Regardless of size and industry, any organization can only be as efficient as its employees. Your workforce is the fundamental unit crucial for achieving strategic goals.
In this effort, you must monitor staff performance to ensure employees are not facing any difficulty at the workplace. Another advantage of tracking employee performance is that you can proactively take steps to help them learn on the job, improving their skills and efficiency.
Suppose you are still getting familiar with strategies to track employee performance, in that case, this guide will help you identify areas for improvement and ensure that the workforce is aligned with the company’s goals.
Table of Contents
How to track employee performance?
1. Measure employee performance based on SMART goals
Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-bound or SMART goals are the foundation for building any strategy that will allow your workers to keep up with your company’s production and revenue goals. You cannot evaluate the performance of your employees based on unrealistic benchmarks.
Firstly, any plan must be well-defined, leaving no room for ambiguity. When your employees clearly understand what is expected of them, they are self-motivated to deliver. The key performance indicators you use for measuring employees’ progress should be quantifiable.
Performance goals set up by supervisors and managers should be realistic and attainable. Furthermore, the goals you set for workers should align with their role and the organization’s overall objectives. Finally, to keep employees on track, set clear deadlines for achieving goals, creating a sense of urgency.
2. Review their performance based on the output produced
For roles held by blue-collar workers, the primary performance indicator is the output. This is why the performance of such employees should be assessed on both the quality and quantity of work produced.
As well as, the performance should be assessed based on time taken to produce each output/product. This is the most accurate strategy to track employee performance in industries like manufacturing and construction.
A high-performing worker consistently achieves their goals, and you need to include this. Any staff performance tracker should record output as well as time. This will provide a clear view of the employees’ error rate or defect rate. Fewer errors may signify better performance.
3. Help employees with self-monitoring tools
If the managers or supervisors are pointing out performance issues ambiguously, there is no little scope for employees to take action. Instead, it can create a feeling of resentment towards the management.
Therefore, instead of just saying, “David, you took long to assemble the headlight,” you can provide David with self-monitoring tools that he can use to time his performance.
Time management tools can help employees allocate their shifts to various tasks more effectively. When employees can track how much time they are spending on each task, they have clear feedback on how efficient they are. Another way to help employees monitor their performance is to encourage using checklists and planners to keep track of tasks and deadlines.
4. Use Job scheduling tools
Job scheduling is an excellent way to plan the day for workers to follow. If your company uses job or task scheduling tools, it can significantly improve employee performance. One of the benefits of Job scheduling tools like Truein is that they help managers monitor employee productivity.
Truein is a complete time and attendance management software application that offers robust job-scheduling options. This cloud-based, hardware-less tool can easily streamline the process of tracking employee performance, especially for blue-collar workers.
Truein is designed to calculate work hours for full-time, part-time, contract, and distributed workforce. Its precise tracking not only helps with payroll and compliance, but it also accurately tracks employee performance.
Managers can use Truein’s planned vs. actual view reporting feature to compare the planned work schedule with the actual hours worked. It helps in identifying any discrepancies and allows making necessary adjustments.
5. Use employee productivity score
What can be measured can be improved, so you need to create an employee productivity score. It should acknowledge whether an employee is showing performance enhancement or decline. One of the main reasons most companies lose their productive employees to the competition is their efficiency should have been acknowledged.
Create a productivity score considering primary performance metrics such as output, efficiency, and reliability. You can then compare the employee productivity score against industry benchmarks or historical performance data to identify areas for improvement. It will help regularly track employee performance and introduce any corrective measures early.
6. Arrange 1:1 meetings
The importance of face-to-face interactions can always be maintained. Most companies are recalling employees back to work at the office because communication is vital for employee performance.
The 1:1 meetings foster a constructive environment and provide managers and employees with a platform to exchange feedback. Managers can address concerns and acknowledge achievements during meetings, while workers can openly express their thoughts, seek clarification, and ask questions.
Such meetings provide a safe space to discuss employees’ goals and the organization’s objectives. It’s an opportunity for managers to confirm that the employee works on tasks contributing to the company’s success.
Managers can offer personalized guidance or support to address employee’s unique needs and challenges if there is any misalignment. All these activities facilitate ongoing tracking of employee performance.
7. Assess their development
Continuous evaluation of employees’ progress is an essential component of tracking performance.
But how do you assess their development?
Skill development is an indicator that your blue-collar workers are improving. With skill development, employees become more proficient in their roles, ultimately boosting their performance.
When you know employees have the potential to grow, you can create initiatives that allow them opportunities for internal promotions. It creates a committed and loyal workforce.
Ensure that your organization provides the right tools and the environment for employees to actively work on improving their performance.
8. Focus on employee relearning
Industries are rapidly evolving, and to remain relevant and profitable, companies must invest in continuous learning of their workforce. To track employee performance easily, you should encourage continuous learning.
Your employees should be open to acquiring new skills and adapting to changing technologies. Companies can facilitate upskilling by providing access to training programs and resources to help employees relearn and upskill.
Simultaneously, assess how relearning initiatives impact the performance. This will provide a clear view of how much improvement can be expected from relearning.
9. Conduct surveys
To monitor staff performance, organizations can also use surveys to gather employee feedback, opinions, and insights. Companies with a feedback mechanism within the organizational structure are well aware of critical factors, such as job satisfaction, workload, and work environment, affecting the workers directly.
These insights can significantly guide decision-making. The same surveys can uncover concerns, challenges, or issues that employees may not share openly.
10. Use charts
If you manage multiple teams or a large team with hundreds of workers, a large amount of data can make it challenging to track performance. With the correct performance tools, you can turn extensive performance data into charts that are much easier to comprehend.
What is the importance of tracking employee performance?
In modern workforce management, it is crucial to track employee performance for several reasons. Regardless of size or industry, it plays a pivotal role in an organization’s growth and success. The importance of monitoring employee performance is multifaceted.
1. Performance accountability and transparency
Tracking employee performance is how companies nurture a culture of accountability and transparency among employees. When employees know their performance is being monitored, they are encouraged to take their responsibilities seriously. It fosters a sense of ownership and commitment to their tasks.
2. Better resource allocation
When you monitor staff performance, you inevitably get an insight into resource management. Managers can identify any resource allocation bottlenecks that are hampering employee productivity. It also helps identify who the top performers are and those in need of improvement.
3. Ensure fairness and transparency in evaluations
Often, favoritism and biases find their place in the management if there is no way to ensure fairness or transparency in evaluations. Tracking performance is the most accurate method to ensure promotions, salary adjustments, and recognitions are awarded relatively based on merit. This creates a more equitable work environment and boosts employee morale.
Ultimately, if any organization wants to make data-driven decisions for workforce management, tracking employee performance is the best strategy.
Conclusion
Modern workforce management is multifaceted and requires intelligent ways to track employee performance. While you must include strategies like setting clear goals, monitoring output, and encouraging continuous learning in workforce management, you also need a staff performance tracker like Truein for job scheduling and monitoring.
With the right tools and strategies, you can ensure that your employees are constantly evolving to meet industry demands.
FAQ
1. How often should employee performance be tracked – annually, quarterly, or in real-time?
It depends on the nature of work and industry. Monitoring staff performance in construction and manufacturing prevents significant losses. While for other sectors, quarterly or annual performance tracking might be more effective.
