Employee Performance Measurement

INTRODUCTION:

In an organisational environment it’s important to keep employees motivated just as importantly as it is to keep them accountable for their work. A way of doing this is in the form of performance measurement. Harnessing techniques that give evaluators an indication as to how their workforce is performing and whether or not action needs to be implemented to improve efficiency and productivity or to reward well performing employees to maintain efficiency and productivity. However, sometimes performance measurement can get in the way having the adverse effect to what it was initially set out to do. The different types of measurement can be categorised into subjective and objective measurement. An issue that arises between the two is that one can be perceived to be fairer but in hindsight, every situation is different requiring different means of measurement.

Performance measurement is intended as a way to help motivate and keep employees aimed at achieving goals. This is often done by giving rewards for achieving targets or being an engaged employee. It is also in place however to keep personnel accountable for their work and can help organisations keep their workforce on task and productive.

Objective measurement is the first of the two type of measuring staff output.

OBJECTIVE MEASUREMENT

Objective measurement (OM) is a means of testing and rating performance by following a predetermined set of criteria. This means that the evaluator’s personal opinion cannot have a bias effect on the end result. Objective measurement is typically very easily implemented to entry level or repetitive roles where the job is quite straightforward or clear cut.

Objective measurement provides a reliable way to measure components of a company and how it is performs. This is because generally speaking objective measurement looks at quantity, speed and efficiency and marks it on a mathematical scale. Because OM is based on reaching targets and is applied in such a way that it is universal to all that it is applied to, objective measurement is seen as a much more fair way of measuring performance.

However, Objective measurement does have its downsides. Limiting the evaluation to ways that can only be measured can mean that other important aspects of a job are not accounted for. Take this as an example; you have an incredibly smart employee who consistently meets targets when tested to confirm they still have relevant knowledge in their field. However, this employee has become complacent in their job and their willingness to contribute and engage has declined greatly, ultimately hurting the efficiency of the company. On one hand, you have been able to test objectively that this employee still has the ability to perform their job but the objective measurement fails to take in that this employee is no longer engaging