Remember when people used paper maps to navigate road trips? If you got lost, you would pull over, unfold your crinkled up maps, and try to figure out where you were and how to get back on track.
Modern innovations have pretty much eliminated these situations altogether. GPS technology has swiftly replaced maps, giving us constant knowledge of where we are and how to get where we’re going.
Maybe you can guess where I’m headed with this. Performance management is a lot like a road trip. Employees need to know where they are, what the destination is, and how to get there. The question is, are you giving them a complicated crinkled-up paper map or a simple and seamless GPS system to get to their destination?
If you haven’t implemented a performance management software platform, you’re essentially handing your employees a physical map instead of GPS technology. A well-designed performance management software system eliminates wasted time, confusion, and inaccuracy. Much like the frustration experienced while sitting on the side of the road with a paper map, old-school performance management systems rely on outdated paper-pushing methods that fail to communicate clearly and efficiently.
Let’s consider some of the key advantages of performance management software:
- Continuous: Just as Google maps shows you exactly where you are at all times, performance management software provides real-time feedback. Research continues to show the benefits of consistent, regular feedback over annual performance management reviews. Performance management systems give employees access to performance metrics at any given time.
- Clear: Clarity is key for driving performance. A well-crafted performance management software provides employees with visuals and numbers, giving a precise picture of where they are and where they’re going. To stay ahead of competitors, organizations need to remove the ambiguity in performance management. Utilizing high-quality performance management technology minimizes the confusion and miscommunication that often occurs in outdated systems.
- Data-Informed: The best human capital decisions incorporate high-quality data. Performance management software has the advantage of collecting and analyzing data for you. When that data is recorded within a platform, your company can make promotion and compensation decisions based on documented facts. In this way, relying on high-quality data in performance management can mitigate the potential for bias to contaminate employee reviews and serve as a form of legal documentation.
It’s important to note that not all performance management software is created equal. You need software that fits your specific organizational needs and goals. For instance, you’ll want something that is simple enough for all of your employees to navigate. Employee skill sets and organizational culture will guide the level of complexity you should seek in performance management software. Additionally, software systems with customizability have a clear advantage. You don’t want to pay for services you won’t use, and you want your performance management software to flow with your existing company brand and culture.
Etho is a people + performance management software that measures the quality of hires, maximizes real-time data, and optimizes performance. It’s highly customizable, offering a plethora of services that you can opt in or out of depending on your organizations specific goals.
It’s hard to overstate the impact of the quality of an organization’s performance management system. Everything from ensuring a strategically aligned talent pipeline to making legally defensible human capital decisions relies on the quality of your performance management process. If you’re still giving your employees the equivalent of paper maps for performance management, consider using Etho as your performance GPS. Clear, continuous, data-driven feedback is imperative for organizational success.
