QUESTION 1: What is performance management?

Performance management is the systematic process by which an agency involves its employees, as individuals and members of group, in improving organizational effectiveness in the accomplishment of agency mission and goals. Furthermore, employee performance management includes a planning work and setting expectations, continually monitory performance, developing the capacity to perform and rewarding good performance.  Moreover, the performance improvement plan is designed to facilitate constructive discussion between a staff members and his or her supervisor and to clarify the work performance to be improved.  Performance elements and standards should be measurable, understandable, verifiable, equitable, and achievable.  And also to measure performance, the role of an HR manager is to identify causes of underperformance to be able to set another strategic plan for example; more training, set clear goals and expectations, provide resources and create team spirit. For those employees who performs well there are another strategic plan by reinforce performance, reward them and professional training. The last step of performance management is the review performance. Managers cite performance appraisals or annual reviews as one of their most disliked tasks.  Performance management eliminates the performance appraisal or annual review and evaluation as the focus and concentrates instead on the entire spectrum of performance management and improvement strategies. These include employee performance improvement, performance development, training, cross-training, challenging assignments, 360 degree feedback and regular performance feedback.  A performance management system includes the following accomplishment;

   

Ø  Select qualified people with a professional selection process.

Ø  Design effective compensation and recognition systems that reward people for their contributions at work.

Ø  Provide staff a promotional and career for development opportunities.

Ø  Provide coaching and feedback.

Ø  Provide effective orientation, education and training.

Reference:

http://humanresources.about.com/ad/performancemanagement/a/PIP.htm.

What is the difference between performance management and performance appraisal?

Performance management includes activities that ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product or service, as well as many other areas. Performance management is a whole work system that begins when jobs is defined as needed. It includes also the following actions; develop clear descriptions, conduct quarterly performance development discussions and provide promotional and career development opportunities for staff.  But performance appraisal is a method by which the job performance of an employee is evaluated typically by the corresponding manager or supervisor. A performance appraisal is a part of guiding and managing career development. It is the process of obtaining, analyzing, and recording information about the relative worth of an employee to the organization. Performance appraisal is an analysis of an employee's recent successes and failures, personal strengths and weaknesses, and suitability for promotion or further training. It is also the judgments of an employee's performance in a job based on considerations other than productivity alone.