In a famous story, after hearing what was said about him, the king placed Damocles, the hero of the story, on his throne for a day and kept a sharp sword on top of Damocles with a rope that was thinner than a hair and almost ready to break. Of course, our hero could not even move when he saw that there was a sword above him that would fall on his head and get stuck in his brain at any moment, and that day he could not even decide on an issue for the whole country.
In performance management, which leads us to worry while trying to achieve various goals in both our private and business lives and has no other focus than achieving the target, our scope of action is restricted as long as the anxiety of absolute success and high scores in many subjects and the possibility of being punished as a result hang over our heads like the sword of Damocles.
So much so that in the story, while the King of the country does this to help him understand his own situation, we see that even he has difficulty making decisions due to the pressure he feels as the King, showing that the anxiety of failure and the thought of being harmed can have the same effect even at the top of the organization. On the other hand, I personally stay away from terms such as performance evaluation and performance management.
These statements not only make employees uneasy, but also make them feel like the sword of Damocles is hanging over them. Although I embrace the concept of “Employee Development” more, I believe that it is an expression that is in line with the spirit of what is wanted to be done in a more inclusive field.
Considering the fact that we often spend more time in the companies we work for than at home, it is inevitable to have some expectations in our working life, which continues at a pace where we strive to make our company more successful with high dedication. Being supported rather than hindered and oppressed to achieve these expectations is an encouraging factor that appeals to the human spirit.
At the same time, although these expectations vary across generations within the employee population, they can be gathered under a few main headings.
– Contributing to personal development
– Motivating apps
– Organizational justice
– Equitable wage distribution
Here, the expectations of the employees appear as operations that are simple and will contribute greatly to the formation of the corporate culture. At this point, the employer’s perspective is rewarding, encouraging and supportive rather than threatening, which increases the employee’s loyalty to the institution. In organizational structures, when the employee of the institution, who has a sense of trust, sees a road map in front of him, he will reflect the result in his work as productivity.
As part of the road map, it is extremely important to present a report card to the employee. The term report card here is exactly in line with the spirit of employee development we mentioned; Just like our teachers’ approach to us in our education life, it means encouraging learning in the institution, supporting the subjects in need and presenting the results in the determined periods.
We can even talk about creating environments where the actions that need to be taken on issues that need to be corrected are discussed even after receiving the report card. So what will be the content of the report card? After briefly defining employee development in the paragraphs above, the lines in which we will convey exactly what we want to say start from here.
When designing employee development processes, basic data such as the points to be achieved, which parameters will be used while advancing these goals, and what the criteria are, need to be determined. In short, it is essential to put the field conditions in front of the employee and proceed without changing them in the process. For example; Norms such as the target point as a company and the success score ranges as a result of the evaluation in order to achieve these targets must be put forward.
The criteria for success, development and failure should be relative. It is most important to agree with the employee who will receive the target with the content of the report card that is planned to be created later and to agree that progress can be made under the specified field conditions. For example, employees may receive feedback in cases where targets are set that are higher than they should be and cannot be achieved.
Employees’ feedback and objections should be met with a completely constructive understanding and counter-feedback should be made accordingly. In fact, evaluations should be made based on this feedback and company goals should be updated or it should be decided which actions should be taken to achieve these goals. As can be seen, the necessity of paying attention to the employee mentioned above manifests itself at the very beginning of the process.
In this context, in the content of the report card where mutual commitments are made, issues that are strictly measurable and parallel to the company goal should be addressed. Goals that are far from measurable and do not serve the sustainability of the company will completely cause the process to be processed incorrectly. The measurement method can be quantitative or qualitative based on the intended outcome.
In the report card elements determined as targets, especially with methods that are no longer valid; Relying on personal interpretations or evaluating an employee by colleagues in the same or different department and horizontal or vertical hierarchy can lead to extremely inaccurate results. Finally, after shaking hands under these conditions, we can move on to the next step of the process.
After the goals are determined, observation, measurement and support practices begin and the development monitoring period officially begins. The most important task in monitoring during the period falls on those responsible for the targets and the managers who lead the teams from the lowest hierarchy to the top and show their will. As a result of monitoring and analyzing the progress towards the target and making interim evaluations, the necessary support activities will need to be put into action.
When situations where the target is deviated from are detected in a timely manner, interventions can be made to ensure a positive course, such as eliminating or minimizing the risks. The frequency of interim evaluations may also vary depending on the person or target. For example; If it is determined that an employee for whom a sales target has been set may be affected by negative events in the region he is responsible for, an interim evaluation specific to this target may be required.
It may even be possible to revise the target. In this way, advancing target management throughout the period ensures the healthy functioning of measurability. It should not be forgotten that managers are the primary responsible for monitoring the goals. Unfortunately, many company managements in our country (I exclude those who actually support the managers) also expect the managers to do the job at some points. However, it is worth repeating.
The primary duty of managers should be to ensure that the targets determined in accordance with the company mission are achieved in the light of the criteria we stated at the beginning. Managers who are provided with this opportunity should remain people who see the whole picture, which is expected in good target management.
In the ongoing period, it will be necessary to plan the necessary training or motivational activities to monitor and improve the employees’ competence in terms of competence. It is necessary to plan development activities both to achieve the goals and to meet the requirements of the task independent of the goals. The most important factor for managers here should be to reach the highest point that the employee can reach and to reveal different potentials, if any.
The management approach that sets out or continues with the idea of just fulfilling its duty actually misses many opportunities. Because the cost of the talent that companies recruit from within the workforce they need is much more economical than external transfers. Here, talent management, the other mechanism of employee development, reveals itself.
Supporting the evaluation and development of the competencies of employees in this field with objective data will distract institutions from problems that they do not care about but are actually costly. Making this culture permanent will be extremely important in moving companies beyond generations. Another issue that benefits companies where this culture is established is to become an institution that is preferred by talented people.
This is much more valuable than the advertisements that many companies spend millions on. The definition given to all of these processes is literally talent management.
When we look at it, the better we do talent management, career management, which is another complement of employee development and one of employee expectations, comes into play. Essentially, with the outputs obtained as a result of goal management and talent management, we connect the employees’ road map within the company with career management.
The most important contribution of career management to corporate culture is, first of all, that it provides the employee with an analytical output that shows where his/her situation is in relation to company expectations. When this output cannot be achieved, the size of the institution etc. Regardless of anything else, all employees question their company before themselves. He may think that he was treated unfairly, that he did not receive the salary he deserved, or that he was unfairly denied a promotion. These thoughts bring the employee to the point of breaking away from the organization.
In this respect, it is of course extremely necessary to show where you are in the talent matrix with outputs showing your goals and potential. Here, it may not always result in promotion, but it may also result in different outputs that will motivate employees. For example; receiving various training or even if there is no promotion, a wage improvement etc. due to the potential for evaluation in the coming years. may result in actions.
This is a behavior that shows the value given to employees, and is extremely valuable in terms of employee loyalty and providing input for subsequent periods.
These benefits seen in companies with a fair and inclusive employee development model lead to organizations that are deep-rooted and passed from generation to generation, and when we consider that companies are the basic building blocks of the country’s economy, we can clearly foresee that the spread of these productive practices throughout the society can have positive effects on the welfare of the country.
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