The Performance Management Audit - Michael Armstrong

Performance Management is an HR issue and responsibility for it lies with the HR department (even if it seems to be the job of individual line managers, team leaders or a business improvement initiative). For the first time, this audit brings together all the issues involved in performance management and sets out a clear system for analysing, reviewing and improving them.

• If your organisation does not already use performance management formally, you will find a simple framework for introducing appropriate performance management systems and making them work.

• If it does use performance management techniques, you will find the tools to review and evaluate existing procedures - and make them work better.

At each step there are suggested questions, draft questionnaires, policy checklists and project planning guidelines to help you review:

• General principles and practices

• The way you define and agree your expectations of teams and individual staff •Methods of planning performance

• Methods of measuring and reviewing performance (performance reviews and feedback, performance measures and documentation)

• The way you relate pay to performance (including analysis of the techniques available)

• Training and development in relation to performance management

Run this audit and get a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of performance management in your organisation. Then identify and implement improvements, and measure the results.