In Business the phrase Performance Management describes the HR activity which measures and rewards employee performance; it deals with pay, with bonuses, and potential for promotion. It also deals with poor performance and how to rectify it.
In schools, performance management tends to be relatively simple, typically involving lesson observations, exam results and stakeholder feedback. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is carried out with widely varying levels of rigour in different schools, and sometimes within the same school.
Linked to performance management is the process of capability management or competency management. This process is aimed at assessing not how good someone is at their job, but whether they are able to do the job at all. It is important that you treat these two processes in entirely different ways: if you are involved in competency management, you should seek advice from your professional association and attend all meetings with their representation. Performance Management, on the other hand, is something that you need to understand personally, carry out efficiently and take a direct and leading part in.
The principles are very simple:
a) you should have a written job description, written work objectives and measures of success agreed at the start of the school year. You should have written guidelines agreed between the school and your professional association regarding how these measures are to be made and applied.
c) you should have meetings at pre-agreed times during the school year to assess how well you have fulfilled your job description, achieved your work objectives and delivered your measures of success.
Unfortunately, this does not always happen. Here are some tips for minimising stress and effort relating to performance management.
a) Make sure you have a job description at the start of the term. If not, ask for one. If you have any questions regarding it, put them in writing, politely. File your Job Description somewhere you can find it easily, quickly
b) Make sure that any resources you need in our teaching are identified and agreed at the start of term.
c) Make sure your work-objectives are clear: specific, measurable, and realistic. If there is anything there that you don't believe you can achieve, say so at the outset and explain why. File your Work Objectives somewhere you can find them easily, quickly.
d) Make sure that any measures of success are crystal clear. If successful observations are needed, make sure that there are detailed criteria to be applied during observations and they are not just the subjective opinion of observers.
e) E-mail is your friend. Ask questions in writing via e-mail to ensure that you have a dated record of any concerns.
f) Make sure that any meetings are minuted, and accurate, and keep your own notes. Be prepared to track any actions, and ensure that yours are completed on time. File any relevant meeting Minutes somewhere you can find them easily, quickly.
g) Remember, that evidence is everything, and during the course of the year, you should actively look for ways to provide your measures of success. Keep any evidence - for example graded observation feedback somewhere you can find it easily
At all times, you should
a) understand how your objectives are going to be measured
b) understand what evidence will be used to provide the measurements
c) understand who is going to assess the evidence.