Performance Development

Performance Development is a tool for rewarding, encouraging, supporting and developing all employees. Organisations use many different terms to describe performance development, including performance management and performance appraisal (to name a few). Performance development aims to develop, maintain and improve your skills, knowledge and job performance in order to achieve individual career goals and contribute to the achievement of team and organizations business goals.

Performance Development is an ongoing cyclical process, which provides time and a structure for you and your manager/supervisor to:

• Discuss how you are going in your job
• Exchange feedback
• Clarify how your work contributes to the goals of the Health Service
• Decide together what you both need to do in order to optimise the effectiveness of your work
• Identify and plan for any areas/issues needing support 
• Discuss and plan for your development needs.

Getting the Most of Performance Development

Many people have reservations about performance development, thinking that it is an opportunity for your manager to ‘critique’ your performance. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It is an opportunity to recognised your achievements and developments and to make a plan together to develop the competencies and capabilities you require for your role now and in the future. It is a chance to let your manager know what you are capable of and where you want to take your career. It can be also be a way to open up communication channels about how your job contributes towards the organisation goals and objectives, how the job could be done better, what you need to achieve this and how the organisation can help you.

Performance Development & You

• Most organisations include Performance Development as part of their standard Human Resource practice, and will have policy, guidelines and tools specific to the organisation. Talk you your manager about performance development in your organisation.
• If you haven’t had a performance development session with your manager – book one now.

Useful Resources

• Duraisingam V, Skinner N. Performance Appraisal. In N. Skinner, A.M. Roche, J. O’Connor,Y. Pollard, & C. Todd (Eds.), Workforce Development TIPS (Theory Into Practice Strategies): A Resource Kit for the Alcohol and Other Drugs Field. National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia; 2005.