Overview
Investing in people is fundamental to an organisation’s success. Performance management is an invaluable, systematic process here, highlighting employees’ strengths and weaknesses to maximise performance, safety and retention. It sets goals for employees and monitors these to make sure they’re being met. If they’re not, it puts steps in place to get everything back on track. Good performance management considers not just individual roles, but a person’s part in a team and as a member of a wider group. It helps an organisation meet market changes, structuring and communicating a shared understanding about what needs to be achieved.
For your people, they will have the tools to maintain their performance levels or improve what they’re doing to meet clear, specific goals. That’s essential in keeping a workforce motivated.
What we offer
We can support in different ways, so you get what’s right for your organisation and people. This might be a light audit and some practical advice through to designing a new performance management system and training your supervisors to make the most of it. Our main solutions are outlined below. Just get in touch to find out more.
A project example
As a guide, these are the steps we’d take to help enhance an organisation’s performance appraisal process.
- Initial meeting to discuss performance issues and drivers, and project scope.
- Stakeholder interviews.
- Gap analysis to determine user and operational requirements and the suitability of any existing competency system to support the project.
- Development of competence standards (non-technical) and performance criteria (behavioural markers).
- Appraisal form design and guidance.
- Development and validation of training for the enhanced process.
Main services
We help our clients in the following ways.
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Performance management system review
We’ll highlight any gaps in your performance management system or systems. We’ll explore any potential issues, such as misaligned initiatives, looking at the drivers. You’ll receive a report, detailing our findings and recommendations.
We can carry out this review on- or offsite.
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Defining competence standards
Competence standards are a framework, or ‘map’, guiding performance targets for each rank and position in your organisation. They provide practical instruction for employees working in both technical and non-technical areas, helping staff to achieve goals, and managers to encourage and guide individuals and teams. With defined competence standards, an organisation can communicate and nurture desirable knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes (KSBs or KSAs) through mentoring, coaching and monitoring. These standards also make regular performance appraisal quick and cost effective to do across an organisation.
We can help you define the bespoke competence standards you need for your people, guiding the non-technical behaviours that are necessary to optimise performance. These can complement your existing materials and incorporate any relevant regulatory competencies, such as the STCW convention for maritime activities.
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Performance appraisal design
Performance appraisal is a way for managers and employees to talk about performance, development and support needed. When not designed and used effectively, however, it can be dismissed as an administrative burden, helping no one.
We value the process of performance appraisal, as much as the conclusion. By making it a transparent, participative process, you’ll have the opportunity to engage and motivate employees and improve relationships. We’ll help you design the right process for your unique needs as an organisation.
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Self-appraisal design
Self-appraisal is an optional, useful part of a performance appraisal process. In particular, it can help reduce concerns over receiving negative feedback. We’ll help by designing self-appraisal forms that meet the differing needs and abilities of your employees, facilitate self-awareness and guided discovery, and still work well where employees have limited literacy.
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Training guidance
To help you implement your improved performance management system and the changes needed, we provide written support packages, workshops and bespoke, interactive training. Techniques can include SMART goal setting, evidence collection and active listening. Whatever works best for you and your teams.
What are the benefits?
- Linking performance management to your organisation’s strategic goals.
- Understanding each role, and how these can help today to achieve broad, long-term organisational goals.
- Identifying the skills and competencies needed to fulfil each role, and any training required – clear competence standards provide much more value than a basic competence matrix.
- Establishing the required standard of performance, so you can give practical guidance for front-line workers and their line managers. Linking competence standards to performance appraisal supports staff development, as well as assessment.
- Determining whether standards are being met.
- Making it as easy as possible for supervisors and managers to get the most out of their people and teams.
- Providing ways to address different types of performance problems.
Why choose LRQA?
Your solution is completely bespoke and flexible to meet various levels of requirement. We use the right best practices and tools to meet the individual needs of your organisation and people, and address any gaps and issues.
Your project will also benefit from our industry-leading expertise, not just in your sector but wider. And you’ll find our capabilities are comprehensive, spanning research, design and implementation of performance management improvement processes.
- Bespoke solutions.
- Evidence-based practice.
- Full expertise.
- Decades of delivering successful projects and proven results.
Contact us for more information.
CASE STUDIES
Who we work with
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INSIGHTS
What we think
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Optimising asset performance using remote technologies.
