The 10 Most Important Features to Look For In Performance Management Software

The influx of HR technology over the last several years has offered a great deal of opportunity to organizations wanting or needing to revamp their legacy processes and systems. Technology solutions available today span several different needs faced by companies across nearly all industries, including tools to bring performance management to the forefront. Performance management software helps organizations create and sustain key aspects of HR functions, and ultimately, its implementation may result in a more satisfied and engaged workforce. However, not every performance management solution is comparable to the next.

As an HR manager, IT lead, or leader in an organization, selecting the right performance management software is the first step in improving outcomes across the board. To be sure the platform the company invests in offers the most value for the investment, look for the following features.

Organizational and Individual Goals

Performance management software is meant to ease the process of conducting employee evaluations while helping align individual contributions with larger, corporate goals. The solution implemented should have features that allow for defining of these objectives, both on the employee and business levels, as well as a method to connect work performed over time to these goals. Dynamic goal setting and monitoring lays the groundwork for a more attuned workforce that is fully engaged.

Clear Metrics

No software solution is truly beneficial to an organization if the information it provides back to the company is not relevant to its overarching mission. Complicated measurements of successful outcomes or difficult-to-follow initiatives stagnate forward movement. With strong performance management, HR teams, managers, and employees have access to clear, reliable metrics for tracking progress that are easy to find and manage in the system.

Real-time Feedback

One of the most powerful drivers behind increased employee engagement and success within a company is a workforce that feels confident the work they perform is noticed by direct and indirect management. Performance management solutions need to include features that provide real-time feedback functions for management teams and employees. The ability to give feedback, both positive and negative, in the moment good or less than ideal work is delivered keeps employees apprised of their efforts well before a performance review is due.

Performance Archives

Another key feature of a performance management software is the ability to archive feedback, recognition, past evaluations, and career development for each employee. Managers are able to reduce their reliance on memory alone when performance archives are readily available in the platform.

Employee Recognition

Similar to real-time feedback, employee recognition is a proven method for increasing engagement throughout any organization. Kudos for a job well done can be provided at the management or employee level with performance management solutions, and they can be shared seamlessly with other teams or peers. These details are also retained within the system to ensure they are included in the employee’s next performance review.

Job-based Assessment

Within a performance management system, job-based assessments should be the norm. Having the ability to create assessments built upon specific competencies, skills, job descriptions, and indicators of success helps managers and HR departments better deliver valuable insights to employees over time.

Valuable Reporting and Monitoring

Part of the appeal of adding HR technology to an organization has to do with the streamlined collection of data between connected and unconnected parties. Performance management systems should offer a method not only to gather this type of data but also to use it in a way that provides actionable insights and reporting on demand.

Career Pathing

Circling back to employee engagement needs within companies, performance management software should offer add-on functionality for employee personal and professional development. Career pathing software that integrates with performance management systems gives the employee an opportunity to map our job scenarios, see the core competencies and skills necessary to progress in a specific position, and track progress over time. Combining performance management with this unique tool creates a more engaged workforce by empowering individuals to take control over their career trajectories.

Seamless Integration

Adding any new system or platform to a current technology stack can be cumbersome and slow when the right solution is not selected from the start. Similar to other HR technology choices, the performance management software selected should easily integrate with other systems, old and new. Companies can realize the return on an investment in a new technology solution when integration is both fast and painless.

Insights for Decision-making

Finally, performance management systems must include insights for management and HR departments that can be used in strategic decision making. This functionality may include a management dashboard that offers real-time performance metrics that are actionable, as well as reporting capabilities that highlight where things can be improved.

The right performance management software is not necessarily the same choice for every organization; however, seeking out the features mentioned here ensures a smooth transition to a new system while ensuring employees, managers, and HR departments have the tools they need to move forward toward organizational goals.

Author’s Bio:

Linda is the Founder and CEO of TalentGuard, a leading global talent management software company. Inventive and driven, she is known throughout the industry for disrupting HR technology and is the inventor of the first commercially available career pathing software solution designed to optimize employee engagement and retention.Prior to TalentGuard, Linda was a key executive at pcOrder, where she helped to transform an early stage start-up into a leading NASDAQ-listed public corporation. She also held executive roles at other start-ups and Fortune 100 companies. When she isn’t immersed in entrepreneurship, Linda enjoys being in the great outdoors, hiking, running marathons, and singing karaoke. She is an advocate of women’s leadership and empowerment and has led various prominent charities, including the Young Women’s Alliance and American Cancer Society. Linda has two amazing sons and is married to her best friend, Frank.

Related Articles