New performance management system help reverse company fortunes

Key elements of performance management at NCCI

1. Employees' performance is evaluated twice a year

"More frequent evaluations are more work for supervisors, but they curb the tendency of employees to lose focus during that long time-span between reviews. A twice-a-year system gives employees an opportunity to demonstrate improvement more quickly." - Workforce.

2. Split the process into individual and corporate evaluations

"A company has a need for both day-to-day competence and above-and-beyond creativity that helps achieve larger goals. Evaluating each type of performance separately is a way of ensuring that both are properly valued." - Workforce.

3. Show individuals precisely how they contribute to the organisation's success

"Take the scorecard of company-wide goals and figure out what each department can contribute to achieving them. Then break down the goals even further, into pieces that an individual worker can have an impact upon." - Workforce.

4. Forge a link between pay and performance in a clear, tangible way

"When employees know exactly what they have to accomplish to earn a pay raise or an end-of-year bonus, they’ re better able to focus on achieving those goals. Eliminating surprises at evaluation-and-pay-raise time helps keep morale on an even keel." - Workforce.

5. Coaching helps to turn feedback into results

"Employees and their supervisors still have to find a way to meet those goals, and to use the information generated by the evaluations in a way that produces bottom-line results. So NCCI also started a coaching programme to help managers work with employees to improve their work." - Workforce.