To take the management headache out of the "dreaded pen-and-paper employee review process," two new Web-based software applications are making it easier to develop, improve and evaluate employee performance.
Performance Now software, developed by KnowledgePoint in Petaluma, Calif., targets two types of organizations - large and small, helping managers to fulfill several performance responsibilities online, including:
- defining and writing job descriptions;
- evaluating, managing and documenting employee performance.
Performance Now Enterprise Edition addresses the needs of organizations with highly controlled and very specific performance management practices.
And, Performance Now Internet Edition targets organizations that are geographically dispersed, and may have multi-platform technologies.
The packages can be customized for healthcare organizations, particularly in areas of age-specific care, case management, counseling, emergency response and ethics and compliance.
Employees Give High Marks
The employee review process at Crotched Mountain Foundation, a rehabilitation center in Greenfield, N.H., was extremely labor-intensive, often requiring managers to fill out 28 pages of paperwork. Using KnowledgePoint's Enterprise Edition, the company which has 600 employees has reduced the paperwork involved in employee evaluations to six to seven pages, says Bill Scimone, CMF's VP of human resources. And management reviews, which used to take several hours to complete, now take an hour.
The system costs $9,000 to install and $1,300 a year to maintain.
The two packages walk managers through best practices for "getting past the blank page" of performance issues, providing them with more than 1,200 coaching ideas for giving feedback and tracking year-round performance.
The software resides on KnowledgePoint's server and can be deployed in 24 hours.
Corporate subscriptions are based on employees usage and ranges from $10 to $26 for the Enterprise edition and $5 to $13 for the Internet edition, says Stephanie Marsh, KnowledgePoint's marketing communications manager. (KnowledgePoint, Stephanie Marsh, 707/762-0333; Crotched Mountain Foundation, Bill Scimone, 603/547-3311, ext. 220)
Evaluating Healthcare Performance
KnowledgePoint's employee evaluation software recently added healthcare-specific categories to ease the review process for managers. These categories include:
- Age-Specific Care: Conducts age-appropriate assessments and highlights effective communications techniques.
- Assessment and Planning: Collects complete data and completes assessments within a set timeframe. Also determines and prioritizes patient care needs.
- Case Management: Manages competing case load demands and develops individualized plans. Maintains positive client relationships.
- Counseling: Establishes rapport with clients and applies active listening skills. Identifies client strengths and needs.
- Cross-Cultural Healthcare: Demonstrates awareness of diverse health issues. Provides culturally sensitive care and communicates effectively across cultures.
Source: KnowledgePoint
Fast Facts on Performance Reviews
- More than four million corporate supervisors in companies with more than 100 employees write between one and 10 performance reviews each year.
- Effective performance reviews can deliver 50% profitability, 23% productivity and 25% shareholder return.
- In California alone, at least $1 million settlements were awarded per month for employees who were wrongfully terminated in 1996.
Source: KnowledgePoint