Does Performance Documentation Matter?

Document everything…this is the performance management mantra for many HR organizations. And we are not here to dispute it.

We only question the assumption that in the documentation can be found numbers or information that are necessary for an objective and effective performance appraisal.

When it comes to performance management, numbers do not tell the whole story. It is a manager’s job to fairly assess an employee’s performance and offer a concrete evaluation. This is what a good manager does:

• Judge performance
  
  
• Share the assessment with the employee
  
  
• Work together toward continuous improvement

Simple metrics may or may not support a manager’s conclusion. Consider the job of a call center employee. The numbers will tell how many calls were fielded each day and how long each call took. But they don’t tell you about how well the call was handled or if the customer’s need was satisfied. What is genuinely important here…the numbers or the work of building customer loyalty? This is where a manager’s experience and judgment must trump simple data.