Performance management is inherently connected to process management. You simply cannot have one without the other.
On an individual basis, performance can be attributed to personal actions. How behaviours are embedded and opportunities are seized.
But when issues or successes occur at scale, it’s not too great a leap to realise the influence your process is having on the outcomes being delivered.
“Through both formal and informal processes, performance management helps align employees, resources, and systems to meet their strategic objectives.”
McKinsey
When performance, and by extension process, isn’t being managed, organisations are at best not operating as efficiently and effectively as they could.
At worst, changes in technologies, markets, or competitive environments can leave them unable to respond.
Analysing your performance has a direct impact upon how your process is enacted. It must be constantly reviewed to be continuously optimised.
Customer Service Safety Net
Performance management can act as a company wide security blanket. It works as an indicator in providing an early warning of potential problems.
When customers or colleagues keep encountering the same problems, it educates managers as to when they must make adjustments to keep a business on track.
21% of sales teams that struggle with ineffective internal processes cite “limited insight into issues until it’s too late” and “lack of timely insight into the sales process” as the primary causes.
State Of Sales
Likewise, if individuals, teams or stores are operating as isolated silos, issues can arise as the business doesn’t operate as a collective.
This mentality will set all processes up for failure as a lack of cohesion renders your component teams all pulling in different directions.
A performance management safety net can reduce risk of friction, optimising performance of your staff and allowing them to better serve clients with a greater customer experience.
Segmented and hidden information can cause a lot of frustration and miscommunication between your employees.
Not only is this process not optimal, performance can’t reach it’s peak as communication breaks down and customers are left in the dark.
Organisational Alignment
On the topic of communication, organisations that get performance management right become formidable competitive machines.
Much can be said for employees pulling in the same direction to the best of their individual abilities.
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
Henry Ford
By having each individual, store or region working to the same format, fewer gaps are left as accountability increases and transferable insight elevates the abilities of everyone involved.
Rather than stumbling at the first hurdle, having a consistent process ensures your teams can adopt a winning formula for maximum performance.
Data is accessible. Project progress is easy to identify. Areas of cross selling opportunities can be highlighted.
Reducing inconsistencies across your operation ensures that whenever you get the opportunity to engage, the customer leaves happy and content that you are the right company for the job.
Continuous Improvement
In an ideal system, a business creates a cascade of metrics and targets, from its top-level strategic objectives down to the daily activities of its frontline employees.
Good performance is rewarded; underperformance triggers action to address the problem, whether on an individual or operational scale.
“Not a day should go by without some kind of improvement being made somewhere in the company.”
Kaizen
The best targets are attainable, but with a healthy element of stretch required. And when they are hit, the stretch is revisited for further improvements.
Often, the first draft of a new process implemented will not be the final edit. It is only through action that you can identify emerging stumbling blocks to optimise future results.
Consider the process of performance management as identifying where you are now, and where you ultimately want to be.
Too often, companies measure and manage performance through lagging indicators. By the time the results are known, it is too late to influence the consequences.
Through the use of live dashboards, performance can not only be actively managed, any required tweaks can be identified before they spiral out of control.
Reaching your ultimate goals becomes much more attainable through consistent analysis and benchmarking of progress.
Performance and process. You simply can’t have one with the other.
Ready to explore how Anthill can help enhance your process, and performance, management? Schedule a demo today.
Intrigued to learn more? Check out our Insights Hub to keep your business at the cutting edge.
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- October 21st, 2021