Performance Management 2/E by Bacal, Robert;

Short description:

More than 700,000 Briefcase Books sold!
Provides managers and team leaders with the insight, skills, and techniques for getting the highest performance possible from each employee

Long description:

Proven strategies for maximizing employee commitment and performance

As a manager, you know that employee performance is your most important asset—but are you making smart, well-thought-out efforts to leverage it to its fullest?

Manager’s Guide to Performance Management helps you get the most out of your people by focusing on performance planning (instead of appraising), creating a dialog (instead of issuing directives), and solving problems (instead of pointing blame). Learn how to:

• Work with employees to create goals that are beneficial to everyone
• Observe, gather data on, and document performance
• Conduct performance reviews in a cooperative, collaborative way
• Address thorny situations proactively and professionally
• Leverage the powerful but often misunderstood process of “progressive discipline”

Briefcase Books, written specifically for today’s busy manager, feature eye-catching icons, checklists, and sidebars to guide managers step-by-step through everyday workplace situations. Look for these innovative design features to help you navigate through each page:

+ Clear definitions of key terms and concepts
+ Tactics and strategies for managing performance
+ Tips for executing the tactics in the book
+ Practical advice for minimizing the possibility of error
+ Warning signs for when things are about to go wrong
+ Examples of successful performance management
+ Specific planning procedures, tactics, and hands-on techniques

Proven strategies for maximizing employee commitment and performance

As a manager, you know that employee performance is your most important asset—but are you making smart, well-thought-out efforts to leverage it to its fullest?

Manager’s Guide to Performance Management helps you get the most out of your people by focusing on performance planning (instead of appraising), creating a dialog (instead of issuing directives), and solving problems (instead of pointing blame). Learn how to:

• Work with employees to create goals that are beneficial to everyone
• Observe, gather data on, and document performance
• Conduct performance reviews in a cooperative, collaborative way
• Address thorny situations proactively and professionally
• Leverage the powerful but often misunderstood process of “progressive discipline”

Briefcase Books, written specifically for today’s busy manager, feature eye-catching icons, checklists, and sidebars to guide managers step-by-step through everyday workplace situations. Look for these innovative design features to help you navigate through each page:

+ Clear definitions of key terms and concepts
+ Tactics and strategies for managing performance
+ Tips for executing the tactics in the book
+ Practical advice for minimizing the possibility of error
+ Warning signs for when things are about to go wrong
+ Examples of successful performance management
+ Specific planning procedures, tactics, and hands-on techniques

Table of Contents:

Introduction
1. Performance Management: An Overview
What’s Wrong with This Picture?
Is There Hope?
Performance Management: What Is It?
What Performance Management Isn’t
What’s the Payoff for Using Performance Management?
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 1
2. The Challenge of Performance Management
Why Do So Many People Try to Avoid Performance Management?
Criteria for Performance Management That Works
When Performance Management Approaches Don’t Work
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 2
3. Performance Management as a System
What Is a System?
The Components of a Performance Management System
Where Performance Management Fits into the Big Picture
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 3
4. Getting Ready: Preparing to Start the Process
Gathering Your Information
Preparing and Educating Staff
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 4
5. Performance Planning: Setting Targets
Some Issues
An Overview of the Performance Planning Process
The Performance Planning Meeting
The Follow-Up
An Optional Step: Action Planning
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 5
6. Ongoing Performance Communication
The Purpose
The Outcomes (Communication + Deliverables)
Formal Methods
Informal Methods
People Techniques
Communication in Action
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 6
7. Data Gathering, Observing, and Documenting
Why Do We Gather Data and Observe?
What Do We Gather? What Do We Document?
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 7
8. Three Approaches to Evaluating Performance
The Dilemma of Individual Performance Appraisal
Rating Systems
Ranking Systems
Appraisal by Objectives and Standards
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 8
9. The Performance Appraisal Meeting
What Makes the Process Work?
Preparing and Scheduling
The Appraisal Meeting
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 9
10. Performance Diagnosis and Improvement: The Key to Success
Causes of Success and Less-Than-Success
The Performance Diagnosis/Improvement Steps
The People Process
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 10
11. Performance Management and Discipline
The Meaning of Discipline
Principles of Disciplinary Action
The Purpose of Disciplinary Action/Consequences
The Progressive Discipline Steps
Disciplinary Process in Action
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 11
12. If It’s So Easy, Why Isn’t “It” Getting Done? Answers to Common Objections
I’m Too Busy and You Are Asking Me to Do More Work
The System We’re Forced to Use Is Dreadful. It’s a Wasteful Paper Chase.
My Employees Hate the Appraisal Process
If I Use a Cooperative Approach, Employees Will Take Advantage and I Will Lose Power
Unless I Can Use Performance Appraisal to Reward Employees (Pay for Performance), There’s No Point
Employees Won’t Like Me or Get Angry if I Have to Tell Them They Need to Improve
Human Resources Won’t Let Me Manage Performance Properly
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 12
13. People Process, People Techniques
Your People Mindset
Essential Interpersonal Skills
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 13
14. Human Resources and Performance Management
A True Story
Departments and Performance Management and Appraisal
What Should HR’s Role Be in Performance Management?
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 14
15. Revamping Performance Management Across the Enterprise
First, the Errors
Solutions for Revamping the Performance Management System
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 15
16. Performance Management in Action
The First Step Toward Improving Performance Management
Agreeing on Goals and Objectives
Planning Performance with Staff
Communicating About Progress and Solving Problems
Preparing for the Yearly Review
Reviewing and Evaluating
The Outcomes
Closing Comments
Manager’s Checklist for Chapter 16
Epilogue
Index