Business Integration Matters: What Performance Management Tools Align with Your Organisational Structure?

Let’s explore how you can utilise the modern, useful types of performance management tools to foster business integration in your people for the benefit of the wider organisation.

The importance of business integration

Business integration refers to the digital transformation of communications within any organisation and businesses connected to them in the supply chain. Previously, you may have relied on a patched-together network of different digital systems and tools for communication. In contrast, business integration looks to streamline everything and create smoother routes to communication.

Business integration is vital as organisations adapt and adjust to meet the needs of the constantly evolving digital landscape. Business integration helps to standardise the processes for companies to communicate, avoiding the use of multiple networks, software, and applications and creating a confusing and difficult-to-navigate mesh of different communication channels. A well-designed business integration solution helps companies communicate quicker, speeds up digital transactions, and positively influences the company’s overall growth.

Exploring performance management tools

Performance management is an aspect of communication that needs to be done well to ensure your people know where they sit within the organisation and their next growth steps. There are many types of performance management tools, explored in more depth below:

One-to-one check-ins

Many of the largest multinational brands swear by the power of one-to-one performance check-ins. Tech giants Adobe used this approach to reduce their voluntary turnover by 30%, and by implementing this approach, you can build rapport and relationships with individuals within your team. Regular one-on-ones are much more effective than a singular formal and often only annual appraisal and give many more opportunities to discuss and plan for the future.

Real-time feedback

Fair and accurate feedback in time with project completion or at key points within a project is critical to success. Studies show fair feedback can boost performance rates by up to 39% and the timeliness of this feedback is also important. Holding feedback until the designated time, which may even be weeks or months in the future, has much less impact. Real-time feedback boosts retention and performance, and with the right performance management software, it’s easy to quickly provide relevant feedback to keep your people on track.

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are a tried and tested performance management tool that, especially when using an AI-powered application, can objectively measure an individual’s success. This can be easily compared with wider organisational success and considered in comparison to this, allowing you to see whether an individual can continue to excel in the same direction, needs more focused training, or could be better utilised in another role or area.

Personal development plans (PDPs)

Development opportunities drive and motivate your people to perform at their best. Performance development plans give your people a personalised roadmap to success in their careers and provide options for growth, development, and progression whilst allowing some self-direction and control. Smart PDPs update regularly and utilise the latest software, can respond and adapt as your people complete training courses, develop new skills, and choose their career paths.

Reward and recognition

Reward and recognition programmes are vital for giving your people the praise they deserve for excellent performance. Reward and recognition programmes provide a powerful motivator and help your people see that their contributions are valued and appreciated. Rewards and recognitions can easily integrate with your wider performance management system.

How to choose performance management tools to suit your business

The right tools for your business will be dependent on many organisation-specific factors. It can be difficult to know what’s best to push your organisation forward but answering these questions may help create a clearer picture:

1. What are your business pain points?

Understanding what’s going wrong and what’s bringing down your current performance management processes is vital for selecting the right tools. It could be a lack of time, resources, or a disorganised and structureless approach to feedback. Once you have your pain points defined, you can see the most important areas for intervention in the form of the right tool.

2. What processes can you automate?

Based on your list created above, you can narrow down your specific requirements and find tools to streamline and simplify the process. For example, suppose your current performance management processes are taking too much time. In that case, you should look for a performance management system that can consistently automate some manual tasks that don’t require your input.

3. What integrations do you need?

With the overarching theme of business integration at the heart of your performance management system, you need to look at what tools would ideally be integrated as part of the overall application. Standalone software products aren’t what business integration is about so you may want to look for a tool which also incorporates video conferencing, chat-based communication, and project management tools, too.

4. What are your budget and scalability requirements?

Whether your business is currently in a scale-up phase or not, investing in a new system for your organisation needs to be aligned with your needs. Many performance management systems are priced on a scalable level, so you can choose a subscription fee and opt to extend it if you need access for more (or less) users over time. All of this comes at a cost and this is something you should calculate with care, keeping in mind that initial outlays may be steep but the long-term benefits and time saved should result in a cost saving.

Integrating performance management for happier, motivated people

Creating better communication channels and easier access to all aspects of performance management and other key employee experience processes helps your business run smoothly. There are multiple well-designed and effective tools on the market, many easy to integrate, making managing your people’s journey, including managing their performance and growth, a straightforward and effective process.