Measuring work performance

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Saturday , December 08, 2007 at 0000 hrs It may be tempting to believe that if you have hired the right people and trained them to do their jobs, you do not have to spend time or energy measuring their performance. The truth, however, is that you have just about laid the foundation.

In order to build upon that foundation and continually improve performance, there is need to help employees grow and learn. It’s crucial for an organisation, therefore, to implement a well-designed, measurement programme.

Measurement is basically a sampling of current performance. It is compared to a desired result to see if the objective is being met. Companies, departments and people measure to see if they are able to accomplish their mission. Without measurement, we would not know if we are proceeding correctly to achieve our mission.

According to experts, if the companies do not measure the various aspects of employees’ performance, they are likely to find that even their star performers will start to show decreased motivation.

In the absence of an effective measuring and coaching programme, metrics and feedback become arbitrary, overly subjective and inconsistent. Not only will this be a strong demotivator for the group, but it might also cause legal and ethical problems for the organisation.

According to a survey done by SHL India Pvt Ltd, a company specialising in psychometric solutions and 360-degree tests where the opinion of an employee’s colleagues including juniors is taken into consideration—in India, nearly 60% of the organisations use any assessment tools—including tools developed by internal managers, to measure the performance of their employees. Among the tools used for employee development, competency assessment is the most common tool and 360 degree, the least.

YVL Pandit, MD of SHL India, said: “Assessment tools provide invaluable information about a candidates abilities, personality and motivation, and you will be able to assess whether the candidates’ competencies match the competencies required for the job.”

In India, some companies prepare assessment tools in-house whereas some outsource the assessment work to consultants outside the organisation. Employee assessment tools are designed to identify a specific set of skills and competencies for a specific role or level in the organisation. Different sets or combinations of tools are used depending on the role or level, or what the organisation is looking for in an individual. As the tools are only focused on competencies, personal bias is eliminated ensuring transparency and fairness in the assessment process.