The performance of employees is a critical aspect in the success of a company. However, sometimes employees perform below the standard or the set benchmark. The difference between how they perform and the standard is the performance gap. To make sure that an organization keeps up with its objectives, it needs to close that gap so that the employees can perform as expected.

This calls for a performance gap analysis, to find out what is causing the gap and measures that can be applied to close it such as training or acquiring additional skills. The reason being, employees need to perform as expected if the company is to achieve its goals. The essence of an employee performance gap analysis is to find solutions for closing the performance gap.

Contents of an employee performance gap analysis template

Describing the performance

The performance gap analysis template should have the current performance and the expected or standard performance. One way of knowing the expected performance is by having a performance map that shows how an employee in a particular job role with high-performance behaves.

  • Current performance. This is a column listing how an employee is performing using facts and specifics. It can be qualitative such as lack of initiative or quantitative such as ‘sells 10 pieces per day.'
  • Expected performance. The column indicates what performance is expected of the employee in specifics. For instance, the employee should sell 30 pieces in a day.

The gap

The difference is described and ways to remedy stipulated.

  • Identifying the gap. This column indicates if there is a gap or not by saying either yes or no.
  • Explaining the gap. The column comprises what is the gap or the difference between the expected and the actual performance. For instance, the column can have ‘difference of sale of 20 pieces a day'.

What is responsible for the gap and the remedies

This section looks at what causes the gaps and action that can be taken to solve.

  • What causes the gap? The column should have all the factors contributing to the gap such as inadequate sales training, lack of sales motivation, poor screening of sales staff and lack of sales qualifications.
  • The column addresses action that should be taken to close the gap. This can have solutions such as to give employees additional sales training, ways to improve employees motivation, proper screening of sales job applicants to ensure they are qualified and passionate about sales.

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