Comparison

A performance management system (PMS) is a system that designs and tracks the performance of employees periodically and measurably. It allows the company to monitor and ensure that the employees and departments across the organization are aligned in working towards achieving all the common goals of the business. When employees are aligned with corporate goals, companies have a better chance of gaining success consistently. Modern PMSs also enable organizations to deliver on employee engagement & development.

A PMS is crucial because it allows you to undergo a performance management process in a way that aligns individual employees’ performances with that of the organization. It not only measures it periodically but also delivers fair reviews about the progress. Besides, it makes tracking employee performance, identifying training requirements, and automating performance review reports easier. It enables identification & nurturing of the high performers. Today’s working culture thrives on frequent constructive feedback and opportunities for employee growth. Modern workplaces need SMART Goals (S- Specific, M-Measurable, A- Achievable, R- Realistic, T- Time-bound) to contribute effectively to the organization’s goals. Regular measurement, frequent and constructive feedback, clear career development path, objective evaluation, etc. are some of the attributes essential in a modern performance management system. On the contrary, traditional PMS are annual, don’t provide alignment, and are perceived to be subjective. However, 360-degree feedback from modern employee PMS helps you remove such irregularities to create a workforce that trusts your reviews & feedback, improving engagement.

Here are some of the common pain points that managers face in a traditional/legacy employee performance management system: Inability to course correct:When performance reviews are conducted annually or semi-annually, employees don’t get timely feedback during the period and therefore are unable to course correct. The annual or semi-annual feedback loses most of their relevance in terms of the outcomes. Poor rating system:Many organizations do not have the right criteria or metrics to rate their employees’ performance and assess the achievement of their tasks. This typically leads to both the managers and the employees not to trust the ratings as it may not capture the parameters that actually define the performance. Inapt targets: Setting up the right targets & objectives is both science and art. They need to involve the right level of stretch, which should be achievable but not too easily. They should be challenging enough to get the best out of the employees as well as align with what the organization sets out to achieve. Often, the link between the individual effort and the company objectives gets diluted as the targets and metrics differ. Lack of transparency:Employees need to believe that the performance management system is fair to everyone and is based on fair rules applicable to everyone. Traditional systems suffer from many lacunae, which make them look opaque. Lack of engagement: Interacting with the personnel is an extremely powerful way to showcase the dynamic personality of a company. Lack of engagement results in low productivity in addition to other problems.

What you can do is list out all the stakeholders by name, department, title, and their role in the decision-making process. Then, list the difficulties they face while managing employee performance activities. Make sure that there is a clear outline of what the new performance review software is expected to do by all these people, and reach a collective agreement on which problems need to be solved with the new system. It is important to categorize these by ‘need-to-have’ and ‘nice-to-have’ features of the system. That will help you ensure which are the most critical aspects of the methods that should be included as no solution will be able to solve every challenge on a day-to-day basis. Lastly, make sure that the business case for the new employee performance management system is drawn crystal clear. You’ll need to show that the problems you and other key people have laid out are affecting the actual performance of the employees. Include metrics to illustrate your points effectively so that you can get to choose the right performance management system.

Today, an employee needs a platform on which they can receive constructive feedback on an ongoing basis to help them achieve their yearly goals. Their supervisors need to assess the tasks and provide regular feedback on how employees can improvise their work. An employee performance management system should have the ability to interpret the data submitted by the employee about their performance and also initiate interactive conversations between the employees and their supervisors whenever needed by either. Additionally, an employee performance platform should contain the following elements at the least: Basic Functions Set up team and individual goals Collect performance reviews Conveniently collect appraisal information Export performance data Inform managers about performers Unique Functions Set, adjust and manage goals Allow task feedback from managers Real-time progress updates Visual representation of goals progress Social collaboration elements 360 performance reviews and feedback Customizable review workflows Reporting capabilities Compensation planning tools or integrations

Because almost everyone in the organization would use the new system, you will need to ask yourself specific questions to evaluate before investing in an employee performance management system. So, make sure to consult the rest of your team and also consider taking advice from the other departments who will be affected by your purchasing decision. Here are some of the deciding factors that you should consider: Performance Database This performance management system will be responsible for tracking and monitoring essential performance data of all the employees of your organization. Hence, you will need to know where the system and the data are being hosted and ensure that you can access it whenever you need and in whatever format you need. Ask the following questions: What is the system hosted on, and is the data accessibility fast, reliable, and scalable? How is data exported, and can it integrate into other systems? What security measures does the system provide to protect employee data, and can role-based access be provided? Software Flexibility Every performance management process is a little different than others available in the market, and it can be challenging to really know if the one you choose can really accommodate all the unique features that your company needs. Hence, before you take a demo of their PMS, send an example of how your review report looks like and tell them to personalize it with your needs to see if they can do it to check their software’s flexibility. Ask the following questions: Can I see how to program a review in your PMS? Can I create my own response scales? How does the system notify or remind employees that a review cycle is open? Can I make changes to those notifications? What does the review look like once it is completed? How can I format the data? Training & Support Beforehand training for the system is a must, but ongoing training also needs to be considered as new employees will keep joining the system after the system is set up. Is this something the system will provide through customer support, or does it have to be managed internally? Ask the following questions: Do you have the budget, bandwidth, and resources to manage training internally, or do you need the system to provide ongoing training support? What level of training is required for the various roles within your organization, and does the system provide the level of granularity you need? What level of ongoing support will the vendor provide for implementing changes in the future? Ease of Use Most importantly, when you look for all these above features in a PMS, you also need to look for what kind of experience it provides to you, your organization, or your employees. Please ask the following questions: How user-friendly is it? Does it give a better user-experience than the rest? Is the customer support chat option human-based or AI-based? Does it have an easy-to-use user interface?