How HR on Salesforce can improve employee performance - XCD

Salesforce is the world’s biggest CRM system. It’s primarily known for its ability to connect sales and marketing with their customers, but the Salesforce platform has a 360 degree view of business processes with thousands of apps and integrations for different functionalities. XCD is the only HR and payroll single software solution on the Salesforce platform, and features an industry-leading performance management system that seamlessly integrates into your other HR processes…

…but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First things first, we all know that employee performance is crucial to the success of a business, but what is the best way to encourage and support employee performance. And what is the best performance management software to use to monitor progress?

How to improve employee performance

Human Resources have a unique role in improving the performance and productivity of the workforce. But employee performance cannot be the responsibility of HR and HR alone. All departments of an organisation need to work together to ensure that every employee is motivated and able to reach their potential, this means line managers, senior leadership teams, and Human Resources working seamlessly together. 

Performance management is a communication-based process which should be tailored on an individual basis for every employee. It’s not enough for Human Resources check in with employees once a year for their annual appraisal. There should be an ongoing conversation between HR and the workforce to build relationships, set expectations and manage performance effectively. 

Collaborate with line managers on performance management

It is in management’s interests to have a high performing team, and talent management becomes easier for HR when those in direct contact with employees every day are on board with performance management plans. Ensuring performance plans are employee-centric and specific starts with line managers and their regular touch points with their teams. 

Line managers have the best understanding of how their teams operate; they can inform HR professionals on the motivating factors for different employees. Performance management is not one-size-fits-all, perhaps one employee responds well to KPIs, where another would prefer more qualitative targets. Presenting a KPI driven performance plan to an employee that functions better with qualitative targets would be unproductive and could even harm employee engagement. Matching the right type of goals for each employee is key. 

With XCD HR on Salesforce, it’s simple for management to collaborate with HR on the performance management module. As the XCD platform utilises self-service software, managers can add comments regarding an employee’s progress, what actions they’re taking and any additional context to the performance management software discreetly. This ensures that HR teams have a 360-degree view of all of the information and feedback that they need to create plans that encourage engagement, and most importantly, improve performance. 

You may also be interested in our blog: How to Make Performance Management Perform.

Regular performance reviews, rather than just appraisals

Continuous feedback is the key to steady improvement in an employee’s performance. Rather than sporadic jumps in productivity following annual performance reviews which undoubtedly tail off two months later, ongoing feedback enables employees to break down their progression into small, day-to-day goals. This makes employee performance more manageable and consistent in your workforce.

Utilising regular feedback in place of, or as well as an appraisal system also benefits employee experience. Integrating appraisals into existing monthly and weekly workflows demonstrates the performance is an ongoing project for every employee. Then, when it comes to an annual meeting, it’s less intimidating and both HR and employees have a clear paper trail of continued progression. 

The only problem with regular performance management meetings is that it can become time consuming if it’s a manual process. That’s where an automated performance management solution steps in.

With HR on Salesforce, you can take advantage of workflows and self-service within the software to automate the performance management process. All employee data on the XCD HR and payroll platform is centrally accessible and updated in real time on the cloud. This means that whenever HR checks in with an individual, they can be sure that all of the progress updates are accurate. Even personalised metrics, like the employee performance rating is automatically calculated in real-time on the platform from previously outlined criteria.

Using the performance management system within the XCD single solution makes it easier to ensure performance milestones are effectively and promptly rewarded. All performance-related pay rewards are automatically transferred to the payroll system, ensuring employees receive their bonuses promptly. Employees also have total control over personal data, like bank details, as they can manage their data through a personal log in, both on desktop and through a dedicated app. 

We discussed the benefits of HR and Payroll software at length here: 5 HR and Payroll processes Made Easier With Single Software

Improving the performance of underperforming employees

It can be tricky to improve the performance of an underperforming employee without them feeling like they’re being punished. Performance Improvement plans are about getting an employee back on track and promoting self development. In the unfortunate case of an employee consistently underperforming, not meeting sales expectations or behaviour expectations, or perhaps being simply disengaged from their work, a performance improvement plan should be implemented after raising these concerns in performance reviews.  

Like performance reviews that outline the ways for an employee to progress, a performance improvement plan outlines the goals and expectations an employee needs to meet to get back on track. These plans should demonstrate support to achieve these goals, but should also be firm in its outlines. The individual in question needs to be made aware of the specific instances in which they did not meet their job expectations and how they can improve. 

When Human Resources instil a culture of regular feedback and accountability within teams, it makes it easier for an employee to be engaged in their improvement and not feel that they are being singled out. Teams which benefit from a good feedback culture are more likely to encourage each other to perform to the best of their potential and pick each other out of ruts. 

Check out our blog on: Tips to Increase the Effectiveness of Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs).

How to track employee performance

HR software with performance management capabilities

We’ve already touched on it, but performance management software connects Human Resources to the rest of the workforce by making it seamless to provide continuous feedback and ongoing talent management. With automated performance monitoring, HR’s talent management responsibilities are bolstered as they have a direct line between management and individual employees and access to 360 degree feedback.

The XCD performance management system features fully configurable performance review forms which enable HR to customise the performance management experience for each individual, catering to their working styles. Automated performance management enables everyone involved to see real-time progression for every individual in the workplace, motivating them to achieve their best. 

Use AI to predict performance, not generic benchmarking

As the XCD cloud HR software system is built on the Salesforce CRM platform, it benefits from the consistent investment and innovative technology that Salesforce brings to the table. That includes powerful employee performance forecasting with AI-powered technology, Salesforce’s Einstein Analytics. 

Performance forecasting no longer relies on general or departmental data, as the AI-powered software ensures that an employee’s performance projections are realistic and tailored to each employee. This even helps Human resources to plan future talent management and recruitment needs, as they can anticipate when gaps will need to be filled in departments due to promotions. 

Performance management software that performs

XCD’s performance management software solution enables HR to streamline and tailor the performance review process, boost peer-to-peer recognition and encourage a company culture of continuous feedback and progression. Using Salesforce’s intuitive automation workflows to bolster performance management revolutionises how Human Resources, management and individuals operate.

Want to see how automated performance management software can boost your employee’s performance? Book a demo with one of our solution experts today.