PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

The article highlights about the Performance Management System (PMS) and how the performance can be managed effectively and efficiently. It dwells at length about PMS, its importance in the corporate context and the proper process involved in PMS. It focused about the relevance of managerial leader in this context. The tips to achieve and affect the performance are handled in an innovative and creative manner. At the end it has taken a leaf out of the V formation of birds both logically and analytically to ensure proper PMS at the corporate world.

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“Performance management is a formal way to drive demonstratable business results and create a work place culture of consistency, opportunity and fair play”.


WHAT IS PMS?

Performance management system (PMS) can be defined as the process of planning the tasks, setting the expectations and aspirations, developing the skills and abilities to perform effectively and efficiently, and continuously looking after and evaluating the performance dispassionately. And the same has been aptly quoted as, “Performance management is the activity of tracking performance against targets and identifying opportunities for improvement, but not just looking back at past performance. The focus of performance management is the future. What do you need to be able to do and how can you do things better? Managing performance is about managing for results”.



IMPORTANCE OF PMS:

Now days, there is a cut throat competition all over the world. The expectations and aspirations of the customers and consumers are rising rapidly. As a result, the companies are struggling to stay ahead of competition. The company that offers the better goods and services at lower cost can survive and succeed at the corporate world. Amongst the four basic pillars of men, machine, material and money the pillar of men is playing a pivotal role. The precious human resources have a say as humans have emotions and moods. It necessitates lot of ability to handle precious human resources. Only when men can deliver properly the end results can be expected and achieved. Therefore, all the companies are concentrating heavily on human resources development (HRD) to bring out the best results. Ultimately it is the PMS that is the foundation of HRD that can tip the scale of success at the corporate front.


PROCESS OF PMS:


Recruitment Stage:

At the time of recruitment of the candidates the suitability and capability of the applicant must be seen apart from the basic eligibility to the post. Effective and efficient interview process will separate the grain from the chaff. The most suitable and talented applicants can be recruited thereby ensuring better performance at the work front. The candidates should be judged from three areas such as mindset, skill set and toolset. It is also desirable to recruit the already trained candidates so that they can become plug and play employees.

Training and Development Stage:

After absorbing the candidates the company should spend necessary amount to train and groom the employees to suit to the specific jobs. Most of the IT companies spend huge amount in training the freshers. It is at this period, the employees get tuned with the organizational culture and climate apart from getting equipped with requisite tools and techniques to handle the tasks.

Training must be regular feature whether it for the freshers or for experienced executives as it fine-tunes certain skills and abilities. In India right now the problem faced is the talent crunch which arises out of unemployability not out of unemployment. Many companies are periodically investing their resources to avoid the employees getting obsolete. Conducting the workshops, seminars and special sessions regularly to the experienced executives will help them getting updated with latest trends in technology. And also they will learn innovative and creative methods of performing the tasks. Mentoring at the work place continuously will help the employees getting stabilized at the work place. Tools like counseling and coaching will also pay off for delivering excellent goods at the work place.

Pay and Promotions:

The employees must be paid with proper salaries as per the benchmarked industry standards. The promotional structure should be solely based on performance. The rewards and returns should be fixed as per their amount of hard work.

Feedback:

There should be free and fair feedback and it should be on continuous basis. It will help the employees correct their weaknesses and reinforce their strengths. In feedback the behavior of the employee not that of the personality is to be highlighted for correction. While giving feedback there is a popular slogan ‘praise in public but criticize in private’. The employees should also be in a position to take the negative feedback in their stride and correct themselves.

Organizational Culture and Climate:

The employee should be tuned with the vision and the mission of the organization so that he can better understand the organizational culture. At the same time the employee must know the environment of the organization thoroughly by his keen observation and should get tuned with both the organizational culture and climate thoroughly. This creates a sense of belongingness to the organization thereby contributing his best for meeting the goals and objectives of the organization.

Welfare activities:

Concentrating on the welfare activities of the employees will make them more accountable and responsible. It also enhances esprit de corps to the organization thereby contributing their best. When the welfare of the employees is looked after properly then the employees will automatically look after the welfare of the organization. You can not clap with one hand. You need to have two hands to clap. In a nut shell, the welfare (progress) of the company depends on the welfare of the employees.

Grievance Handling:

The complaints of the employees must be handled earnestly and immediately. Justice delayed is justice denied. If there are any grievances and the same must be redressed immediately. When complaints are not handled timely that will result into conflicts and crises in the near term which proves to be very costly for the organizations. Once the complaints are handled properly the employee can concentrate on his work and can deliver his best wholeheartedly.

Performance Measurement:

There should be right tools and techniques to measure the performance of the employees. There should be different yardsticks with diversified parameters in the scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the ‘poor’, 2 being the ‘satisfactory’ 3 being ‘good’, 4 being ‘very good’ and 5 being ‘exceptional’. And the performance must be measured by different superiors individually and independently so that the average of the same can be taken as the final one for measuring the performance. It eliminates bias in assessing the employees.

Demotion or Dismissal:

If the employee is not up to the required standards and expectations of the organization despite giving good training and guidance then the final weapon of either demotion or in extreme cases the employee can be dismissed from the services as no organization can afford to retain a liability.

Succession Management:

Succession management is the process of keeping the people prepared in an organization to occupy the next top slot if there is any vacancy or vacuum arises. Paying attention to succession management will not upset the apple cart. In any organization the chain and link should not get disturbed as it affects the performance adversely. To go a step further succession management and performance management are the two sides of the same coin. In a nut shell, succession management helps in proper blood circulation of performance management.

Managerial Leader:

“To survive in the twenty first century, we are going to need a new generation of leaders – leaders, not managers”, quoted Warren G Bennis.

We need managerial leaders who act as both leaders and managers according to the situation and occasion. This segment plays a crucial role in managing the peak performance at the corporate world. In this context, let us know the difference between the leader and the manager. Manager does the things rights where as the leader does the right things. Manager follows the mission thereby becoming missionary where as the leader sets vision thereby becoming visionary. Manager does the hard work where as the leader does the smart work. Manager climbs the ladder where as it is the leader who places the ladder on the right side of the wall. Manager knows how to go where as the leader knows where to go. Manager believes in efficiency where as the leader believes in effectiveness. In the case of managerial leader, the leader as and when required dons the hat of the manager and ensures the effective functioning of the organization. In the near future the managerial leader has a crucial role to play for managing performance effectively and efficiently.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE PMS:

The employees are to be continuously motivated and inspired. Whenever they execute their tasks properly they need to be recognized and appreciated.

Soft Skills:

Soft skills are the collection of various skills and abilities like presentation skills, communication skills, team building, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, sociability, social grace etc., that are essential for ensuring better performance and productivity. It is necessary to enhance the communication skills of the employees so that they can communicate with their superiors, subordinates and peers effectively. Besides, good communication skills enable the employees to handle their clients clearly and properly so that more business can be generated. Communication skills mean both oral and written skills. Similarly interpersonal skills also play a crucial role at the work place. .

Attrition:

Number of people leaving the organization due to rising stress levels and due to unsatisfactory conditions, is increasing, which is known as attrition. It is very high in BPO and IT industry. Employees must be offered with sufficient breaks during the working hours so that they can recoup their lost energies and move forward aggressively and productively. A few companies are arranging meditation sessions during the working hours so that the employees can relieve their stress levels. Burn out is the acute stage of stress which is a big problem these days. All these things adversely affect the performance of the employees. Therefore check the attrition earnestly.

Motivation:

It can be divided into two types i.e. financial and non-financial motivation. Under financial motivation the companies are offering ESOPs (Employee Stock Options). Under this, the employees are given shares in the company in which they work subject to lock in period. That means, the employees have shares but not allowed to sell the shares till the completion of the lock in period. It enhances loyalty to the institution and they will feel like part of the organization. The other financial incentives include compensation based on competency, performance, rewards and group bonus. All the above aspects motivate the employees monetarily. On the other hand, non-financial motivational incentives like consultation, job security, job enrichment, job rotation and flexi time will motivate them non-monetarily.

When employees are consulted and the advices are sought by the top management on major strategic issues they feel honored as they are given prominence. When an employee works on temporary basis and is converted to permanent basis then his job is secured which will make him comfortable and confident so that he can work harder without any inhibition or hesitation. Job enrichment entitles the person of a lower cadre when offered with a higher post on officiating basis for a short time it stimulates and motivates him although no money is involved. Under job rotation the employee is shifted from one job to another so that he will learn new skills and abilities that activates his grey cells and gives him a sense of satisfaction. Over a period of time he becomes jack of all trades and master of a particular task. It will help him to shoulder higher responsibilities and paves the way for promotions.


CONCLUSION (V FORMATION OF BIRDS):

When birds fly they form into a V shape and there is a logic and reason behind such V formation. When they fly in group in V shape their flight speed is increased by 71 per cent than the normal speed as it minimizes the drag and maximizes the speed. The birds shift their roles and responsibilities during their flight journey. If any one of the birds is wounded by a gun shot or falls sick during the journey two or more birds will escort the wounded or the sick bird to the ground and extend their help to see that the bird revives to normalcy. If the bird is not in a position to recover and dies then the escorting birds will resume their journey by forming into V shape with other birds and fly. The lessons that can be learnt from the V formation of the birds are that the birds have leadership qualities, team spirit, sense of belonging, unity of command, common direction and, of course, V stands for victory also. Similarly when the employees work in any organization they should have unity of command, common direction, vision and mission, team spirit, esprit de corps and leadership traits. Nature has taught us many things and we can learn a lot by observation. It is necessary to move like V shaped birds so as to have effective and efficient Performance Management System at the corporate world.

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