Course Outcomes

This performance management systems course will:

  • Outline the difference between a performance appraisal and a performance management system and strategy.
  • Offer a process for establishing a performance management system and aligning it with an organization’s mission, vision, values, and goals.
  • Explain the importance of defining roles, identifying competencies, and hiring, training, coaching, and counseling for skills needed for successful job performance.
  • Provide a high-level step-by-step framework for implementing an enterprise-wide performance management system.

Course Overview

The goal of performance management is to improve and promote the effectiveness of an organization’s employees. This program reviews the role of performance management, discusses the importance of having a systematic and consistent approach to employee development, and explores performance management tools available to managers and human resources groups. 

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Describe performance management and its role in running an effective and efficient organization.
  • Explain the difference between performance appraisal and performance management.
  • Describe the relationship between performance management and such functions as recruiting, selecting, training, development, and compensation.
  • Identify the competencies needed for successful performance in a particular role.
  • Decide the monthly, weekly, and daily actions managers should take to manage performance.
  • Determine whether an employee’s activities and output are congruent with an organization’s tactical and strategic goals.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

A Perfect Marriage: Good People Management and Solid Processes

This training workshop begins with an introduction to performance management and a discussion about the importance of having strong people skills and a systematic approach to defining what’s important and helping employees realize good results. We’ll examine such concepts as strategic congruence; job competencies; daily, weekly, monthly, and annual performance management activities; and management training for hiring, training, evaluating, coaching, and counseling. We will also discuss the many differences between performance management and performance appraisal.

Getting in Alignment: Congruency

Without a defined strategy, it is extraordinarily difficult (if not impossible) to implement a robust performance management system. In this part of the course, we will look at four distinct phases of strategic assessment and the importance of understanding and communicating an organization’s strategy to all employees as part of the performance management process.

Competency Models: Choosing a Framework

In this course segment, participants will review competency models for a variety of industries.  Next, they will learn the steps for creating their own enterprise-wide model and the value of such a model in the performance management process.

Positions and Players: People on the Field

Following our discussion about enterprise-wide competency models, we will look at the process of determining what roles should exist to support an organization’s strategy and how to identify competencies specific to those roles. Next, we will talk about the real state versus the ideal and how to move from one condition to another. We will then consider the many considerations that can impact a timeline and the change process.

Milestones and Activities: Formal and Informal Systems

Managers play a central role in an effective performance management system. They address performance often, frequently recognize successes, address any shortcomings, have a development plan for their subordinates, and meet one-on-one with their direct reports at regular intervals. In addition to those day-to-day tasks, they work with employees to review past performance and plan for the future. This segment offers templates and sample language for both formal and informal interactions.

Managing the Pipeline: Interviewing and Succession Planning

The program concludes with an overview of interviewing and succession planning and their relationship to performance management. We’ll discuss the importance of building a pipeline, planning for the future, and building strong stories that promote a culture that supports the organization’s goals.

By the end of this course, participants should understand the components of a performance management system and the steps needed to implement one in an organization.