Monitoring involves conducting periodic checks to determine an employee’s level of performance in relation to established performance standards. Monitoring provides the data by which performance is ultimately evaluated.

It is important for the supervisor to monitor the employee’s performance, not only to be able to conduct the performance evaluation itself, but also to be able to reinforce good performance or attempt to improve unsatisfactory performance soon after it occurs.

Ideally, the nature and frequency of monitoring should be proposed by the employee. In this case, the employee will have ownership of the process. It makes a big difference to the supervisor-employee relationship if the employee proposes that the supervisor simply show up to observe performance (say, in a customer service setting). Then when the supervisor appears, the employee will understand and accept the supervisor’s presence.

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