Although being on your A-game throughout the week for 8-10 hours is impossible, an employee should be able to create value even in a few hours. Hence engaging with and monitoring employees is essential to determine the factors that motivate or demotivate them.
Why is it crucial to keep a check on employee productivity?
Evaluating performance can benefit the organization and the people working there. With many offices shifting to hybrid working systems, the need to monitor workflow has increased, and so have the roadblocks. Regular check-ins and tools can evaluate the output of the team’s efforts and the time it takes for them to achieve specific goals. Performance management software can also help managers measure productivity and eliminate blockages in case any occur. Managers can determine the causes behind low productivity and come up with solutions. The goal is to keep the customers satisfied, the employees motivated, and the business running smoothly. The inefficiency of work can bring forth various issues in the working style, the management style, or the working conditions. Noticing such issues requires closer deliberation and monitoring. The solutions can increase the potency of existing employees and help the newer additions to adjust well to the work environment. It will also let the manager know how the employees give their best and under what circumstances. Keeping a check on employee productivity can also help the management know the number of people needed for a particular task or project. For example, a client report needs to be submitted within a week, and the team of three people has completed only 40% of it by Wednesday. The manager will know that more people are required to cater to the particular client and submit the requirement to hire more candidates or include more people in the team. Evaluation helps with the yearly increments as well. An employee producing the desired results and failing to meet the timelines can be easily distinguishable and be awarded accordingly. It ensures fairness in the working system.
Ensure productivity in the workplace with performance management
#1. Setting expectations
Since preliminary results do not measure the performance of a business, vague expectations cannot measure an employee’s performance. Setting clear short-term and long-term team objectives can help employees maintain productivity and deliver on time.
#2. Count tasks, not minutes
Measure the amount of work done by an employee, not the time they spent sitting in front of the screen. Some individuals may take a few hours to complete a task, while some might spread it throughout their day. Giving importance to the tasks achieved helps reach the goals.
#3. Give constructive feedback
Employees are interested in finding out what they can do better and what they need to work on. Giving constructive criticism and compliments can ensure positive reinforcement and help cross out more tasks from the to-do list. Constant feedback and appreciation will increase efficiency.
#4. Track time
Yes, the completed tasks should be considered, but keeping track of their time management skills is also essential. This is because an employee may take longer than usual to complete a simple activity and hinder the entire team’s productivity. It can also help you determine the number of hours it takes to achieve particular activities or the time it takes for one person to complete a particular task.
#5. Track digital time
Unless an employee is a social media manager, the social sites can deviate them from the task. Distractions can also be in the form of digital surfing. Keeping track of the use of such activities can help you understand employee behavior and act accordingly.
#6. Focus on quality
While measuring the points mentioned above, it is crucial to remember that quality is preferred over quantity. If employees take more time to produce better quality work, they must be rewarded as the efforts put in to achieve the task are more.
#7. Update regularly
Create a system of regular updates for the employees to measure their productive cycle and that of others. It will ensure teamwork and help you monitor how far they have come. The discrepancies in the productivity chart will also help you understand the hiccups along the way and take action accordingly.
#8. Document everything
Track the deliverables and the timeline of each task. Daily updates with the mentioned dates can help maintain consistency in the tasks. Setting deadlines can help employees work towards them and manage their time.
Key tenets of a performance management software
In a performance management system, employers should aim to identify the patterns of each employee and the production cycle. Upon accumulating this data, encouraging the correct stimuli to measure difference becomes the next task. This can help you evaluate performance and reward employees for the right tasks. It is beneficial to appreciate and reward employees for a particular work to encourage implementing the same behavior and help maintain consistency. However, measuring and keeping track of every employee can be taxing and difficult. With the change in times and technologies, various tools – such as performance management software – have been developed to help manage such activities at the office. These software programs come with various features that can be used per business requirements. You can use software that helps you and the employee track work and keep tabs on the progress while enabling communication. Intelligent systems create intelligent solutions and more excellent value. Therefore, it is important to choose software that aligns with your work. Before we get into the best software on the market, let’s talk about the fundamentals of good performance management software that can benefit you and your employees.
#1. It Helps set clear and concise benchmarks.
Software that does not promote complexity in measuring success should be preferred. Such a system will allow you to focus on results and help you set criteria for success.
#2. Creates an automated system
An insightful system that is AI-driven can help track statuses better. A system that can help set regular reminders and store essential information about each employee will help you manage better.
#3. Enables sharing achievements and goals
Software that will allow employees to share their achievements and successful targets with their peers can help encourage productivity. Regular feedback and assistance from other teams and departments can build a sense of solidarity at work and promote a positive culture.
#4. Lets employees self-evaluate
Software that can supply evaluation tools and questionnaires will also help employees track their performance and progress. This leads to a sense of ownership of tasks and encourages accountability of tasks. The employee will focus on their growth when they can evaluate their progress.
#5. Helps create periodic goals
A system with several features to set goals or tasks can help the employees keep track of their work. When employees learn what is expected of them, they can set the tasks on the system to track the projects and when they are completing them. This will also help managers view the status of various tasks assigned.
#6. Makes employee evaluation easier for managers and employers
The software should make it easier for the managers to evaluate the employees by providing complete information about their work on one screen. The software should make collecting, storing, and tracking employee work habits easier. Streamlining your working systems will help decrease the time spent manually tracking everything. There are multiple systems to choose from, but the best software provides all of the above features and helps you in more ways than one.
BambooHR
BambooHR is a performance appraisal software that helps the HR department create accurate reviews based on the answers of each employee. With this tool, you can plan the assessments and review the employee’s work and overall team spirit. BambooHR helps the department and managers view the employee progress report with the evaluation grids available on a single page. The software lets you collect feedback and highlight the developments in the employee’s career. It also helps you extract a company progress report to measure the progress and create further objectives. This tool also helps managers understand employee motivation and view of the company.
Eloomi
A performance appraisal system, Eloomi helps an employee with onboarding, evaluation, and training. This tool helps you explore videos of specific skills and learn on the job, complete compliance surveys, create daily checklists, fill out surveys, and share your results with the team. With Eloomi, employees can measure their progress with tasks and skills and communicate with the managers on feedback and scores. The interface is guided for easier access to relevant skills and encourages individuals to work on themselves. Not only this, you receive preparation material that helps you get confident for your following review.
AssessTeam
AssessTeam is a great way to evaluate the 360-degree performance of an employee. It is an easy installation software that can also be accessed through your mobile phone. This system allows simple evaluation of your skills and consistency as an employee of an organization through tracking and management tools. The HR department gets the flexibility to alter the processes as per the company values and provide feedback based on employee engagement with those values. The software gives employees the liberty to access feedback from various sensors, including managers from other departments. This software is a great way to set expectations from new and old employees. Through its 30-60-90 evaluation method, it lets you track the progress of an employee at regular intervals. The data provided by the software can be compared to industry performance and overall company performance.
PerformYard
PerformYard software is developed to make the HR processes easier through formal evaluation and reporting. Like the previous software, it allows you to set up the system as per your organization. It is a feedback and performance-focused system that helps get reviews and regular check-ins from employees. The software lets employees manage their daily, weekly, and monthly goals and helps employers track these goals and provide feedback based on their performance. It lets you take out reports before the end-of-the-year evaluation and ensures desired results from employees.
Trakstar
As they say on their website, Trakstar shows the employees what “good” looks like. This software is one of the best in the industry and is highly trusted by HR and managers to evaluate employees. The tools and features provided by the software help keep the employees engaged and complete timely review cycles. It helps your employees create value in the organization by being on the top of their goals and encourages them to perform better through extensive results. Employers can create job description segments and set out the teams’ expectations within the software. It helps create quicker processes with alerts and notifications and reduces efforts on HR’s part. This software keeps the employee and employer happy with regular reviews and feedback from both ends.
Culture Amp
Culture Amp performance management software keeps the entire company aligned with the values and principles. It helps employees recognize their goals and expectations in one go. As its name suggests, Culture Amp works towards creating a culture of feedback and progress. The reviews and consistent tracking of employee motivation and development help empower teams and enhance performance. It establishes a connection between the manager and employee to encourage team spirit. The employer is also able to evaluate the goals set by the employee.
Lattice
Lattice has been developed to encourage and motivate employees across departments. Lattice helps the management support their employees and help them progress in the company. With regular updates and goals on the software, Lattice lets the teams know the objectives and set expectations. It helps teams set agendas and align meetings with one another. Managers are encouraged to check in with the employees and set one-on-one sessions with them for review. With visible praise and feedback features, the software keeps the teams encouraged and ready to take on the following tasks. The employees can track individual and team performances and help with their growth.
Traitify
Traitify uses science and visual-based formats to evaluate employees. It is a great way to personalize the experiences of the hiring managers and the hired mentees. This software is different from the ones on the list as it enables you to seek jobs. It allows the HR department to evaluate candidates and send more extensive feedback. It also helps a faster recruitment process by accumulating employee information and documents in one place. Through this software, managers can ensure high performance amongst teams. Regular feedback helps with the development of employee personality and the overall growth of the team. One of the best features of this software is the soft-skills evaluation tools that help you understand your personality and work on yourself.
ChartHop
ChartHop helps derive meaning from the performance review cycles to enable the employees to grow as a team. The platform allows you to personalize and tailor performance review questions per the organization’s needs. The tool helps you reflect on the performances and growth of your employees. The data created from the analysis enables you to establish goals for the next time and evaluate performance levels.
Conclusion
Whichever software you decide to go with, remember that transparency and encouragement are essential to keep the employees on board. A highly motivated and driven employee will perform better with each evaluation. The management tools can also help employers by helping them alter their management style with feedback. You may also have a look at these employee management systems.
