6 Benefits of Automating Employee Performance Management

In the contemporary workforce, the traditional HR process has lost its appeal. From employee onboarding to resolving employee queries, repetitive tasks take a toll on the HR team’s productivity. Employee performance management is one such process that is a routine and uninspiring task that employees endure rather than a valuable exercise. Employees perceive these appraisals as merely a checkbox activity, and this sentiment extends to managers and HR leaders as well. The manual nature of performance management systems exacerbates the issue, leading to employee disengagement and creating more problems than they resolve.

Both employees and those responsible for appraisals, such as managers and HR leaders, are growing weary of this yearly obligation. According to a report, a company with 10000 employees spends around $35 million per review to conduct reviews. The substantial time and effort invested in carrying out performance reviews yield minimal benefits in terms of enhancing employee performance and, consequently, business performance. But what’s the solution to these challenges? In this blog, we will explore employee performance management and how automation can accelerate this process.

Why Automate Performance Management?

In the context of a forward-looking approach, organizations are shifting from merely analyzing past employee performance trends to a more proactive focus on enhancing employee performance in alignment with the organization’s overarching objectives. Also, with a manual performance management system, the HR team struggles with-

1. Efficiency in gaining data insights
2. Fair Evaluation of employees
3. Easy Accessibility of Information
4. Higher employee retention

To address the struggle and create efficient performance management, businesses are adopting HR process automation to handle HR processes efficiently. By implementing a robust performance management system, HR professionals can efficiently provide high-quality, precise, and uniform employee assessments while expending minimal time and effort. This system, in turn, facilitates more robust support and commitment from both managers and employees.

Let’s look at the benefits of using automation in performance management-

1. Instant Feedback

   Around 74% of employees undergo performance evaluations annually or even less frequently. However, only a meager 15% feel motivated to enhance their performance due to these assessments. This data underscores the perception that conventional performance management practices are considered outdated and may have a detrimental rather than a beneficial impact on organizations. Through the automation of the employee performance data collection and analysis process, HR teams can achieve the following:

   1. Deliver consistent and ongoing employee feedback throughout the year, eliminating the need for scheduled formal reviews.
   2. Facilitate the seamless exchange of feedback across different departments, reinforcing positive behaviors and ensuring that all organization members remain aligned with critical objectives.
   3. Enhance their ability to monitor an employee’s development progress over time and pinpoint areas where they may benefit from additional training or guidance.

2. Improve Transparency

   As per the report, less than 30% of employees perceive their performance review as fair. And only 25% consider them to be precise.
   Through the automation of the performance management process, organizations can elevate transparency and accountability among all stakeholders:

   1. Managers and HR departments gain the capability to collect performance data and continuously monitor employee progress in real-time.
   2. This empowers HR professionals to furnish each team member with specific feedback derived from objective metrics instead of subjective evaluations.
   3. Instead of periodic reports, a performance appraisal grounded in objective, real-time data empowers employees to take responsibility for their development and bolsters trust within HR.

3. Increase Training & Skills Quality

   According to a report, more than 70% of employees express a likelihood to depart from their current employer due to the lack of desired training and development opportunities.

   Dependence on manual systems for monitoring employee progress and ensuring uniform instruction can be a laborious and ineffective process. Implementing an automated performance management system can enable organizations to:

   1. Utilize real-time performance data for the assessment of both employee and departmental strengths and weaknesses.
   2. Establish personalized development goals for individual employees and customize training and skill transfer plans based on their advancement and requirements.
   3. Monitor and assess the effectiveness of different training approaches, enabling companies to make informed comparisons.