How to inspire incredible employee performance

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Most HR executives are aware of this reality, but how can modern businesses adapt performance management systems and alter processes to improve engagement levels, boost company-wide morale, improve retention and inspire excellent employee performance?

Prioritise communication between manager and employee

It is becoming clear that the relationship between employee and manager is critical when it comes to employee engagement. Employees of the 21st century crave information, in-the-moment feedback and communication. For this reason, the annual performance appraisal is falling out of favour. Around the world, this old-fashioned approach is being replaced with continuous performance management.

Continuous performance management, or agile performance management, requires more frequent check-ins between line manager and employee. It has been known to boost employee satisfaction and engagement, while helping companies to stay competitive.

Such frequent meetings remove the awkward, pressure-fuelled dread of the annual performance appraisal. Frequent, informative, yet informal meetings allow relationships to develop and encourage the flow of information in a much more natural way. It also allows SMART objectives to be continually reassessed as needed and employees get the feedback they need for development.

Make sure your employees have SMART objectives

When it comes to employee performance and engagement, goal setting is a critical element that often gets overlooked. Remember that your employees genuinely care about the company and the role they play towards its success. But employees can’t keep up this level of enthusiasm unless your company embraces transparency and illustrates how each employee’s work contributes to overall company objectives.

For decades, managers have worked on the assumption that a downwards cascading of goals is best practice. However, modern thinking is that objectives should be aligned upwards. Make sure your employees are familiar with the company’s direction, objectives and philosophy, then allow your employees to draw up their own goals with these factors in mind. This will encourage autonomy and allow them to have pride in their work.

While employees should certainly construct their own SMART objectives, managers should be present to ensure they are tangible and stretching. Objectives shouldn’t be easy to obtain, otherwise staff will approach them unenthusiastically. They should also be far from vague. Employees are all too often confused about what they’re meant to be doing, resulting in frustration, confusion and demotivation.

Allow for a degree of flexibility

Times are changing — and companies that don’t embrace change will inevitably suffer. Flexibility is now the top workplace perk and companies are using it to encourage great employee performance. It has been shown that remote workers are more productive and happy. Parents with flexible working hours are more inclined to remain with a company, for practical reasons. Companies like Netflix even offer unlimited paid time off, focusing on goals achieved rather than hours spent in an office.

Introduce flexibility slowly but surely and it will show your employees you trust them. After all, they are adults and they should be trusted to do their work. They will more than likely repay your trust with hard work and dedication.

Provide real-time feedback

Technology is a huge part of our daily lives. We are in regular contact out of work, so during office hours, we should also be interacting and soliciting real-time feedback. Thankfully, this is possible with the use of modern software.

Performance management software allows for constant communication. Employees should be encouraged to reach out to their colleagues for feedback whenever they require input. Using this approach, employees not only develop confidence in their abilities; they strengthen their relationships with colleagues.

Create an inspirational employee experience

Employee experience has been named one of the top HR trends of 2017. It has become much clearer that employees are increasingly likely to share their employee experience with others. This is great news if your employees love your company, but if you have paid no attention to employee experience, unfavourable reports on sites such as Glassdoor could make recruitment and retention an issue in the future.

It has been shown that millennials are twice as likely as other generations to share their work experiences online, and 33% of them would be deterred from applying to a company if they have heard negative reviews, too.

If you create a great employee experience, your workforce will ultimately be more engaged and more inclined towards discretionary effort. To create such an experience, IBM recommends companies focus on personalisation, transparency, simplicity, authenticity and responsiveness. Like any organisational change, improving employee experience will take time, but you will be rewarded with diminished turnover and a more driven workforce.