[caption id="attachment_65518" align="alignright" width="235"] Dada Adefolami[/caption] By Dada Adefolami Performance management is the systematic process by which an agency involves its employees, as individuals and members of a group, in improving organizational effectiveness in the accomplishment of agency mission and goals Strategic planning is a critical step in the management of any organization, regardless of the level. Changing and significantly increasing demands for programs, products, and services and greater demands for accountability and good governance are several of the many reasons public organizations have turned to strategic planning and strategic human capital planning. Before any organization can achieve its vision, it needs a clear strategy and defined metrics to measure its performance. Strategic planning and performance management are therefore vital, evaluating an entity’s strategic position and applying change management solutions. Strategic management is important tools because it allows an organization to initiate activities, influence activities and be proactive rather than reactive in its strategy so that it has full control over its own destiny. Performance Management. Performance metrics are a critical ingredient of performance management, a discipline that aligns performance with strategy. Performance management harnesses information technology to monitor the execution of business strategy and help organizations achieve their goals. Political and economic volatility, globalization and new business models and processes enabled by digital technologies are creating an increasingly fast-paced business environment. Organizations working in them need to be agile, flexible and future oriented. Responding to change Acknowledge that change is part of life. Nothing would exist without change. It’s inevitable. We wouldn’t even be born if our parents hadn’t changed (or grown up). • Accept your emotions. Tell the truth on yourself to allow all your feelings. Cry the crocodile tears and release the energy as it comes up. Nothing is as upsetting to your people as change. Nothing has greater potential to cause failures, loss of production, or falling quality. Yet nothing is as important to the survival of your organization as change. History is full of examples of organizations that failed to change and that are now extinct. Managing Director/CEO need to be more proactive, acting as leaders and agents of change. They are to think and acting more strategically, looking beyond the business function and the organization, taking account of the wider business environment. They are also building wide-ranging relationships inside and outside their organizations as they monitor emerging trends and develop strategic plans. The enabling and decision-making role of CEO is also evolving. Alongside backward-looking Board meeting, internal accounting metrics, product-profitability analysis and periodic financial reporting, there is growing demand for information to support smarter decision-making. need to analyses more strategic performance indicators and evaluate extensive external information including cost trends, market share, competitors, suppliers and ‘big data’. They need to provide more forward-looking information and almost real-time insights. Digital technologies are having an impact – as enablers and liberators – but they are not without risk. Many workshop participants expect more transactions and more complex business processes to be automated, replacing entire tiers of lower and middle management. Management need to assess emerging technologies for their potential business impact. Management must take an outward-looking perspective that extends beyond numbers and a holistic view that goes beyond the organization. Playing a strategic role increasingly requires at least a basic knowledge of non-financial areas such as brand management and marketing, workshop participants having in mind that chief Executive need to explore opportunities for synergies and strategic alliances with organizations in other business sectors. They also need to think innovatively about exploiting technology for process improvement. Changing demographics, such as the growth in part-time knowledge workers and multi-generational work forces, will also have an impact. The evolving environment will create specific challenges for the traditional models used for training and development. Outsourcing to offshore locations will result in fewer opportunities for newly qualified graduates in most developed countries, while increased automation will limit opportunities in mid-tier roles. Fresh graduate will need to find new ways to gain the range of experience and expertise they need to support career progression. Changing f models, such as the growth of outsourcing and offshoring, are also increasing the need for new graduate to develop new management and relationship skills. Planning The global being transformed by the shift from backward-looking analysis to more holistic and forward-looking planning, forecasting and performance management. As boundaries between analysis, decision support and decision-making become blurred, so new graduates need to become more involved in taking decisions themselves. Management Consultant therefore believe that fresh graduate need competencies that enable them to contribute to broader business conversations. They need to become more proactive, partnering with the business and developing and managing relationships with a broad range of stakeholders. they need to be able to build alliances with others, present their arguments in a compelling way and deal constructively with opposition and confrontation. Success will also depend on their ability to follow developments in the wider business environment and understand emerging trends in areas such as culture, demographics, politics, law, international relations and technology. They will need a sound knowledge of digital technologies and how these could impact on business strategy, business models, delivery mechanisms, supply chains and customers. Strategic planning and performance management roles will require understand the importance of human resource management, as well as broader day-to-day resource management issues around administration, internal finance, budgets, capital investment and people. They will need capability in strategic management, including expertise in creating forward-looking models to help to improve resource management and decision-making. Data analysis and project management skills will also be vital. Alongside recent Management consultant competencies workshop participants identified additional skills and attributes that managers in strategic planning and performance management roles will need to develop over the next five to 10 years. These include the ability to take a more entrepreneurial approach to risk and its management and to understand environmental regulations, sustainability and integrated reporting. [caption id="attachment_65518" align="alignright" width="235"] Dada Adefolami[/caption] Planning how you will meet your performance objectives will help focus on the areas you need to achieve your practical experience requirement. However, opting for those that most closely align with your personal preferences may not be the most effective strategy. You should take into consideration the following issues: 1. Think creatively about how you might be able to work with your practical experience supervisor – from initial planning of how to gain experience through to assessment of your performance. Does your practical experience supervisor have specific knowledge or access to opportunities that might favour certain performance objectives over others? 2. Examine all the Essentials performance objectives with an open mind. Some objectives, or even the way in which you plan to achieve them, may provide opportunities to attain Options performance objectives you might not have otherwise considered. Who are you hoping will help you acquire some specific experience? What are that person’s other duties and responsibilities? If you have to liaise with other teams, to which areas of experience could they provide access? Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. It may also extend to control mechanisms for guiding the implementation of the strategy. Strategic planning became prominent in corporations during the 1960s and remains an important aspect of strategic management Strategic management involves the formulation and implementation of the major goals and initiatives taken by a company’s top management on behalf of owners, based on consideration of resources and an assessment of the internal and external environments in which the organization competes. performance objectives with your practical experience supervisor. As you achieve each of your performance objectives, you’ll be one step closer to becoming a well-rounded business professional. Remember that practical experience supervisor will be more likely to appreciate the increase in your effectiveness at work, as you add to your ‘worth’ within the office – and this may provide them with extra motivation and impetus to support you. Your employer may already encourage you to set objectives as part of an appraisal or review process. When setting these, consider the performance objectives you must achieve. How do these reflect your current responsibilities and the objectives your employer wants you to achieve? The practical experience requirements cover technical skills, a commitment to high ethical standards, a flair for communicating and influencing, use of information technology, and the ability to manage people or resources. The key issue to address and this is primarily your responsibility is how to gain the experience you need to help you meet your objectives. Many employers have no formal development system in place that encompasses the setting and appraisal of performance objectives. Management Consultant can help you todesign your plan, record, and report your practical experience to achieve the requirements alongside your employer’s expectations. How to Develop a Performance Management System 1. Evaluate your current performance appraisal process. 2. Identify organizational goals. 3. Set performance expectations. 4. Monitor and develop their performance throughout the year, one on one feedback is a great way to do this. 5. Evaluate their performance. finally Make the most of your practical experience supervisor and don’t rely solely on official appraisals or formal meetings to obtain feedback. Gaining practical experience is primarily your responsibility. The following guidance will help to develop some good habits when tracking your progress: 1. Plot your ‘milestones’ by identifying significant points that represent a step nearer to each performance objective. 2. Consider ethical and governance issues surrounding the work you carry out. For example, when must you exercise value judgments? When must you comply with statutory requirements or face issues of risk? 3. Ask for feedback – not just from your practical experience supervisor but also from your colleagues. 4. Even after identifying the experience required in order to meet performance objectives, keep a look out for even better ways to meet those objectives. How to measure the success of your strategic plan? Measures should be as follow. 1. Relevant to the goal and strategy. 2. Placed in context of a target to be reached in an identified time frame. 3. Capable of being tracked period after period. 4. Owned by the person who’s responsible for the goal. A performancemanagementplan is a formal process used to create clear goals and track progress efficiently and effectively. The techniques used to develop and complete the plan are standard and can be used in a range of circumstances • Dada Suraju Adefolami, FIMC, CMC. Professor of Finance, School of Business Administration, UNEM University Costa Rica, is a Finance / Management Consultant and Certified Forensic Accountant. You can reach him via: surajudada@yahoo.com; 08052043855