Managing Individual Performance

Translating corporate strategy and/or organisational aims into individual objectives is essential for giving people the clarity they need to perform their jobs effectively. Use this case study to help participants explore how to align team, departmental and/or organisational goals with individual performance objectives. Allow one hour for completion.

If you are responsible for conducting performance reviews, these tips will ensure you are well prepared and able to conduct the meetings with confidence.

These tips will help employees prepare for, and get the most out of, their performance review meeting.

This checklist summarises a few simple key steps an individual can take to help draft a range of suitable business objectives for their performance agreement meeting. This resource also serves as a useful reference for appraisees and appraisers alike.

This diagnostic is designed to be used by teams within a teambuilding or teamworking context, perhaps in a workshop or away day. It will help a team to explore how effectively they plan team development. Allow 30 minutes for completion.

Use this diagnostic to help managers assess how well they support the performance management process in their team. It covers all key aspects of the process, from providing direction and setting objectives to identifying development needs and drafting personal development plans. Allow 45 minutes for completion.

Give this diagnostic to managers to allow them to assess their skills in relation to organising and conducting review meetings and monitoring performance throughout the year.

This exercise, suitable for you and your team, is designed to improve techniques for giving feedback, including the language used and the construction of feedback sessions. Allow 20 minutes to complete the exercise and a further 30 minutes for the case study element.

This fun exercise encourages participants to develop performance standards and measures for a range of different jobs that are out of the ordinary. Allow 25 minutes for completion.

This group exercise will introduce participants to a systematic process for expressing their responsibilities and desired outputs in a way that is measurable. Allow up to 50 minutes for completion.

Introduce the principles and benefits of a performance management system to your team with this team exercise. Allow around 25 minutes for completion.

If you are responsible for conducting performance reviews with your team, it is important to undertake regular evaluation of the process to ensure it remains effective. Use this questionnaire to review the health of your existing performance review procedure as well as your performance review skills.

Self appraisal can provide employees with a valuable means of reviewing their own performance. Designed to help managers introduce self appraisal to their team, this questionnaire provides a customisable framework that can be used to conduct a meaningful and effective self appraisal.

This role-play demonstrates the importance of monitoring and supporting people throughout the year and highlights the point that performance management is not a once-a-year, ‘tick-box’ activity, but an ongoing process. Allow up to 1 hour for completion.

The scenario for this role-play is a performance agreement meeting between a manager and an appraisee. It explores some of the issues arising from the goal-setting process. Allow 1 hour for completion.

Use this role-play to explore the need to balance job preferences and personal development with individual and team objectives. It will also help participants to practise their feedback skills. Allow 1 hour for completion.

Use this template to gather 360 degree feedback on an individual from a range of sources. A number of competencies are suggested, and these can be customised to suit both the role and organisational requirements. Guidance on how to deliver feedback effectively is also given.

Use this detailed guide as a practical framework for performance reviews to ensure that conversation flows naturally and there is a sense of direction and progress.

How can you address challenging performance issues honestly and still keep the atmosphere positive? This template provides a practical framework which will help you address difficult performance issues with confidence.