Continuous Improvement in Employee Performance
Author: Eric Thompson
"The process of improving employee performance is not an exercise, which can be carried out just once." 
The process of improving employee performance is not an exercise, which can be carried out just once. Even where it is possible to be absolutely clear about the requirements of the job, and the employee has all the required skills and experience to match that requirement, it will still be necessary to repeat the exercise because something in the external environment will change. To remain competitive any organisation needs to adjust and adapt to these changes, causing the organisation’s goals to change in response. This in turn will require adaptation in the systems and processes, which the organisation uses to deliver its products and services. As they change, the roles and the tasks that the employees perform change too. The model described here illustrates the process,based on the continuous improvement principle, that needs to operate within the organisation for improving employee performance in relation to the needs of the organisation.
A model of improving employee performance
The repetition of this simple four-stage cycle ensures continuous improvement and that employees remain able to meet the changing requirements of the organisation, which in turn enables it to respond to the needs of its customers. Developing the contribution of individual employees is not therefore justified by some form of altruism, but by the sheer competitive necessity for the organisation to survive.
Set Targets
Let’s examine the four stages more closely. The first stage is to set clear targets for each individual. In this context this process will include not only short-term objective setting but also the identification of appropriate sets of professional standards towards which the individuals are expected to develop through time and the internal processes that will aid their attainment. Targets must make sense within the context of the individual and their job role, and those targets must be agreed with other members of the team. If targets are effectively cascaded through an organisation, when all the members of a team deliver against their targets, the team should achieve its goals too. In summary, this first stage of the process is about identifying and defining with the employee everything that needs to be done to make sure the job is tackled effectively.
Do the job
If the first stage is about “what” the individual has to do, then the second stage is about “how” they do it. In the course of doing the job, individuals need support to identify the best ways of doing things, and to make sure that learning from on the job activity is incorporated into their routine way of working. Processes such as coaching and mentoring should be put in place, and line mangers trained to help individuals develop in this way.
Performance Management
The third stage contains the “review” element. When targets have been set, it is necessary for the individual to sit down with their line manger on a regular basis and review what has been achieved. This process should include not only review of performance on the job, but assessment of progress against the professional standards that have been identified. Managers need to be trained to carry out these tasks and to set revised targets for the future based on what has been achieved and taking account of any identified changes in the external environment. Outputs from this process contribute not only to short-term goal setting and individual development plans, but also to longer-term processes such as career development and even succession planning for the organisation.
Individual Development
The final stage concerns the “implementation” of the plans that have been identified in the third stage. Work may need to be done to identify precisely what skill or competency needs to be developed to achieve the desired outcome. Techniques such as training needs analysis or psychometric testing may be useful here. Once the requirement is clear, interventions can be selected to make sure that the individual develops in the expected way. Further on the job coaching may be required or attendance at a training event. The whole process of gaining these additional skills needs to be properly managed and recorded to ensure that the outcomes are achieved and benefits gained in the agreed timeframe and not just left to chance.
Once the individual is capable of doing more, then of course that takes us back to adjusting targets again in an appropriate way, and so we continue through the cycle.