6 Performance management

This is a step-by-step process to help line managers and supervisors use the National Occupational Standards to manage the performance of team members.

Performance management includes activities that are known as objective-setting, supervision, appraisal, performance review and feedback, and draws these into a coherent framework.

Diagram showing the cycle of performance management

Steps to take:

Step 1 Agree objectives

Performance management does not happen in a vacuum. In order for performance management to have its full impact, team members must be working towards objectives that are consistent with the organisation’s objectives and business plan and also recognise the team member’s personal aims and ambitions.

Objectives should focus on the critical results that team members must achieve if the organisation is going to be effective and develop.

Discuss and agree with your team members a manageable number of objectives that are SMART.

  • Specific – precisely what must be achieved?
  • Measurable – how will you be able to tell if it has been achieved?
  • Agreed – do the individual and their manager really agree on the objective?
  • Realistic – is the objective achievable?
  • Time-bound – by when must the objective be achieved?

Step 2 Identify relevant National Occupational Standards

Identify which units of the Legal Advice Standards and other sets of National Occupational Standards are particularly relevant to each objective.

A meeting with the team member to look at the occupational standards will:

  • Lead to a shared understanding of the objective
  • Help joint planning about how the objective will be achieved
  • Specify the standard of performance required when achieving the objective
  • Highlight areas where the team member is not confident, lacks knowledge or skills, or needs resources or support
  • Identify the sorts of evidence that can be used to show the team member has met the objective

Step 3 Agree support required

Agree the support that a team member requires to achieve their objectives. This may be coaching, training or development to improve their knowledge or skills, or it may be providing access to the people, information or resources they need.

Step 4 Perform to the standards

The team member can use the National Occupational Standards to plan activities, decide on working methods and check on their standard of performance throughout the year.

Interim review meetings between the line manager and the team member provide further opportunities to use the National Occupational Standards to focus on any problems or issues arising and develop strategies to overcome them.

Step 5 Appraise performance

You will have laid the foundations for appraisal during the preceding steps of the performance management process. The objectives are clear, the standards of performance have been established and the evidence of satisfactory performance identified. Interim reviews will have checked that the team member is on course towards objectives, and corrective action taken to address any problems.

There should, therefore, be no surprises at the appraisal meeting for which both the manager and the team member need to prepare. Team members should be asked to assess their own performance against the agreed objectives and standards, and provide evidence of their performance to their line manager. The appraisal meeting should not be a confrontation, but a joint consideration of the evidence and agreement on achievements or, where objectives have not been achieved, on any remedial action required.

Step 6 Provide feedback

National Occupational Standards contain statements of effective performance which you can use to provide very specific feedback to team members about which aspects of their performance were effective, and which were not so effective, and base your comments on facts, not opinions.

Timely feedback on good performance provides very strong motivation for an individual to redouble their efforts. Negative feedback, based on factual evidence and offered with constructive suggestions about how to achieve the performance required, is likely to be viewed as a genuine attempt to help, and therefore accepted positively.

Always give feedback about the performance, not about the team member. National Occupational Standards help to focus on the performance and remove much of the conflict and embarrassment that can sometimes be present when giving and receiving feedback.

Checklist

  • Do you agree SMART objectives with all your team members?
  • Do you identify the National Occupational Standards that are relevant to these objectives?
  • Do you identify what support, such as clarification, coaching, training, development or access to people, information and resources, people need to achieve their objectives?
  • Are people encouraged to use National Occupational Standards to help them plan their work?
  • Do people use National Occupational Standards as checklists to ensure their performance is up to standard?
  • Do people receive a fair and objective appraisal of their performance?
  • Do you give people timely and specific feedback designed to help them improve their performance