Thomas Ridley Foodservice’s Carly Redington talks about the importance of performance management to a firm.

Performance management is a crucial element for any manager aiming for success and it goes beyond just evaluating your team’s output – it involves continuous monitoring, feedback, and strategic adjustments, to ensure the business is progressing in the right direction.

Effective performance management ensures that employees’ goals are aligned with the company's overall objectives. When both individual performance and company goals are in sync, everyone works toward the same targets. Employees feel much more engaged when they understand how their work contributes to the company’s success.

By regularly assessing and providing feedback, whether it be praise or constructive feedback (or both!), performance management builds a culture of accountability. It also helps employees feel recognised and valued for their efforts. Motivated employees are more likely to be productive, innovative, and loyal to the company, which, in turn, improves overall performance.

Performance management also helps identify employees’ strengths and potential areas for development. This insight enables managers to provide targeted training, resources, and support; helping workers to grow in their roles and, ultimately, become more effective. Without performance management, businesses may miss opportunities to make improvements or to resolve any issues.

A manager that actively manages performance sends a message that excellence is a priority. This emphasis on performance creates a culture of high standards, collaboration, and mutual respect. Employees at all levels know what’s expected of them, and they work together to achieve collective success.

Effective performance management encourages open and honest communication. Regular feedback sessions allow employees to voice concerns, ask for help, and offer insights. It fosters transparency, reduces misunderstandings, and strengthens the relationship between staff and leadership.

Ultimately, investing time in your team's growth ensures that they are engaged, productive, and able to contribute to achieving organisational goals. Without this, performance can suffer and disengagement can set in, which can lead to turnover or lower overall team morale. So, even though there may be other immediate or pressing tasks, prioritising your team's development will benefit you in the long run - and eventually make managing those other tasks easier!

Some tips that have always worked for me if this is an area where you struggle:

• Keep each meeting short and face-to-face. Try to set an agenda beforehand, getting input from your direct report, and plan what you would like to cover e.g. objectives, workload or career planning.

• Say thank you. Thank them for their time and efforts and recognise success.

• Be curious. Listen to your colleague’s concerns and provide feedback and ideas to help solve problems (but don’t try to fix all their problems).

• Remember to talk as peers and ask them how things are going before diving into your talking points. Be patient and allow your direct report to set the pace.

• Ask your team member for feedback on how you could help them more as a manager to show that their input is valued, and that you are open to ideas for doing things better and differently.

• Avoid distractions during the meeting, don’t wing it and don’t be too rigid in following your agenda – this will stifle honest conversation.

Carly Redington, Group Accounts Controller, Thomas Ridley