For a company to thrive and have a healthy culture, trust is vital. Unfortunately, many employees do not have trust in their company or their bosses. A lack of trust can have devastating effects on any organisation. For example, employees with a lack of trust are likely disengaged and don’t have the morale to perform to their best. This can all lead to low productivity that will affect any company’s growth. Fortunately, the implementation of performance management software is a significant step to build trust within an organisation. With a reliable performance management system, a company can establish goals and create an organisational culture that motivates employees and improves job satisfaction. Managers must reinforce trust and maintain a good relationship with employees constantly. Below are ways to utilise performance management software tools to boost employee trust.
Set Clear Goals and Objectives
When an organisation lacks direction and clear objectives, it leaves employees disengaged and unproductive. This lack of direction creates job dissatisfaction and reduces trust. Setting reasonable goals and defining each employee’s role is one of the performance management system’s functions. It defines the duties of each worker and the alignment of individual roles to the organisation’s objectives. You should also define expectations and set achievable performance standards to motivate employees to work harder.
Aligning your employees behind your vision and communicating the role they play in your long-term strategy builds trust. You will instil purpose and direction by showing them you trust them with your company’s mission and long-term goals.
Boost Communication
Whenever there is information void in an organisation, the gap attracts negative information. Therefore, managers should be open and honest about their current financial health and social aspects instead of waiting to battle the rumour mill. For trust to flourish, employers need to be consistent in communication and identify when feedback is required. When you have many workers under your leadership, performance management software will come in handy in monitoring and tracking feedback provided in various situations and if follow-up communication is necessary.
Communication should be a two-way street in an organisation. Therefore, employers should encourage workers to come forward when they have any concerns. Constant communication creates a trust culture if the managers can address the issues facing employees immediately. With a system in place to allow communication between management and employees, it is easier to share personal views and receive feedback from managers, staff or team members.
Highlight Training and Development Needs
Employees will trust you when they feel you care about their personal development and respect their career goals. You can use your performance management software to determine their strengths and weaknesses and identify areas that require training. Performance management tools have regular reviews that allow employers to understand the specific skill set of each worker. Such reviews determine training needs to ensure their productivity is optimum.
A manager can ensure employees get a chance to brush up on their skills if their performance is below par. Alternately, employees can get up to speed with upcoming trends in their field to remain competitive in the job market. Such career-enhancing opportunities foster the relationship between workers and their bosses and improve job retention.
Provide Regular Reviews to Boost Morale
Performance reviews and achievements should not just be tools for determining future goals and objectives. They should be tools for documenting rewards and recognising the best-performing staff or teams in an organisation. Nowadays, a payslip does not provide enough recognition. Instead, employees prefer feedback and reviews that will give them a recommendation on how they can improve. Even when you give a negative review, they will appreciate your transparency and take the necessary steps to improve performance.
Research also shows that regular feedback increases employee retention. A high turnover can have adverse effects on your staff morale and reduce productivity. However, you can pick numerous issues from the regular reviews and address them before they affect the company’s performance.
Identify the Suitable Candidates for Promotion Without Bias
Playing favourites in your office promotions is a sure way to lose trust. If you give a few employees information before the rest, you undermine your efforts to build trust in the organisation. As an employer, you should identify and correct bias patterns in your company, including gender or racial bias and prejudice.
To avoid bias, you can use your performance management software when recruiting staff for promotions. With your employees’ regular reviews and performance data, you can get accurate information on the best promotion candidates. Besides, all workers will go through the same review ensuring everyone has equal chances for the promotion. You can also use the performance review data to evaluate the suitable reward from salary increases, an employee of the month recognition or transfers. The software will also ensure transparency, and anyone can follow through with your decision-making process by checking the annual reviews.
Uphold Integrity and Accountability
Managers who blame employees whenever there is a mistake lose the trust and respect of their workers. Some employees will even quit due to accountability problems. Employers must lead by example by being accountable for oversight and mishaps and coming up with solutions or strategies for avoiding problems in the future. How can a performance management system help promote accountability? Performance reviews ensure the manager catches the problems as soon as they arise and reduces time spent on blame games. When you work together to resolve mistakes, employees will trust you to assist them in resolving issues.
Conclusion
Performance management software effectively promotes trust in an organisation and improves employee engagement by promoting open communication. Unlike traditional appraisals, whose focus is on employee failures and improvement areas, performance management software provides a holistic approach to employee performance. It empowers employees with career development and clear expectations, reducing misunderstandings and confusion. Such empowerment will promote trust and foster good working relationships.
