Implementing Performance Management Systems (PMS) can be a game-changer for any organization looking to streamline its processes and improve employee performance. However, ensuring that a PMS gets off the ground and is effective is more challenging than one may think.
Despite the advantages above, many organizations discover that they have to cope with new and unsuspected difficulties at the implementation stage.
I think anyone who has ever been charged with implementing a PMS knows too well how challenging it can be to guarantee that things run as planned. The good news? In most cases, business challenges can be overcome by implementing the right strategic plans and actions.
In this article, we will try to go through how organizations typically get through some of the hardest performances when developing efficient performance management systems.
1. Lack of Leadership Buy-In
One of the first and probably the toughest barriers, which should be crossed to achieve PMS implementation, is the lack of management support. Top management’s lack of vision on why people should be engaged in the construction and use of performance management systems, or when they regard them as just another human resources tool, the system is bound to fold from the onset. The heads of institutions must always support change processes as they are critical to the success of the new system.
How to Overcome It
For the purpose of gaining support from leaders, it should be obvious that the PMS is beneficial towards the company, as well as how it supports the overall strategy. Present academic evidence of how firms in other industries have adopted performance management systems as tools for increasing employees’ organizational, and business performance.
Involve leaders in advance of system implementation decisions to help them become stakeholders in its success. Moreover, explaining how the analytics in the PMS can help identify the performance of the employees and the growth of the organization can work best in persuading the leadership of the organization.
2. Resistance to Change from Employees
The concept of change is concerning, and for those undergoing a performance management system transition from their typical annual performance appraisals, change is concerning due to the adoption of PMS.
This results in resistance leading to delays or eventual failure in the uptake of the system change process. Some employees may be threatened by constant supervision or may think that the system was put in place just to monitor their incompetence.
How to Overcome It
Communication is key. In this case, fear can be reduced by describing to employees the positive way the new system will impact their experience at work. One has to understand that being transparent about what the PMS is for and training the people to use it, makes all the difference. It also pays to involve employees in the developmental stage and therefore one must ensure that they capture their opinions and issues before implementation.
Employees will have concerns when they are getting a new PMS, and this is why if the organization has to pursue a PMS it should communicate a clear plan of how this PMS would assist in growth, how it will reward performance, and how it will offer development for staff.
3. Inadequate Training and User Adoption
A typical mistake made during PMS implementation is the lack of adequate training. Even if you have an elaborate system sometimes it will not work well because the employees are not or lack knowledge on how to go about it.
Where the users are not very conversant with the PMS tools and processes they put in place it is relatively easy for them to go back to using the traditional way hence making the new system completely irrelevant.
However, if the systems underneath do not offer intuitive applications, then this factor will also deter the employees from full engagement.
How to Overcome It
Coordinate and provide not only intensive training per group but also across managers, HR, and rank-and-file employees so that all are aware of the system design, functionality, and potential for improvement through the use of the PMS.
Another solution could be to offer and/or maintain, and possibly include, training in the form of tutorials, webinars or a hotline where queries could be answered after implementation.
A PMS with a simple design also tends to be selected and used more often. That way, the aspect of the system being time-consuming or cumbersome is eliminated since employees will be using it from time to time almost naturally.
4. Lack of Clear Goals and KPIs
Many companies implement a PMS without first defining clear goals or key performance indicators (KPIs). Lack of clear objectives implies that the system has a poorly defined vision; the employees are not sure what is expected of them. This not only makes the system lose efficiency but also frustrates the workers because they feel their productivity assessment is done without knowing the standards used.
How to Overcome It
Before deploying a PMS it is thus important that you develop clear objectives and specific measures of achievement for your wholesale organization. These objectives need to be communicated to all employees for them to know how their performance affects the overall goal of the organization.
Tying personal objectives with the organizational missions assists the workers in understanding what is at stake and results in creating meaning. You should also find it useful to review and update these KPIs from time to time as your organization expands.
5. Overcomplicated Systems
A good PMS ought to make performance management simpler but complex PMS can complicate it. While having many features within the system may be deemed beneficial, users of that system often are limited with what they can use, or be compelled to use all available features because of an overload.
Some of the disadvantages include attempts to sort through complex interfaces, long review and approval cycles, and foundering under overwhelming amounts of information which makes employees and managers lose interest.
How to Overcome It
Simplicity is key. Choose a PMS which can be very functional and at the same time easily navigated. Select the system with a focus on the basic business processes of your organization, although sometimes you may be tempted to think about getting yourself a universal system.
First, adopt a system with these minimal features then as your organization increases in size, then you may need to look for a system with these extras. By keeping the system as lean as possible, users will continue to engage in the system and meet the intended goals of the PMS.
6. Misalignment Between PMS and Company Culture
The performance management system under discussion has to be compatible with the organizational culture and values. There is always the risk of resistance if for any reason the accepted organizational system is seen as inhuman, systematic, or divorced from the professed company culture. For instance, the corporate culture that is most needed by a given organization could be objected to in the mechanical implementation of its processes.
How to Overcome It
Ensure that when you are choosing or designing the PMS for your company, the type of PMS that you are going to choose or design should give the culture of your company. Employees have to be consulted during the design of their incentive programs to express their concerns and desires.
This means that an organization will only accept a system that fits its core values since everyone within the organization will easily accept it. Also, ensure the PMS allows for quantitative as well as qualitative measures of performance so that the company’s national culture is fully taken into consideration.
How to Operationalise the PMS for Your Organization
Performance management systems are very useful instruments; however, they are not without difficulties during the implementation processes. With leadership commitment, adequate training and maintenance of congruence with organizational objectives and culture, a PMS can be effectively implemented to support performance by individuals and the firm.
It is crucial to understand that any obstacle can and should be surmounted on the way to building an effective and flexible PMS, which will be suitable for every actor in the process.
