In today’s somewhat precarious economy, the concept of Employee Performance Management (EPM) is getting a lot of attention. That’s because we’re all looking for ways to better engage the workforce, so we can retain our star employees and build competitive advantage.  We’ve been told that a solid EPM strategy can help us identify these top performers and even pinpoint gaps in skills or competencies that must be filled in order to improve overall team productivity.

But how do we find that “solid” strategy? Is there a way to ensure success? And just how specific does an EPM strategy need to be with respect to your organization’s requirements?

Let’s take a quick look at some of the best practices we’ve learned over the years:

  1) The first step toward obtaining EPM success is to know what you need. In this sense, it is extremely important to understand your organization’s specific challenges. You need to know the parameters of your EPM initiative—what you’re hoping to accomplish, the systems you plan to integrate with, and the features you absolutely demand.
  2) Next, consider your EPM options and the total cost of implementing each one. Depending on your budget and requirements, you can choose between in-house or outsourced solutions—and you should weigh the costs of these various systems against having no system in place at all (which often equates to the cost of missed opportunities for driving value).
  3) Consider the risks and benefits of all your available strategies, and then compare vendor solutions. Who is out there to meet your requirements and your budget? Which company offers you reliability and partnership you can trust? Be sure to check references of other customers that have faced similar situations as your own. And don’t forget to ensure that your preferred vendor knows how to integrate with your existing systems or processes in order to maximize efficiency. Additionally, remember that all of this advance planning and thorough investigation will no doubt save you time and money down the road.
  4) Finally, after you’ve deployed your EPM system, be sure you are working to derive real value from it. Just because you put an EPM system in place doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to be successful. You have to use the system effectively. That means leveraging reporting and analytics functions to understand the data you uncover. It also means having the foresight to see how performance data can tie into learning and compensation management in order to build a stronger workforce capable of greater productivity.

For more specific details on how these steps can help you strategically approach performance management, download this informative white paper from SumTotal. Or, if you have questions, feel free to post them here.