The goals of performance management are to: 1) Align individual goals with the organization's strategic goals, 2) Provide performance measures that indicate results tied to strategic goals, 3) Provide timely feedback on performance, 4) Provide developmental tracks for improving knowledge, work attributes, skills, and experience, 5) Increase the overall effectiveness and capabilities of our clients.
	Employee Managed Career Pathing & Professional Development Research literature is rich with findings tying opportunities for professional development with job satisfaction and employee retention.  We believe that the most effective development plans are those that are created by the employee themselves. That's why FirstStep is able to provide the tools and information to place career pathing and professional development planning in the hands of every employee. FirstStep creates career paths with supporting job descriptions and KASE Matrices that clearly show what an employee can do to move to a higher level position or into a new career track.  Employees can look at their latest KASE Eval, compare their results with the required KASE Factors for the next higher level job in the KASE Matrix, determine what skills, knowledge, and experience need to be improved, and go to the organization’s learning management system and sign up for appropriate classes.  This puts professional development in the hands of employees, where it belongs. Take a look at the video/slide presentation to the right to learn about this great tool.
Click on Picture to View Full Size	Performance Evaluation Instruments (KASE Evals) There are two basic approaches to designing performance evaluation instruments: a) create custom job-specific performance appraisals tying strategic goals into the actual job description, or b) utilize current job descriptions and evaluation instruments adding a section for strategic goals.  We prefer designing custom job-specific instruments articulating KASE Factors and tied to strategic goals (KASE Evals) because they not only provide detailed performance feedback, but also because they are easily integrated into career development and career path programs.
	Performance Metrics Effective performance metrics provide specific, objective, feedback to individuals and to the organization.  Performance metrics should not only indicate how well individuals are performing, but also provide information about what improvement is needed.  This empowers people and enables them to better manage themselves.  Performance metrics also allow organizations to conduct comprehensive analyses regarding the achievement and attainment of goals.  FirstStep is highly skilled at determining these kinds of metrics and its technology partner has the software to make it available as needed.