Sustainable growth is a scary challenge for all organizations, even more for small ones with limited resources. Running such companies requires you to achieve more with less, seize opportunities quickly, and mitigate risks effectively. You can achieve these goals by building a high-performing team with skilled, loyal, and productive employees. But it takes more than bringing the best people on board. You also need to stay ahead of performance management practices to ensure each employee gives their best. It may seem like a humongous effort for managers already dealing with a lot of work. But you can follow these simple tips to ease performance management for your small business.
Develop clear goals
Developing clear performance goals gives you a head start as you know where you want to go and what you want your employees to achieve. But these goals should be unique to your strategy and business, so skip the one-size-fits-all approach. Also, ensure every team member understands the expectations and targets they must achieve to deliver their best to the company. Remember to keep them actionable, measurable, and realistic as well.
Encourage honest and transparent communication
Setting goals is only half the work because people must know what they need to do. It is possible only if a robust line of communication exists between leaders, managers, and employees. Encourage honest and transparent communication to keep everyone on the same page. Managers and leaders should be able to convey expectations clearly, while junior employees should not fear approaching them and asking questions.
Create a collaborative review process
A collaborative review process is another measure to win the performance management game, even as a small business. Think beyond manager-level assessments, and integrate a 360-degree approach into your reviews. Fortunately, you can leverage the best 360 feedback tools to cut the workload and implement the process effortlessly. The system is collaborative because it includes everyone in the feedback loop. So you can get more actionable insights into individual strengths and weaknesses.
Record changes and track their impact
Process changes are an integral part of running a business, and they may have an impact on employee performance. But it may not always be evident, so you must record changes and pay attention to their impact. Consider reworking things if they do not seem to favor employee performance because you may end up missing out on growth. The sooner you act on such changes, the better it is for your business.
Invest in a continuous process
Performance management is not a one-time task because goals and KPIs may change. Likewise, better technologies may always be around the corner. A continuous performance management process keeps you aligned with these changes. Moreover, it enables you to drive continuous improvement by addressing weaknesses sooner than later. It also helps you identify the top performers within your organization. You can focus on their development and retention as they can contribute to the growth of your small business.
Performance management need not be painful and expensive for small businesses. You can rely on these actionable measures to make the most despite your resource constraints.
Photo credits: Coworking London