Introduction
Many people now prefer remote work over traditional onsite work, making them more productive and improving their work-life balance. This trend is expected to continue in this decade, with one-third of all full-time workers expected to work remotely in the next five years (Rosa et al., 2018). However, many organizations today do not have systems and policies to manage virtual workers effectively (Flood, 2019).
Regular assessment management reviews could help companies achieve their goals by ensuring employees’ speed, reliability, and conformity to the organization’s standards. Check-ins for remote workers could benefit the employees, business departments, and the organization. When conducted well, performance management operations result in improved morale in organizations, leading to improved productivity for remote workers.
Overview of Performance Management
Performance management is a technique leaders use to ensure that the organization achieves its strategic objectives. This approach is mainly directed towards a particular employee to guide and assess their performance to the expected standards (Mone & London, 2018). Performance management largely relies on communication between managers and their subordinate workers. It is always essential for managers to keep track of their employees and help them develop and manage their talent effectively. According to Verhulst and DeCenzo (2021), managers can understand areas they lack and need additional training when conducting performance management reviews. Communicating regularly with workers also helps managers understand the best roles to assign to different workers based on their talents. Performance management can also be directed to avenues other than employees, including business departments or the whole organization.
Performance management assessments allow employers to see the potential problems that the organization will have. By letting the employees speak up, the performance management manager understands their character and mindset and assigns them the most suitable roles. Meeting up with remote workers and assessing their performance helps the management to understand the most suitable training method for each employee. Different workers have varied personality traits, and the mode of training an extroverted employee is given should be distinguished from the one given to an introverted worker. Furthermore, managers could spot particular problems and gaps in how employees execute their work using performance management assessments (Verhulst & DeCenzo, 2021). This understanding could then gauge if training for a particular employee is necessary and if the company operates efficiently.
Some remote workers need clarification on their jobs regarding who they are to report to and what is expected from them. A company can use performance management to help virtual workers understand what is required of them and where to report when certain problems arise. Promoting understanding among remote workers boosts a company’s revenues since it enhances workers’ productivity. Managers should be keen to boost the employees’ confidence and morale when conducting performance management procedures by clarifying their expectations and the rewards attached to achieving the pre-set goals. Performance management assessments provide an opportunity for immediate feedback from the individual employee to the organization. If the assessment is well conducted, the employee will feel free to express their frustrations or provide positive reviews freely. The feedback can be used to improve the mode of operations of the business unit. When employees express their feelings, they are also more likely to have their morale boosted, thus improving performance.
Techniques of Assessing the Performance of Remote Workers
How managers conduct check-ins is crucial as it influences the benefits they will bring to the individual, department, and the whole company. When conducting remote work check-ins, there are a variety of techniques that managers could use to ensure they reap maximum value. First, managers could conduct evaluations using the critical evaluation method, describing specific events associated with the employee (Verhulst & DeCenzo, 2021). For example, while conducting the performance management evaluation, the leader could ask the employee about how they felt on a particular day when they failed to achieve their target. They can also take a more positive approach and, as the employee, how they would have loved the company to compensate them when they over-delivered on a particular project.
Secondly, managers could use a graphic rating scale to appraise the remote worker. A graded five-point Likert scale could be used with the extreme negative being strongly disagree and the extreme positive being strongly agree. The manager should consider some important indicators of commitment and satisfaction in remote work, such as attendance level, level of commitment, an individual’s teamwork skills, and the worker’s dependability. The employer should not fill out the form in the presence of the remote worker. While grading, the manager should also be careful not to have a narrow scope of the interaction due to the guidelines set in the graphic rating scale. Having a narrow scope could make the manager miss some unexpected problems that the remote workers are facing.
Importance of Frequent Check-ins
Performance management assessments result in better business outcomes, and the benefits eventually offset the costs incurred to conduct the assessments. Studies show that organizations that carry out the assessments have significantly better business performance than those that do not (Mone & London, 2018). This is because 68% of all employees will put more effort when they know their organization values their endeavors (Roberson & Perry, 2021). Knowing what to do on a day-to-day basis has a purpose and changes the outlook of the tasks, making them more enjoyable. Improved morale encourages employees to have better teamwork and to be able to bear long working hours (Verhulst & DeCenzo, 2021). Performance managers should always try to find a niche where they optimize employees’ productivity while ensuring they leave enough room for breaks to avoid burnout among workers.
Knowing the proper compensation and reward system that best fits an employee is almost impossible since everyone is different. For managers to understand a person’s choices and preferences, it is advisable to spend a substantive amount of time with them so that they feel free to express themselves. Managers could easily gauge different workers’ preferences due to daily workplace interactions in the traditional onsite work environment. This assessment is more difficult in a remote work environment, necessitating performance management reviews. The check-ins need to be conducted more frequently, and the manager to conduct the reviews should remain the same unless there is a good reason to change them. The assessment would boost productivity as studies show that 84% of employees working in organizations with sound reward management systems are fulfilled with their work (Jamal Ali & Anwar, 2021). A variety of reward systems need to be implemented for different workers since they will likely have different choices and preferences.
Conclusion
Performance management operations boost the employees’ morale in an organization, resulting in improved productivity for remote workers. They rely heavily on the skills of managers conducting the check-ins. The managers, therefore, need to effectively use techniques that allow greater productivity, such as the critical evaluation method and the graphic rating scale. The frequency of check-in should be considered because it is subjective, but managers must tap into the power of technology to ensure constant engagement with people who work from home.
References
Flood, F. (2019). Leadership in the remote, freelance, and virtual workforce era. Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, pp. 1–5.
Jamal Ali, B., & Anwar, G. (2021). An empirical study of employees’ motivation and its influence on job satisfaction. International Journal of Engineering, Business and Management, 5(2), 21–30. Web.
Mone, E. M., & London, M. (2018). Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.
Roberson, Q., & Perry, J. L. (2021). Inclusive leadership in thought and action: A thematic analysis. Group & Organization Management, 105960112110131. Web.
Rosa, P., GuimarĂŁes Pereira, A., & Ferretti, F. (2018). Futures of work: Perspectives from the maker movement. JRC Science for Policy Report.
Verhulst, S. L. & DeCenzo, D, A. (2021). Fundamentals of human resource management (14th Ed.). John Wiley & Sons.