Employee Performance Management and
Appraisals Demystified

FORMULATING PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Performance Measures are any of the following:

• Goals/Objectives
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Competencies/Values

Performance Measures need to be mutually agreed between line managers and employees, and documented onto a Performance Agreement Form, which serves as a written "contract" between them regarding WHAT needs to be done by the employee and to what STANDARD (Quantitatively and Qualitatively).

There should be anything from 5 to 15 Performance Measures per position/role, consisting of 4 to 8 critical Competencies/Values, with the balance comprising of Goals/Objectives and KPIs.

Before attempting the above process, it would be a good idea to first develop a Job/Role Description for the position through a thorough Job Analysis, as a Job/Role Description can be a major source to derive Performance Measures from.

STEP 1: SETTING KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS (KPAs)

KPAs are areas of accountability for which an employee is expected to produce results.

All jobs should have anything up to a maximum of seven KPAs which, if viewed, will tell you broadly WHAT the JOB ENTAILS (similar to "Job Functions" in the old language).

KPAs should meet the following criteria:

• They (or their combination) should be unique to the specific position.
• They should provide clear justification for the existence of the position.
• They must be within the authority level of the jobholder.
• They must be worded briefly (1-3 words).
• Their number must be limited (not more than 7), focusing on the most important job outputs.
• Provides an answer to the question: "Where does a cluster of related job activities lead to?".
  

Examples of KPAs:

• Office Administration
• Equipment Maintenance
• System Security
• Loss Control
• Customer Support/Service
• Account Management
• Sales
• Marketing
• Advertising
• Purchasing
• Network Operations
• Network Installation
• Self-Development

• Human Resources Management
• Strategic Management
• Financial Management
• Operational Planning, Organizing and Control
  
  

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