Top 10 Ways To Do A Remote Employee’s Performance Evaluation, According to HR Experts!
During the pandemic, work-from-home arrangements have ensured business continuity. In fact, remote work has produced in-demand roles.
Human Resources Manager Maryanne Sipat of Jupiter Systems Inc. explained how work flexibility has increased job attractiveness. “The foremost advantage of the remote setup for managers is the opportunity to champion the concepts of work-life balance into practical application. Our Flexible Work Arrangements (FWA) program has also proven to be beneficial in recruitment, as more applicants are inclined to try out for jobs that would allow them some flexibility,” she said.
Nowadays, employee performance evaluation is no longer about physical monitoring. Hence, for some companies, employee evaluation criteria checklists now include monitoring software.
According to VPN review site, Top10VPN, employee monitoring software has become globally in-demand since the pandemic. From March to August 2021, its sales rose by 63% compared to pre-pandemic times.
Why you should monitor employees
Workforce productivity equals business success. Monitoring employees helps you gauge if targets are being met.
Here are other reasons why employee monitoring is important:
You can better distribute tasks. Keeping track of work activities lets you know their individual load. With this, you have an idea which employees are free to take on more duties. This also helps you relieve overworked members.
Your team meets deadlines. Ensuring workload balance means that everyone is working to finish the project on time.
You make employees feel valued. When you know what employees are working on, you can give feedback and encouragement. This way, remote employees feel supported, inspiring them to be more productive. This is an important part of employee retention.
You identify areas for improvement. Employee monitoring lets you see how the project was carried out from start to finish. This way, you can spot weak links and take steps to resolve the issue.
10 Ways to Evaluate Employee Performance
Employee monitoring is a challenge during the pandemic. Consequently, more and more businesses are relying on software to do this.
However, because of some software features like video monitoring and keystroke logging, some employees complain about privacy invasion. This approach causes employee stress and ethical issues.
Here are some ways you can ethically monitor remote employees:
Explain the importance of monitoring. Before monitoring, inform employees about the process and why you need to do it. If you plan to use monitoring software, warn employees about its possible risks. This transparency creates trust between you and your workers. “Data that was gathered from the monitoring should be treated with utmost care and confidentiality, and must only be used for its intended purpose,” added Sipat. “The use of monitoring software must be limited as this could equal onsite micromanaging, and therefore contribute to more burnout for the employees.”
Draft a monitoring policy. To avoid future issues, consult your employees when making a monitoring policy. This includes agreeing on the monitoring time frame. “Check on employees within work hours only,” urged Lea Co, General Manager of Promate Lifestyle, Inc. “Encourage them to always reply, but respect their privacy beyond work hours.”
State the key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are measurable outputs that let employees know what they have to accomplish within a specific period. For example, writers report on the number of words they have written in a day. Meanwhile, software developers track the amount of time they spend on each backlog.
Break down goals into smaller targets. To see if employees are making progress, create smaller targets that they complete regularly. These can be daily deliverables that help you spot underperforming employees. But make sure to keep their well-being in check. “Try to lessen the pressure by arranging their work tasks based on urgency,” advised Rovilyn Milad of Morivy Data and Technology Inc.
Use digital tools that promote collaboration. Not all digital tools are intrusive. For instance, Google Drive, Zoom and Dropbox make sure remote employees are on the same page. These also let the whole team know what each member is working on. “We use daily Google sheets. accomplishment trackers, and Viber chat,” shared Co.
Use project management software. Nowadays, specific software is tailor-fit for different roles. Software development teams recommend JIRA , while Trello is ideal for marketing tasks. Meanwhile, Asana and Basecamp can be used for a wide variety of projects.
Require daily activity reports. For small teams, daily activity reports are simple yet effective. At the end of the working day, require employees to email you the tasks they have finished or are working on. These help you delegate future tasks.
Empower managers. If you would rather get a cohesive progress report, assign managers to supervise employees. This way, employees are not burdened with submitting daily reports, while managers are empowered to make decisions. However, balance is key. “The important thing is to try not to infantilize your employees by imposing so much control,” reminded Sipat. “When an employee is confident in his role, he'd feel taken care of and important. A higher productivity rate would then follow.”
Pay attention to non-verbal cues. Beyond accomplishment reports, try to watch out for behavioral changes among employees during online meetings. Pick up on signs of low morale and stress, and address them.
Monitor output. “I'm a big advocate of output-based performance,” shared Sipat. “What's just needed here is a common time for the team to meet regularly to communicate and discuss important matters. The bottom line should be the guiding principle of everything. In this case, the end is much more important than the means.”
Carol Evangelista, Recruitment and Staffing OIC of the De La Salle Medical and Health Services Institute agreed: “With the output-based setup, your workers will be encouraged to manage their own time so as to increase their output.” Additionally, HR Manager of Sysmex Philippines Inc. Richard San Pascual said, “Working from home or doing it on-site does not matter as long as employees deliver results.”
While it is vital to monitor remote employees, remember to be mindful of your ways. “Accept that very good workers will not always be able to do very good work all the time, especially under our current situation. Treating them with respect is something they deserve, so if possible, decrease monitoring when you can,” advised Evangelista.
Meanwhile, Sipat reminded managers to be more compassionate. “Managers tend to forget that their employees are humans and not machines or bots. It would be better if they can see from the employee's standpoint for a better case of understanding. It all boils down to a single statement—when employees feel taken care of, the job is also taken care of.”
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