Nowadays, a great significance is being given to Performance Management, as companies incorporate them in their effective management strategies. However, a lot of people find this process a complicated one, mostly because of the many options that it offers – on the organization, a specific department/branch, a product or service, and on employees, among others.
In order to minimize this confusion, the items below will give you a general idea of what Performance Management is all about as well as the activities that are involved in this process.
What is Performance Management?
Performance management is a process that provides both the manager and the employee (the person being supervised) the chance to determine the shared goals that relates to the overall goals of the company by looking into employee performance.
Why is it important?
Performance Management establishes an outline for employees and their performance managers to assess and to come to an agreement on certain concerns and aims that are in accordance with the overall structure of the company. This enables both parties to have clear objectives that would help them in their work and in their professional growth.
Who conducts Performance Management?
Performance Management is carried out by those who oversee the performance of other people – work/team leaders, supervisors, managers, directors, or department chairs.
What are the processes involved?
Below are the phases of the Performance Management process:
1. Planning
This phase of Performance Management process includes establishing job descriptions and identifying the employee’s essential functions as well as defining the strategic plan/s of the department or the company as a whole.
Job Description
A job description is used to advertise a vacant position, which typically specifies the following:
- The specific functions, tasks, and responsibilities of the position
- The amount of time needed to act upon each function
- The qualifications needed (skills, knowledge and abilities) to perform the job
- The physical and mental requirements of the position
- Salary range for the position
- To whom the position reports
Job descriptions should be disclosed to the employee as soon as he or she is hired. Note, however, that job descriptions are listed using words that make it difficult to measure the employee’s performance. They are in contrast with competencies, which list the skills needed in performing such tasks and are described using terms that can be measured.
Strategic Plan
In effect, a strategic plan tells you three things:
- Where the company is heading in the coming year/s.
- How the company is going to get there.
- How the company will know if it is already there or not.
Included in a strategic plan are the following:
Mission statement – the primary reason why your department (or company) exists.
Goals – associated with the mission statement, they determine the results that will advance said statement/s.
Strategic initiatives – specifies definite steps that must be taken to accomplish each goal. It is a dynamic process, usually examined during periods such as one or two years.
2. Developing
This phase of Performance Management process includes developing performance standards, which offers a scale that describes how a specific job should be performed in order to meet (or exceed) expectations. They are explained to newly hired employees and are later used to evaluate work performance.
Performance standards are generally outlined with the help of the employees who actually perform the tasks or functions. There are a number of advantages with this approach:
- The standards will be suitable to the requirements of the job
- The standards will be applicable to actual work conditions
- The standards will be easily understood by the employee (and performance manager as well)
- The standards will be acknowledged (and received) by the employee and the performance manager
Standards of performance are usually in the form of ratings (1 to 5, A to E) that are used by performance managers to rate the employee’s actual level of performance.
3. Monitoring
This phase of the Performance Management process includes monitoring employee’s work performances and giving feedback about them.
As the basis of feedback, observations should be verifiable: they should involve noticeable and work-related facts, events, behaviors, actions, statements, and results. Feedback of this type is called behavioral feedback, and they help employees improve and/or sustain good performance by precisely identifying the areas that the employee needs to improve without judging his or her character or motives.
4. Rating
This phase includes conducting performance evaluations. This is the critical aspect of the Performance Management process, especially because it is important for performance managers to arrive at an unbiased assessment.
A performance appraisal form has the following features:
- Employee information
- Performance standards
- Rating scale
- Signatures
- Employee performance development recommendations
- Employee comments
- Employee’s Self-appraisal
Why conduct performance appraisals? It provides an opportunity to improve performance in the future not only for employees, but for managers as well. Performance appraisals enable managers to acquire information from employees that will help them make employee's jobs more productive.
5. Development Planning
This phase of the Performance Management process includes establishing plans for improved employee performance and development goals. This advances the overall goal of the company and at the same time increases the quality of work by employees by:
- Encouraging constant learning and professional growth.
- Helping employees maintain the level of performance that meets (and exceeds) expectations.
- Improving job - or career-related skills and experience.
In closing, Performance Management is a process that, when executed fairly and effectively, can improve the quality of the company’s workforce, raise standards, increase job satisfaction, and develop professionalism and expertise that would benefit not only the employees but the entire organization as well.
A Guide To Performance Management
Auditing Business Performance
At one level this is a relatively simple tool, requiring the management to select a key area of business activity and to audit performance in that area, comparing to previous performance levels and, ideally, benchmarking against known best practice and performance levels. The information generated by these audits will then be used to identify unsatisfactory performance and enable measures to be introduced to bring about improvements.
The business areas that should be regularly audited, in any business, whether public, private, or not-for-profit, include: External Environment: well established tools and techniques are available and used to scan the external environment for information on issues, events, and trends that will impact on the strategies and performance capabilities of the organisation. The quality of this information, and the interpretations of it, is critical, as it is the foundation stone of the strategic planning activity that follows. An audit of processes, tools, and techniques, and the quality of output, is essential in ensuring that the strategic planning process is provided with high quality, relevant, valid information.
Competitors: although an element of the external environment analysis activity, this deserves a separate mention. Monitoring and-or benchmarking - variations of auditing - of competitor performance is essential. Competitors are, by default, in the same business, and gaining knowledge of competitor performance levels, in as many key areas as possible, will bring benefits to any organisation in any sector.
Strategic Planning: often an area of activity that is not evaluated, because it is carried out by the senior executive levels of management, but should be. In addition to the information gathering discussed above, the level of expertise in strategic planning of the managers, the rationale and justification for the chosen strategies, the processes used to communicate the strategies throughout the organisation, the level of support and resources provided for implementation, the performance of existing and previous strategies, are all areas that should be audited in order for optimum performance to be continuously achieved.
Leadership: separate from the Strategy audit, the quality of leadership should be audited regularly. A set of competencies for leadership, at all levels in the organisation, should be drawn up, and the leadership performance measured against these. Development activity should also be based on these competencies, and on eliminating or reducing weaknesses identified by the audit.
Culture: the existing culture that blend of beliefs, values, perceptions, behaviour, that makes up the culture of the organisation should be regularly audited and compared to the culture that is desired by, the objective of, the organisation’s leaders. Particularly at times when the organisation is planning or undergoing major change, information gathered from these audits will be invaluable.
Financial: where, although there is usually a framework of management and financial accounting processes, there is a need to rigorously and regularly audit the effectiveness of these, to ensure that the budgeting and accounting activity is as productive as possible.
Suppliers: one of the most critical areas of any organisation’s activity, the start of the supply chain, supplier performance, including the performance of those in the organisation who audit supplier performance, must be audited, rigorously and regularly. Now accepted, in parallel with research & design and strategic planning, as one of the foundation stones of quality assurance, any weakness in supplier performance can damage the organisation, sometimes irreparably. Auditing ensures that optimum performance levels are maintained.
Physical Resources: the quality of and use of physical resources, such as raw materials, operational equipment, technological equipment and systems, furniture, fittings, and buildings, all need regular auditing to ensure that the most appropriate resources are purchased, installed, maintained, and used effectively.
Human Resources: this entails auditing the quality of human resources employed by the organisation, the way in which they are deployed, how well they are trained and developed, as well as what opportunities and channels exist for progression. Every aspect of human resources activity should be audited at all levels, from operational up to and including executive level.
Equality: encompassing diversity, discrimination, and equality of opportunity which are all key areas that if not audited regularly to ensure high levels of performance not only abiding by legislative requirements but also contributing positively to the culture of the organisation will lead to conflict, dissatisfaction, lower morale, lower motivation, and ultimately lower levels of performance.
Internal Customers: often ignored, the level of satisfaction of internal customers the next department, individual, or team, that handles the next stage of production or service creation is critical. Overwhelming evidence shows that dissatisfaction of internal customers, leading to breakdowns in communication and cooperation, is one of the major causes of poor overall performance.
Distribution: of the products and-or services provided by the organisation is an essential element in making the organisation successful. Auditing this process will ensure that logistics best practices are in place, and that distribution activity is contributing positively, in terms of financial costs and corporate identity, to marketing, sales, and customer service efforts.
External Customers: auditing the satisfaction levels of external customers is a critical activity that should be carried out on a frequent basis. Customers here include all those at separate points in the distribution chain, through to buyers and end users. Information drawn from these audits will ensure that the organisation is in tune with and can respond appropriately to the needs of its most important stakeholders its external customers.
Stakeholder Relationships: stakeholders are any individual, team, external organisation, that has a legitimate interest in the performance of the organisation. This could include, depending on the sector and specific organisation: employees, unions, parents, relatives, local or national media, local authorities, emergency services, shareholders, financial institutions, funding bodies, governors, national or international governments, strategic partners, and of course, a variety of external customers. Relationships with each of these, in their own way, are critical, and should be audited regularly to ensure that they are as healthy as possible.
Quality System: deliberately listed as the last area to be regularly audited, this is an audit that should be carried out in addition to all the individual audits listed above. Whether an organisation has an externally certificated quality assurance management system, or an internal only system, there should be quality criteria set for every critical activity, event, stage, and process, from the starting point to the final point of the supply chain from the earliest stages of design and supply activity to the point where the product or service is in the hands of the final, end-user customer. Quality criteria that describe required quality levels, performance levels, and outputs, are essential to the success of any organisation. The quality system, including the internal and external auditing processes, should be audited to make certain that it is performing as intended that is, assuring that the required quality standards are being met, and of course, continuously improving.
Effective auditing will bring a number of benefits to the organisation. The first group of benefits are those where obvious weaknesses or problems are identified, including: identifying where immediate improvements could be made; identifying emerging trends that may signify corrective, defensive, or offensive action is needed. The second group of benefits are more subtle, and include: identifying the actual situation, rather than what is perceived to be the case by management or specialists; increasing the pool of knowledge that individuals and teams can learn from; ensuring that the operational activity is, as intended, supporting the strategic objectives: establishing a culture that expects performance to be regularly audited and evaluated: establishes a culture that is driven by continuous improvement activity.
Unless an organisation continuously audits and evaluates its performance in all key areas, it cannot know for certain where poor performance is occurring, and it cannot take corrective action because it is not aware of the problem, or it does not have sufficient information on which to base appropriate action. Rigorous, regular auditing will provide a flow of valuable information that the organisation’s management can use to decide on operational changes that will improve performance in critical areas. Applied across the whole organisation, this will provide the strategic objectives with a stronger foundation of support, and ultimately more chance of success.
Adopt the ‘T’ Method to Sales Performance Improvement
What’s your approach to sales training? Do you have a process that defines which sales performance competency to train to and what impact it will have on selected performance silos if the training objective is successfully met? Or do you rely on ‘field feedback’ not associated with actual performance numbers and related ROI to decide where to put your training dollars?
Here’s a simple blueprint to gain more revenue in less time while maintaining fiscal accountability to the ‘Top-floor’.
At JDH Group, our go-to-market strategy is to understand a sales organization’s revenue goals and define what key results are needed in performance improvement. To illustrate it, we produce diagnostic performance solution ‘Blueprints’ for sales organizations that utilize the ‘T’ method; both vertical and horizontal.
Horizontally, we look at each KPI and help companies understand how to identify, train to, improve and measure competencies in each of the critical performance indicators.
The ‘T’ method of training evaluation is a process that utilizes both a horizontal approach to key sales performance indicators (KPI) and a vertical examination to calculate the impact, or ‘Return on Training Investment’ (ROTI). Aligning the two will not only give you the path of least resistance to your overall revenue objective but will point to performance silos that will produce more revenue and/or recover unnecessary costs from sub-par sales performance.
Horizontal Examination
Here’s an example of sales organization KPI’s that sells business solutions to small and medium size companies:
• 1st Appointment to Proposal ratio (60%)
• Closing ratio (40%)
• Average Revenue per Sale ($3500)
• Sales cycle (38 Days)
• Revenue goal ($25,000)
• Average New appointments generated per rep (5)
This model represents a sales team that statistically has an opportunity to reach 67% of their revenue goal. So let’s take a closer look at which KPI performance training could achieve the required result the quickest.
One way would be to focus on front-end activity. Improving the average appointment generation to 7 new appointments would achieve the revenue goal, all other factors remaining the same.
Option 1: Establish a Prospecting Methodology; a single, documented and agreed upon prospecting method across all sales regions. The training objective should be to spend less time to gain more ‘Targeted’ business appointments to initiate your current sales process.
Another choice might be to evaluate your current sales methodology to understand if there is any room for improvement in your current closing ratio of 40%. As an example, improving this KPI to 60% would secure the monthly revenue target with no other KPI changes. Or splitting the difference; improving the 1st appointment to proposal ratio by 10% and the closing ratio by 10% would achieve the same result while maintaining the necessary new appointments at (5).
Option 2: Initially, choose a ‘Top-down’ approach versus a bottom up; target and initiate your sales process with a fiscal level of authority. Develop a diagnostic sales process that points to the prospect company’s business objectives parallel to you product/service solution. Speak in terms of Return on Investment, Soft and Hard Dollar recovery and Investment Payback Period. Sell the diagnostic parts to your process in line with the prospect’s annual business objectives; don’t rely on ‘Features & benefits’. Then customize your proposal as a hypothetical case study with measurable results.
Vertical Sales Performance ‘Impact Silo’ Examination
Whether you are initiating sales performance training internally or outsourcing a niche training organization, most folks sitting on the ‘Top-floor’ now require accountability in line with budget expenditures.
Another way to say it is the CFO knows he’s wasting half the sales training budget, he just doesn’t know which half.
Approaching sales training expenditures with a Vertical ‘Silo’ inspection will help score points to the fiscal authorities within your own organization.
Let’s take a look at this same sales organization’s vertical performance silos:
• Average New-hire Ramp-to-Quota (5 months) (35 hires per year)
• Sales employee Turnover due to low appointment activity (30)
• Percent of sales reps at or above Quota (70%)
First, calculate your ‘sub-par’ average revenue. This number reflects the average monthly revenue a new-hire achieves before they achieve quota attainment.
As an example, if your current Average Ramp-to-Quota is 5 months, take the average total Revenue sold in the first 4 months of a new hires routine and divide it by 4. That will give you the average 'Sub-Quota' Revenue per Month during Ramp.
In this example, we will use $8,000 as the average ‘sub-par’ revenue.
One of the overall training objectives could be to improve the New-hire Ramp-to-Quota. So you consider the training result and impact as it relates to revenue recovery by selecting a ramp-to-quota goal that’s more efficient than the ‘status quo’ of 5 months. In this case a 1 month ramp-to-quota reduction would recover $595,000 in additional new sales. That equates to $17,000 per new-hire. And if you have determined that the performance training Cost-per-head is $2500, there’s your internal training ROI; 680%.
And we’re not done yet.
You have defined that 30 sales reps per year go out the door directly related to low activity, not setting enough new business appointments to justify the required revenue result.
Let’s take a closer look at it pertains to related costs and potential recovery. Here are your expense breakdowns relating to a new-hire sales rep:
• Average Salary: $28,000
• Recruiting Costs: $1,200
• Training Costs per Rep: $2500
• Monthly Sales Quota: $25,000
If the focused KPI training initiative reduces your sales rep turnover by 50% (15 reps), that recovers $1,953,500 in measurable dollars, something everyone can actually put their finger on.
That’s over $130,000 of real return for every rep that learns how to effectively set new business appointments.
Considering this cause and circumstance versus the realistic training benefit as a ROI factor, you choose Option 1 to establish a Prospecting Methodology across all sales regions. And in this case, that also justifies the training investment to the “Top-floor’.
In the 3rd Vertical Sales Performance ‘Impact Silo’ we determined that an average of 70% of the sales reps are achieving quota per month. And the average month ‘sub-quota’ revenue achieved for the 30% of reps not reaching quota is found to be $16,000.
We also determined the average new appointments generated per week is (5), but
by improving the 1st appointment to proposal ratio by 10% and the closing ratio by 10% we would achieve Quota consistently.
Next, let’s determine our Return on Training Investment if we meet our training objective of improving the 70% team Quota ‘water-mark’ up to 90%.
• 1st Appointment to Proposal ratio (Improve to 70%)
• Closing ratio (Improve to 50%)
• Average Revenue per Sale ($3500)
• Sales cycle (38 Days)
• Average New appointments generated (5)
• 100 sales reps
Implementing a focused performance improvement system to advance our middle KPI’s in supporting an additional 20 sales reps per month to achieve Quota would increase our monthly revenue results by $180,000.
That’s an annual return of $2,160,000 or a training ROI of 864% based on a $2500 cost-per-head training investment. And with a 38-day sales cycle, the training investment ‘break-even’ point would be approximately 80 days.
Because of this cause and circumstance versus the realistic training benefit as a ROI factor, you choose Option 2 to establish a ‘Business acumen’ sales methodology, develop supporting diagnostic tools to establish financial business metrics parallel to your prospect’s initiatives and your product/service solution.
Adopting this ‘T’ method to sales performance training will allow you to determine the shortest path to your revenue goals, determine and implement ‘Best Practice’ sales performance training and justify the training investment to the “Top-floor’.
Because at the end of the day… it’s all about Return on Investment.
Testosterone Levels, Sexual Performance, and Happy Marriages
Summary:
Many people consider sex as a vital component of a healthy marriage. The sexual act is not just for the purpose of satisfying one's libido. It is about effective communication and intimacy. Problems couples may encounter are boredom, lack of intimacy, low sexual desires, and passionless sex. Another cause of sex problems include the failure of one partner, particularly the men to perform to the expectations of their female partners.
Keywords:
sexual health, diet, stress, anxiety
Article Body:
Many people consider sex as a vital component of a healthy marriage. The sexual act is not just for the purpose of satisfying one's libido. It is about effective communication and intimacy. Many wives claim that they often feel rejected when their husbands lack intimacy. Lack of intimacy in marriage often takes an emotional and physical toll on the husband and wife. Their sexual frustrations can also lead to stress, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
On the other hand, couples who engage in regular sexual activities have been reported to be much happier and closer as a marriage partners. Happiness expert Dr. Robert Holden says that, “...sexual intercourse is not just an act of lust or a biological need. Sex is a unique form of communication and intimacy.” According to Dr. Holden: “One of the big mistakes I think we make in relationships is that we don't give our best energy to the people that matter most.” He said that married partners should work hard to have a satisfying sex life along with the balance of a gratifying emotional connection.
But why do some couples have trouble with their sex lives. According to marriage experts, sex problems are just normal. Some of the common sex problems couples may encounter are boredom, lack of intimacy, low sexual desire, and passionless sex.
Another possible reason for sexual frustration may be due to the failure of the man to perform according to the expectations of the female partner. Low testosterone level is one reason why some men have poor sexual performance. Testosterone is a steroid hormone that is necessary for sperm production, development of the male reproductive system, enhanced libido and energy, and immune system function. In addition to its importance to sexual health, this hormone aids the development of many male characteristics like muscles, hair patterns, and voice modulation. Decreased testosterone production in men is a natural effect of aging. This decline in production may result in a low sex drive, constant tiredness, depression, and energy loss. Low levels of testosterone can also lead to sexual dysfunction, bone loss, muscle atrophy, and mood swings.
There are different testosterone replacement options that may help many individuals keep normal testosterone levels in the bloodstream. These treatments are available in different dosages and may be administered via injections, patches, gels, and pills. Testosterone injections are usually done in the buttocks. Two popular injected testosterone products are testosterone cypionate and testosterone enanthate. The former is injected every three to four weeks while the latter is given every 4 weeks. Like many intramuscular injections, these injections may be painful and are usually administered by trained individuals at medical clinics.
On the other hand, testosterone patches and gels, help maintain a constant level of sex hormones and are applied once on a daily basis. They are usually rubbed on clean, dry skin on the back, arms, abdomen, or thighs. These products are not designed to be applied directly to the genitals. Also, putting the patch or gel on broken, oily, or irritated skin should be avoided. Pills containing testosterone undecanoate is another way to boost testosterone levels in the bloodstream. Many testosterone pills are safe to use because they are made from natural ingredients. These pills should be swallowed entirely without chewing.
Taking treatments for low testosterone levels should not be done without the prior advice of a health professional. Men are strongly advised to talk to doctors or other medical specialists and weigh the advantages and disadvantages of these low testosterone medications and treatments. Another focus of attention should be on maintaining a health lifestyle that includes eating good food, engaging in regular exercise, and having adequate sleep. Men should try to improve their sexual performance and communicate intimately with their female partners to nourish each others feelings. Improvement in sexual performance and frequent sex can deepen physical intimacy between married partners and strengthen their bond of love --- which is the real goal of sex in marriage.