruit team members who enjoy working with customers and have excellent customer service skills. Managers who deal with their team members by being polite, friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic are demonstrating behaviours consistent with customer service performance standards, and are contributing to the development of a supportive team culture.

Through your behaviour, you can also reinforce and reward the efforts of team members when they meet or exceed performance expectations. For example, you could:

Implement an incentive/reward scheme

Provide specific positive feedback about the results achieved – either oral or written, or both

Show your confidence by asking team members to become involved in other projects

Offer promotional opportunities


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http://www.humanresources.about.com/


There are endless possibilities. The guiding principle here is to offer a reward that is appropriate to the needs of team members. Offering additional or more varied work opportunities may be attractive for some and not others. It pays to ask your team members what they value, and tailor your reward & recognition efforts accordingly.

Similarly, you’ll need to address performance shortfalls when they occur. Here are some tips for providing feedback to improve performance. Consider these in addition to the information provided on feedback towards the end of this section of your reading notes:

Timely is best. Provide improvement suggestions as soon as appropriate. Although sooner is better is a good guideline, people involved in emotional situations often benefit more from feedback that is provided after a cooling-down period. Timely feedback allows people to act on suggestions when they can use them most – while they can still improve the situation or apply the feedback to upcoming situations.

People are more willing to accept suggestions that are given in a timely manner. When people face difficult or challenging situations, they usually want to know how they’re doing and what they can do to improve. However, if they receive this information after they’ve become comfortable doing things in a certain way, they might consider the feedback unwelcome. This is especially true of people who have had to learn from mistakes, by trial and error. At best, the feedback provides little help; at worst, it frustrates and angers people. No one wants to hear what they could or should have done long after the fact.

Keep your balance. Balancing feedback to improve performance with positive, reinforcing feedback is an important consideration over time and every time you provide feedback. To ensure balanced feedback over time, routinely look for opportunities for you and others to provide both types of feedback. And when you’re sharing feedback, strike an appropriate balance between suggestions for improvement and positive feedback.

Provide it to ‘enhance’ as well. Another way to become more comfortable giving feedback for improvement is to think of it as something that can benefit everyone, not just someone with a performance problem. Replace the word improvement with words such as development, learning, fine-tuning, and enhancing, and you can see the many uses of this form of feedback. By these definitions, even high-achieving self-starters can benefit from feedback for improvement.

Make it part of your job. Encourage people to continuously strengthen the ‘hows and whats’ of their jobs. Urge them to take responsibility for their own growth by actively seeking feedback


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from you, peers, customers, and other leaders. Broaden their perspective by suggesting sources of feedback they might not have considered.

Make it ongoing. Remember that feedback, especially feedback for improvement, is not a one-time event. Development can be a slow process, requiring successive feedback discussions. Your timely feedback helps people move to the next level of performance by reinforcing effective actions and providing suggestions for improvement. For top performers, ongoing feedback can help them address new challenges and achieve success even more quickly.

Monitoring performanceMonitoring is the process of measuring and comparing actual results or work in progress with planned performance. How will you determine whether or not your progress towards your goals is satisfactory? Monitoring lets you know if you are on target, and if not, what changes you might need to make.

You start by listing ways in which the progress of a performance plan can be monitored. You can gather data by looking around and asking questions to see what is happening, and listening to the information that others give you. You can also use different information systems to give you data that is relevant to your plan. This data needs to be:

Accurate

Timely

Economical

Easily understood

Specific to needs

In an informal way, performance monitoring should be happening continually. The detailed observation of work performance should not happen just before a formal performance appraisal. KPIs and performance standards need to be transparent and encourage self monitoring so that there are no surprises at the formal review interview. However, the appraisal process does call for detailed reporting based on those observations and a range of evidence gathering processes from a variety of sources over a period of time.


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Observing performance

From the viewpoint of performance management, observation involves noticing:

Specific facts, events or behaviours related to work performance

The results of work performance

Observations are the raw data upon which effective performance feedback can be based. The purpose of observing team member behaviour and the results of work performance is to identify and describe it, so that results can be measured and reasons for variances, both positive and negative, can be explored.

When observations are made about the results of team member performance, additional information is gathered to make both praise and constructive feedback more effective. Observations should:

Be the basis for feedback

Suggest actions which might be taken to support, develop or improve performance

Observing work performance and providing feedback about it should be a routine part of the performance management process. Feedback should be based on observed and/or verifiable work-related behaviours, actions, statements and results. This type of feedback is called behavioural feedback.

Effective behavioural feedback helps the employee to sustain good performance, develop new skills, and improve performance where and when necessary. Feedback is most effective in reinforcing or improving work performance when the employee has confidence in the basis of that feedback. Managers will also be more confident when giving feedback based on having information that they can support.

Assessing performance

Assessing performance involves collecting ‘evidence’ and making judgments as to whether established performance requirements have been met.

For a frontline manager, being a competent assessor of performance involves demonstrating well-developed interpersonal skills, establishing and gathering the evidence required to demonstrate how the teams & individuals have performed, making assessment decisions or judgments about the evidence, providing feedback on performance, and reviewing the process used.


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In a performance appraisal, managers are assessing the way team members work, and whether performance objectives have been reached and standards maintained. When assessments are made they need to be:

Valid: judgments are made on evidence collected on a number of occasions under a number of conditions.

Reliable: interpretation of evidence is consistent.

Fair: equitable for all.

The most objective way to monitor and evaluate an individual’s or a team’s performance is to use set criteria or benchmarks. They could include:

Performance objectives and standards

Written competency standards

Job descriptions and person specifications

Performance agreements

Standard operating procedures

Performance appraisal forms

On the next page is an example of a performance appraisal form.


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Sample employee performance appraisal form

Employee Name: ______________________

Position/Level: ______________________

Appraisal Period__________ to ________

Appraiser/Position: ____________________ Date: ___________________

Please take time to review each category, writing down where you think you, or the employee, sits in

regard to each criteria. Please see below for scale definition. Appraiser, please refer to employees

personal file for further information on employee’s past performance.

1 2 3 4 5APPRAISAL CRITERIA

1 2 3 4 5

Employee Rating Manager’s Rating

GENERAL COMPETENCY

Delivers customer service of the highest possible standard in all trained

departments

Performs all duties in accordance with operational policies

Acts towards keeping a clean and safe work environment

Maintains speed & efficiency whilst undertaking departmental work

Notes

PERSONAL APPEARANCE

Wears the company uniform in accordance with uniform policy including always

wearing a name badge

Demonstrates a high standard of personal grooming and hygiene

Notes

BEHAVIOUR AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

Works as a team member

Demonstrates politeness and is courteous to all , supervisors, DMs, fellow

employees and customers

Communicates effectively at all levels

Business honesty and integrity

Notes

DEPENDABILITY

Completes set tasks and work as scheduled

Responds well to direction

Shift Flexibility and punctuality


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Uses initiative and flexibility to complete tasks

Flexibility

Demonstrates integrity in the work environment

Can work with minimal supervision

Maintains energy through varying trade periods

Notes

OVERALL RATING( ) 1. Always Performs at a continual high standard and models this to all

staff

( ) 2. Frequently Performance is consistent and meets all requirements of the

position

( ) 3. Occasionally Performance level shows competency, more attention and

focus required.

( ) 4. Sometimes Performance is in need of re-viewing: Consider Re-training

( ) 5. Never Performance is below requirement: Retraining required


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Comments on overall Evaluation:

Additional notes from employee file:


Giving feedbackAfter collecting and analysing performance information, you need to give feedback about what you have found. As we have briefly discussed, feedback is essential when managing the performance of teams and individuals. Feedback enables team members to find out about the quality of their work and it provides opportunities for them to respond. It informs an organisation as to the contributions and impact employees have on its performance.

Feedback highlights both good and poor performance. Small business owners see their performance highlighted as their shopfronts advertise their products, as profits rise, and as they receive positive comments from customers and employees.

Large enterprises see their performance highlighted for them as their manufactured goods are loaded onto trucks or ships, and as the milk goes into cartons and the wine into bottles ready for waiting markets.

Government departments see their performance highlighted for them as trade delegations seize overseas opportunities, when lost sailors are rescued, when hostages are brought home, when new coins are minted, and when funding is provided for national events.

Performance feedback, both negative and positive, must be provided to employees. It is crucial for advancing and improving organisational productivity.

To be worthwhile and effective, feedback requires forethought, care and skill.

The aims of performance feedback are to:

exchange information regarding teams and individuals meeting performance expectations

confirm expected standards of behaviour and work

work towards closing performance gaps

identify areas for learning and development

develop learning and development plans

set new performance targets/goals

review job descriptions/position descriptions


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Performance feedback, if it is to achieve its purpose, needs to be delivered in a constructive and positive way, with specific reference to detail, rather than with general comment. This detail must be checked and validated, so that the feedback is fair and the process is considered.

To generate an environment of trust and respect, you need to understand yourself and others through the use of self-disclosure and effective interpersonal communication during times of formal and informal feedback. This increases your prospects for giving and receiving the correct messages during the feedback process. It allows you to collect sufficient and relevant information for making a judgement on work performance.

To obtain the facts on employee performance, you need to:

break down the barriers

eliminate subjectivity

avoid innuendo, presumptions and assumptions

limit comparisons

There are a number of factors that will assist you in this process. When providing feedback, consider the following points that provide for a fair process. These will also help you assemble factual evidence on employee performance:

timing

facts

relevance

frequency focus

Consider the timing

Feedback needs to be provided at a time and place that suits both parties. It also needs to be given near to the time of actual performance. The immediacy of feedback is important. For example, if a team leader wants to reprimand a team member, then feedback needs to occur as soon as possible after the event, and in a private place. Feedback given months later either removes or negates the message. Individuals may be unable to accurately recall the details of the event.

Feedback that is unable to be given close to an event needs to be recorded and noted by both parties at the time it occurs. This acknowledgement of the issue or concern makes it relevant and fair.


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Keep to the facts

Feedback must be supported with facts. For instance, while a verbal reprimand or a pat on the back may be informal feedback, it is unfair if the facts are not evident (stated) to the person receiving the feedback.

Formal feedback that is unable to be substantiated with noted facts or evidence is inadmissible in a legal arena.

Keep it relevant

Feedback needs to be relevant to the performance and the performance ability of individuals. Feedback on a role relationship problem between two people is inappropriate when it is an interpersonal relationship problem, rather than a recognised role relationship.

While this may still pose a workplace problem, the feedback needs to take a different approach, eg, focused on the impact that this problem is having on work tasks or work colleagues. If there is no work-related reason to address this problem, then feedback needs to state that up-front.

Consider the need for frequency

The frequency of feedback needs to take into account the above factors, and will be determined by the need for immediacy, timeliness and relevance. It can be given now, tomorrow, next month, or at the end of a formal period set by the organisation.

Informal feedback tends to be on-the-job, immediate and frequent. Formal feedback may be less urgent, less frequent, and at predetermined times and locations.

Stay focused

Feedback must remain focused on the performance being addressed. It is a common error for both parties to stray onto unrelated or side issues. Be aware of this, and if the focus shifts, refocus back to the performance matter being addressed in the feedback session.

Planned formal feedback sessions have the advantage over informal feedback in that you can take these elements into account and plan for them. With informal feedback you do not have the benefit of foresight. Practise these elements at all times in your daily routine as you give feedback, such as giving a nod of agreement or a word of correction. Practise a fair and effective exchange of information on the performance of the other person.


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Formal review sessions need to be organised and conducted with an environment that facilitates honest and open feedback. Have each person informed of the date, time and location and conduct the session in a quiet and private place. Allow adequate free time for both parties to provide feedback.

Have the required documents for review, supporting evidence on performance achievements, and organisational forms to record the results of review and feedback. In addition, assemble the forms that will be used for planning future performance, for planning improvement and development, and for recording any performance interventions that have been identified.

When there are interruptions, or when either party is too busy to be able to focus on the task at hand, then feedback is likely to be distorted. The feedback stage is as likely to be rendered unfair and invalid, as with any other stage of performance management systems, if it is not planned and conducted skilfully with a view to providing a fair, constructive and productive process.

Other methods of performance monitoring & feedbackIn addition to performance appraisals there are other methods that you can use to gather & interpret information and provide feedback about the performance of the organisation, teams & individuals.

You might consider implementing a 360 degree feedback system. Unlike, the traditional top-down appraisal where a supervisor appraises the performance of their subordinate, 360 degree feedback incorporates multiple perspectives by using feedback from a variety of sources. These sources include peers, subordinates, customers, self, and supervisor. This process may also be called multi-source feedback, multi-rater feedback, multi-level feedback, upward appraisal, or peer review. For more information go to www.hr_survey.com/360feedback.htm

The results of this type of feedback process provide an understanding how the employee is perceived from different perspectives. This process helps an individual understand how others perceive them.

The balanced scorecard is another possible approach to collecting performance information and providing feedback. It is a management system (not only a measurement system) that enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. For more information go to www.balancedscorecard.org


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http://www.balancedscorecard.org/

http://www.hr_survey.com/360feedback.htm

clips word template - sielearning€¦ · web viewyou might consider implementing a 360 degree...

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