An organization follows certain process that aims to consistently meet the goals effectively through constant monitoring of employees’ performance and making sure that everyone performs in an outstanding manner. This is called performance management. It is an organizational work system that starts when an employee’s job title is defined along with its competencies and ends when an employee resigns from the company. It is a process of building a work environment wherein working individuals perform their best to contribute to the success of company goals. The term is sometimes associated with performance appraisal in some organizations. The following are the essential actions and activities involved in performance management:

• Creating and developing clear, more distinguished job descriptions
• Selecting the best and appropriate candidates with a proper selection process
• Giving coaching and feedback sessions
• Offering effective orientation, employee training and education
• Conducting quarterly performance appraisals and interviews
• Developing compensation and recognition schemes for deserving employees
• Offering career development opportunities for employees
• Assisting with exit interviews to analyze and understand the reasons for resigning

Performance Appraisal Interview Stages

A major scope of performance management is employee performance evaluation. A company must conduct a periodic assessment of the performance of its employees to check for consistency, development, or any performance gaps that need to be attended to. One of the crucial steps in the performance appraisal process is conducting an employee interview. This type of interview is also competency-based as it gauges the person’s performance. A performance appraisal interview includes three stages:

Stage 1: Preparing for the Appraisal

Here are the things that must be prepared before conducting the interview:

• Review the Performance Appraisal Forms of employees to be reminded of the performance measures
• Study the Performance Record Notes of the employees for the entire performance period.
• Let employees fill out the Performance Appraisal Forms prior to the interview and inform them to prepare for the competency-based interview.
• Set a proper date and time for the interview. Employees must be given a one-week notice and a longer preparation time must be allotted for senior positions.
• Choose a suitable venue for the interview with a private and comfortable ambiance.
• Allow a timeframe of 46-60 minutes for the competency-based interview.

Stage 2: Conducting the Appraisal Interview

Since it is a competency-based interview, the facilitator or the interviewer must focus only on the previous and future performance of the employee being interviewed. So, two major parts of this stage are discussed:

1. Reviewing Performance: This is a discussion of the previous performance records of the employee, achievements, and factors that contributed to such accomplishments.

2. Planning Performance: This part discusses the competencies that need to be developed and integrated in the next performance period.

Stage 3: Follow-Up

With the commitment of the employees to work on the competencies that need to be enhanced as well a commitment to bridge performance gaps, the company must monitor any progress of the performance level of its people. One way in attaining this is to provide the support that the employees need. Regular feedback and coaching are also effective.

Performance Management Factors

a. Firmness

The interviewer must take full control of the course of the interview. As a facilitator, the interview must be geared only at the agenda and not be distracted by digressions.

b. Confidentiality

Since it is a discussion of performance, employees need to be ensured that there is strict confidentiality in the information discussed during the interview.

c. Fair Assessment

Other external factors that are possibly affecting the performance level of the employee must be considered. Find out if the work environment itself has prevented the individual from achieving personal and organizational goals. It could also be that the quality of performance of an employee would depend on the work output of others.

Employees must remember to always be outstanding in demonstrating work competency because this is a huge factor in getting high performance ratings from superiors. Otherwise, the company will consider searching for more competent individuals who can perform the job better.