Performance standards are the clear, agreed-upon rules that tell everyone how good their work needs to be. They set the bar for the quality, quantity, and speed required to successfully complete specific job tasks or hit established performance objectives (e.g., “all reports must be submitted error-free and on time”).
Think of them as the shared understanding between an employee and their manager—they provide an easy-to-read, objective benchmark so there’s never any confusion about what counts as doing a great job, a good job, or just an acceptable job.
The role of performance standards in performance management
By making the required level of success clear upfront, performance standards give both employees and managers a foundation for consistent feedback. This way, they can be used to help pinpoint where an employee may need additional training, or help define the necessary steps in a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), so that everyone is held accountable to the same clear rules. Overall, established, clearly defined standards help make your performance management system more fair and simple.
Managers can use performance management software to input and link specific quality, quantity, and timeliness expectations directly to existing job roles or performance objectives. It can also be used to track employee activities and documentation against these defined standards, with individual, easy-to-read dashboards that show the degree to which an employee’s output meets or exceeds the established criteria.