Performance management is a series of activities designed to ensure that the organization gets the performance it needs from its employees. Disciplinary actions Employee performance Performance management Identify expected performance levels Encourage high levels of performance.
Performance Metrics in Service Businesses
PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS
Uses of Performance Appraisals
A performance appraisal system is often the link between additional rewards and rewards that employees receive and their job performance. Performance appraisal discussions between managers and employees can also focus on the developmental use of appraisals. A performance appraisal system that uses technology to automate processes can bring many benefits to organizations. HR professionals should therefore consider using electronic methods to facilitate the way in which appraisal procedures are administered and administered.
Developmental uses of appraisals For employees, a performance appraisal can be a primary source of information and feedback that builds their future development in an organization. The manager's role in performance review meetings parallels that of a coach who discusses good performance, explains what improvements are needed and shows employees how to improve. The developmental function of performance appraisal can also identify areas where the employee might wish to grow.
Decisions about the Performance Appraisal Process
By identifying employee strengths, weaknesses, potential, and training needs through performance appraisal feedback, supervisors can inform employees of their progress, discuss areas that could benefit from additional training, and outline future development plans. For example, in a purely developmental performance appraisal interview, an employee identified that the only factor preventing her from being considered for a leadership position in her company was her lack of working knowledge of cost accounting. A manager may not see all of an employee's work, but the employee's team members can.
The daily working relationship between a manager and an employee provides an opportunity for the employee's performance to be evaluated. For high-demand employees, some employers use accelerated assessments—every 6 months instead of every year. Having three separate discussions gives both the employee and the manager opportunities to focus on the administrative, development and compensation issues.
Legal Concerns and Performance Appraisals
WHO CONDUCTS APPRAISALS?
Supervisory Rating of Subordinates
Employee Rating of Managers
Team/Peer Rating
Self-Rating
Outsider Rating
Multisource/360-Degree Feedback
Using electronic systems to summarize the information can greatly reduce the administrative requirements for multi-source assessments and increase the efficiency (ie, privacy and appropriateness) of the process.43. Developmental Use of Multisource Feedback As originally designed and used, multisource feedback focuses on the use of assessments for the future development of individuals. Administrative use of feedback from multiple sources. The popularity of 360-degree feedback systems has led to the results being used in compensation, promotion, termination, and other administrative decisions.
Differences between raters can be a challenge, especially when using 360-degree reviews to make discipline or pay decisions. Another concern is whether 360-degree evaluation improves the process or simply multiplies the number of issues with the total number of evaluators. These problems appear to be less dangerous when 360-degree feedback is used only for development, so companies should consider using multi-source feedback primarily as a development tool to improve future job performance46 while effectively reducing the use of appraisal from multiple sources as an administrative tool. .
TOOLS FOR APPRAISING PERFORMANCE
More variation than expected can be seen in the assessments given by the various sources. One concern is that the peers who evaluate poorly performing colleagues tend to inflate the ratings so that the peers themselves can get higher overall evaluation scores.45. Some also wonder if multi-source assessments really produce better decisions that outweigh the additional time and investment required.
Category Scaling Methods
Note that each level specifies performance standards or expectations to reduce variation in interpretations of the standards by different supervisors and employees. Concerns with Graphical Rating Scales Graphical rating scales in many forms are widely used because they are easy to develop and provide a uniform set of criteria for equally evaluating the job performance of different employees. Regardless of the scales used, the focus should be on the job tasks and responsibilities identified in the job descriptions.
An additional disadvantage of graphic rating scales is that they often group together individual characteristics or factors, giving the rater only one box to check. Behavioral Rating Scales In an effort to eliminate some of the problems with graphic rating scales, employers can use behavioral rating scales designed to assess individual actions rather than personal traits and characteristics.49 Various approaches are used, but all describe specific examples. of employees' work behavior. Specifying the behaviors associated with each performance level minimizes some of the problems noted for the graphic rating scale.
Comparative Methods
Problems also arise when the evaluator has to explain to an employee why the employee has been placed in one group and others in higher groups. Finally, coercive ranking structures can increase employee anxiety, promote conformity, and encourage gaming the system.55 Consequently, a number of companies such as Ford and Goodyear Tire & Rubber have been involved in lawsuits over coercive distribution performance rating processes.56.
Narrative Methods
Management by Objectives
Setting goals: Together, the employee and the superior set goals that are realistically achievable. Ongoing performance discussions: The employee and the superior use the goals as a basis for ongoing discussions about the employee's performance. Although a formal review session may be scheduled, the employee and the supervisor do not necessarily wait until the appointed time to discuss performance.
Combinations of Methods
TRAINING MANAGERS AND EMPLOYEES IN PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
The MBO process appears to be most useful with management staff and employees who have a reasonably wide range of flexibility and control over their work. For employees, performance appraisal training focuses on the purposes of appraisal, the appraisal process and timing, and how performance criteria and standards are linked to job duties and responsibilities. Most systems can be improved by training supervisors in how to conduct performance appraisals.58 Because the performance of the appraisals is critical, training should center around minimizing rater error and providing raters with details about documenting performance. -information.
Training is especially necessary for those who have recently been promoted to positions where performance appraisals are a new experience for them. Without training, managers and supervisors often “repeat the past,” meaning they evaluate others as they themselves have been evaluated in the past, whether accurately or inaccurately.
Rater Errors
For example, a manager's distaste for certain ethnic groups may cause distortion in rating information for some people. Halo and horn effects The halo effect occurs when an evaluator scores an employee highly on all job criteria because of performance in one area. Halo effect Occurs when an evaluator scores an employee highly on all job criteria because of performance in one area.
The error occurs when measuring an individual against another person, rather than measuring how well the individual meets the expectations of the job. Sampling error If the rater saw only a small sample of a person's work, the rating may be subject to sampling error. For example, suppose that 95% of the reports prepared by an employee were satisfactory, but the manager saw only 5% of the reports with errors.
APPRAISAL FEEDBACK
But in a group where many employees are performing well, the same person may receive a lower rating. Although it may sometimes be appropriate to compare people, performance appraisal should usually reflect comparison with performance standards, not with other people. Similar to me/different from me fallacy Sometimes, raters are influenced by whether people show characteristics that are the same or different from their own.
For example, a manager with an MBA degree may give subordinates with MBAs higher ratings than those with only bachelor's degrees. Ideally, the work being graded should be a broad and representative sample of all the work done by the employee.
Appraisal Interview
At the same time, they want to know how their managers feel about their performance.
Feedback as a System
Reactions of Managers
Reactions of Appraised Employees
Effective Performance Management
Many of these factors can be improved through effective development of the performance management process. By ensuring that raters understand how to consistently evaluate job performance, managers should be able to increase support for the performance management process throughout the organization. For information on performance management best practices, see various publications on the Articles tab at www.insala.com.
Given some key practices for a successful performance management system, which should be implemented first. Discuss how this case illustrates how greater support for a performance management system can be developed through employee participation. Identify some of the ways performance management systems can be improved based on experiences in JMI.
Building Performance Management through Employee ParticipationC A S E
Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company (JMI) is one such company that has been actively improving its performance management approach and the results have been very encouraging. By using a more participatory and inclusive approach, the company was able to identify problems with the current performance management system and gain greater support for proposed changes that would ultimately address these problems. The redesign specifically focused on inconsistencies in the management of the performance management system, problems with appraisal techniques and forms, and various challenges linking pay to performance.
In addition, quarterly feedback is provided to employees, pay is more strongly linked to individual effort, and the performance management system works in concert with other elements of human resource management. The JMI Company's performance management process changes show how HR professionals can work with other staff members to create a system that inspires employees and ultimately results in greater job performance.68. Best Practices in Performance Management, Special Advertising Supplement to Workforce Management (Taleo), S5; Paul Loucks, “The Need for Online Talent and Performance Management,” Workspan, October.
