PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
mance indicators” should be used as the foundation
for the performance management process.
Guidelines for performance management:
1. Performance management should be conducted
on measurables; in other words, “increase sales of
vet food by 100 units per month” is far preferable
to “try to increase sales”.
2. Where there is no way to measure, a system
should be implemented so that they can be
measured. For example, “improve customer interaction” could require a rating form to be completed by each customer. While this could be
seen as onerous, the benefit can be seen in a
story that a vet related; a particular employee was
observed by him to be providing poor service on
a few occasions. When this was addressed during
the performance review, the employee became
very upset, which in turn led to an unhappy working relationship and ultimately resulted in the employee resigning. After she left, the vet told me, it
seemed that every customer demanded to know
where she was as they missed her helpful and
gentle service! This goes to show that if something is not measured fairly and consistently, the
wrong conclusion can be reached.
3. Timeframes should be established. For example,
establishing that the front area should be kept tidy
could be reviewed in a week, while increasing
sales could only be reviewed after a longer time
period.
4. Performance management is a two-way street. ]