How mentorship can be key to performance management in firms

Performance management within organisations requires a personal touch, and employees and leaders can be empowered to take responsibility for the task.
By: | September 27, 2023
Topics: Asia-Pacific | Compensation and Benefits | Digital Transformation | Employee Experience | Features | HR Technology | Leadership | Learning and Development | Professional Development | Southeast Asia | Talent Management

An effective organisation often relies on ongoing performance management tools to help managers and other leaders keep track and evaluate the work of their employees and subordinates, but the effectiveness of this can be finite if not taken to the next step.   

Managers and leaders within an organisation play a special role in performance management as they can analyse the performance of employees and then proceed to effectively push them to higher levels by mentoring them. This can range from giving opportunities to these employees to develop the skills that employees identify as critical to advancing their careers, and helping employees set goals and performance indicators that can act as milestones to target.    

“We have designed our performance management system in such a manner that it not only acknowledges the successful outcomes achieved by employees but also the efforts put in by them while pursuing a target” – Virendra Shelar, President, OMRON Management Centre Asia Pacific and GM, Global Human Resources Strategy, OMRON Corporation

The user-friendly tool, as Shelar put it, has been, “instrumental in digitalising the performance management process by enhancing the overall user experiences on processes” and has resulted in uniting HR functions and making employees work more collaboratively and effectively, all from different regions across the world. With Performance and Goal Management (PMGM) as one of its key modules, employees can use the tool to request and get real-time feedback from not only managers but also from other colleagues.  
 
The GHRMS is not the only way mentorship in OMRON is conducted. In fact, personalised mentorship is a key part of learning within the organisation and empowers employees to take charge of their own career development. Through the available employee development training programmes across Global, Regional, and Local regions, employees working in teams pick the mentors they believe would be best placed to help them during the duration of group projects that they have to participate in, with the help of the organisation’s Learning and Organisational Development team.   

Individual coaching is also available, with employees making the first move to reach out to their chosen mentor after being introduced to them. “We encourage all employees to develop their Individual Development Plan (IDP),” said Shelar, emphasising that employees are encouraged to use the 3E model for their mentorship programme: Education, Exposure, and Experience, as avenues to learn, connect with mentors from within or outside the organisation, and experience as much as possible to advance forward. The benefits of doing so can consist of bonuses and annual wage increases, more opportunities for promotions, training and development opportunities and receiving plum assignments across the region and/or on a global scale.  

“All employees are encouraged to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goals with their managers,” said Shelar. “They set these goals, and keep track of their progress, capturing a summary of progress and achievements to discuss with their managers during one-on-one sessions and thus be well prepared for more formal performance assessment.” With the help of proactive mentorship and the GHRMS, managers are also able to cascade the team’s goals, track the team’s progress, and provide actionable, constructive, and continuous feedback to team members. ​​​​​​​ 
 
OMRON’s endeavours to make sure that mentorship and training development is done in a fair and transparent manner is an ongoing affair, often with the goal to garner insight on how best to train and develop their employees. In the long run, this is an important long-term element to improve organisational growth, and also makes all employees feel emotionally tied to their progress and growth within the organisation. This special touch, ultimately, pushes employees to do better and in effect become mentors to future aspiring candidates within OMRON and in any other future organisation they choose to join. 

Join Virendra Shelar, President, OMRON Management Centre Asia Pacific and GM, Global Human Resources Strategy, OMRON Corporation, at CHRO Singapore, which is taking place on Thursday, December 7, at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront. 

Shelar will be part of a panel discussion titled, HR 2024 and Beyond: Building the Future Organisations Today, which will analyse the key trends that will shape the way organisations work and offer insights into how HR and business leaders can create winning strategies to build future-ready organisations that can thrive in an evolving world of work.