Performance Management is an HR issue and responsibility for it lies with the HR department (even if it seems to be the job of individual line managers, team leaders or a business improvement initiative). For the first time, this audit brings together all the issues involved in performance management and sets out a clear system for analysing, reviewing and improving them.

• If your organisation does not already use performance management formally, you will find a simple framework for introducing appropriate performance management systems and making them work.

• If it does use performance management techniques, you will find the tools to review and evaluate existing procedures - and make them work better.

At each step there are suggested questions, draft questionnaires, policy checklists and project planning guidelines to help you review:

• General principles and practices

• The way you define and agree your expectations of teams and individual staff -Methods of planning performance

• Methods of measuring and reviewing performance (performance reviews and feedback, performance measures and documentation)

• The way you relate pay to performance (including analysis of the techniques available)

• Training and development in relation to performance management

Run this audit and get a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of performance management in your organisation. Then identify and implement improvements, and measure the results.