What are Performance Standards?

What are performance standards? A job description says what someone does; performance standards say how well it needs to be done, in terms that can be observed or measured. This article is for small business owners and managers who want clear, fair expectations for their team. It covers what performance standards are, how to design them with your employees, the three levels of performance, and a worked example from a small service business.

• What are performance standards?

• How to design performance standards?

• What are the basic levels of performance?

• Conclusion

What are performance standards?

The job description varies from job to job. Every job has different demands, skills, and education levels. The company sets the criteria for any job. The ones who fulfill the requirements get the job. The job description only identifies the work type and responsibilities. Whereas the performance standards help the company in ensuring quality work. Performance standards are the agreed level of quality, quantity, timeliness or behavior expected in each part of the job.

Performance standard tells an employee how to go about the work and what the set expectations of a company are for any employee. The standards depend on the type of job nature and job description. Performance standards need to be clear and concise, so employees know exactly what "good" looks like.

Each job has its own description and standards, but there are some basic guidelines for setting performance standards:

• Easy to understand

• Easy to implement

• Relevant to the specific job

• Easily measurable

• Easily achievable

• Realistic

• Specific

Performance standards help set expectations for the employees, who know what to do and how to do it. If an employee is not meeting the standards, help them improve with one-to-one meetings, coaching, workshops, or training. Put these sessions in the calendar so they actually happen. This way, the employee will learn and strive to reach and fulfill the company’s performance standards.

How to design performance standards?

It is better to design and finalize the performance standards with your employees. Sometimes leaders set unrealistic performance standards because they are too far from the day-to-day work. Therefore, the employees can help design the performance standards in many ways. Employees also offer unique ideas and insights into the standard-setting meeting. Here are a few of the tips to creatively design your own performance standards:

Reviewing your Guidelines

Performance standards are for all employees. They are not specific to any individual. Therefore, they should apply to everyone. The employees should get a clear idea by reading the performance standards.

Identifications of Important Tasks

You should focus on tasks, responsibilities, and goals. Everything should be predefined and self-explanatory. The performance standards should all gather to work towards the end goal.

Determining the Success Criteria

This is one of the essential aspects of setting performance standards. The success criteria need to be clearly identified so everyone knows what they have to achieve. Some companies focus more on accuracy, while others focus on customer satisfaction. Some work more on marketing, and some on quality rather than quantity. So, it is essential to set the success criteria for the employees.

Written Form

People forget the points quickly. Just talking to your employees about your performance standards won’t help you in any way. It is better to get them written down all the points to make sure everyone follows them. You can also create a separate checklist for each employee, which reminds them to work per the company's performance standards.

What are the basic levels of performance?

Performance standards can be set for the whole company or even a single department. It emphasizes the betterment of employees and sets a yardstick for quality work. Basically, there are three levels of performance:

Strategic Performance Management

This level is set to achieve the organizational goals. It is the highest among other performance levels because it sets the general goals for company growth. For this level, the company strives to answer the following questions:

• Do we have a strategy to achieve our set goals?

• Is the strategy working for our company?

• Are we able to bring the expected results?

Operational Performance Management

The basic goal of this performance management is to set operational goals. This level focuses entirely on the process within a company, such as specific activities or projects. The primary goal is to check whether the current strategy works for the particular project. For this level, the company strives to answer the following questions:

• Is every department performing its duties?

• Are organizational strategies linked with operational activities?

• Are our project strategies producing any results, or do we need to change them?

Individual Performance Management

This is the lowest level which focuses on an individual. The company focuses on the performance of each employee individually. This level starts with setting work goals and standards, then reviewing the employee's performance against them and their ability to learn and work effectively. For this level, the company strives to answer the following questions:

• How are the employees working?

• Are they trying to improve their working standard?

• Are they working towards the betterment of the company?

Workflow Example: Standards for a Salon Front Desk

A salon owner writes performance standards for her two front-desk staff:

1. List the key tasks: Answering calls and messages, checking clients in, booking follow-up appointments, and handling payments.
2. Draft with the team: She asks both staff members what "good" looks like for each task and what gets in the way.
3. Make each one measurable:
   • Phone calls answered or returned within one business hour.
   • Every client offered a next appointment at checkout.
   • End-of-day payment totals match the card terminal, with any difference noted.
4. Write them down: The standards go on one page kept at the desk and in each person's file.
5. Review monthly: In a 15-minute one-to-one each month, they look at how each standard went, and adjust any that turn out unrealistic.
6. Support, then follow up: When one staff member struggles with rebooking, the owner role-plays the checkout conversation with her rather than jumping to a warning.

Conclusion

Performance standards should be flexible and soft enough. You want to ensure that the employees' standards are achievable. Performance standards have many benefits, but you need to create a balance for your employees. Your performance standards need to be motivational and achievable for the employees so they find it encouraging to reach them.

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