{"id":8656,"date":"2021-04-16T17:23:54","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T17:23:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affinityhrgroup.com\/?p=8656"},"modified":"2023-11-27T20:29:39","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T20:29:39","slug":"performance-management-during-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theworkplaceadvisors.com\/performance-management-during-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Performance Management During COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 has made many aspects of employee management difficult. Now, one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are having to adapt to the extended repercussions of the COVID-19 workplace. One persistent challenge is effective performance management, including performance appraisals and disciplinary action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Performance management suffers from distance, reduced face-to-face interactions, changing job duties, and increased absences.\u00a0 While it may need to look different than your typical performance management process, it is important to communicate your performance goals and hold employees accountable, especially if you have not done so in a while. If, given the circumstances, you are unclear as to your performance goals for employees, now is the time to focus on those.\u00a0 You can\u2019t hold people accountable for their performance if you do not know what you need.\u00a0 And, if you changed your usual procedures due to COVID-19, as with any temporary adjustment, your performance review process can be modified now and returned to your usual timing and format when possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Performance appraisals, <\/b>also known as performance reviews, are typically done once a year either on the employee\u2019s anniversary date or on a date based on the company\u2019s seasonal demands. While many employers delayed appraisals in 2020, they should now find new effective and fair ways to evaluate employees. Moreover, now may be a good time to evaluate a more pro-active and frequent form of performance feedback given the challenges that remote work and business disruptions create.\u00a0 If your performance management system wasn\u2019t working before, it\u2019s probably not working now.\u00a0 Time to look for alternatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Disciplinary action <\/b>including warnings, suspensions, and terminations should be conducted and documented as incidents occur throughout the year. While this is an uncomfortable responsibility for most managers during normal times, disciplinary action has become even more difficult during the pandemic as employers seek to minimize additional disruptions and added tensions on top of the stress of COVID-19. But it has to be done.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both performance appraisals and disciplinary action require similar approaches and considerations to be effective and productive:<\/span><\/p>\n