Smart Planning For Performance Management

Effective organizations plan their work in advance. Therefore, the first phase in the performance review process is for employees, in collaboration with their managers, to develop work plans for the coming year. The work plan should include:

what is to be accomplished - results that are expected how it is to be done measures or standards that will be used Establishing Performance Objectives and Measures Often the most difficult part of a planning meeting is finding appropriate and clear language to describe the performance objectives and their measures/ indicators of success.

For example:

What is a valid measure of good customer service?

If the measure used only looks at the number of clients served (i.e. what was done), then the quality of service or 'how well it was done' is not captured. Assessing both 'what' and 'how' would be a more valid measure for good customer service. For example, in addition to the number of clients served, the quality of the information provided, and a complaints rate of 1% or less could represent good customer service.

To assess quality of information provided, the supervisor could do spot checks to listen to or look at the information that the employee provides to clients. The supervisor would then assess accuracy and completeness of the information.

The objectives and the indicators need to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timebound.

Specific:The objectives should specify clearly what is to be done, when it is to be done, who is to accomplish it, and how much is to be accomplished.In addition to "Specific," the 'S' sometimes stands fo "Stretch." This means that the objective is challenging yet doable.

Measurable:Ask questions such as: How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?The measures used to evaluate the objectives should be valid - they should actually measure the things you are trying to measure.Multiple measures should be used if possible, for example quantity, quality, timeframe and cost.

Attainable:An attainable objective is one for which you see a reasonable path to achievement, and feasible odds that you will get there.

Realistic:The objective needs to be possible to achieve. It should match the level of complexity with the employee's experience and capability.There needs to be an assessment that there are not insurmoutable forces outside the control of the employee that will hinder its accomplishment.

Time-bound:You should be clear about the timeframe in which performance objectives are to be achieved. Normally, objectives are drafted to be completed by the end of the performance review period (usually one year).

Writing objectives and identifying the appropriate measures takes careful consideration.

One format to use for writing objectives is:

Action verb + Object of the action verb + Measures Write an objective for each accomplishment; don't put multiple elements in one objective Use positive terms for behavioral objectives rather than stating the objective as what should be avoided For some objectives, identifying appropriate measures can be challenging.

For Example:

For an employee who is responsible for supervising volunteers at a drop-in centre for youth.

SMART Objective 1: Conduct monitoring visits to the drop-in centre on a monthly basis to assess the performance of the five volunteers against the plans and objectives that were developed with them.

SMART Objective 2: Provide written updates on the work of the volunteers to the Program Manager on a quarterly basis.

Not SMART: Visit the drop-in centre and see how the volunteers are doing.

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Make sure that the objectives are a good representation of the full range of duties carried out by the employee, especially those everyday tasks that can take time but are often overlooked as significant accomplishments. If it does not cover the most important duties then the resulting evaluation will not be valid. Consider identifying critical objectives. These are objectives that are critical to the overall success of the position. If the employee does not meet his/her critical objectives then overall performance will be evaluated as unsatisfactory. The employee should have a written copy of the performance objectives and the measures/standards that will be used to assess performance.

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