Performance Appraisal in Wellton NHS Trust - Case Study Example

Performance Appraisal - Wellton NHS Trust Name Course Code Course Instructor Date Introduction Performance appraisal is essentially a management information system that an organisation can use to offer feedback to employees regarding their performance. For this reason, it is a logical means of evaluating, analysing, and leveraging employees’ abilities and competencies at all levels of an organisation (Osabiya 2014). For an organisation like Wellton NHS Trust, a fundamental objective of performance appraisal is to all intents and purposes review the performance of individual employees within a specific period in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and to try to create targets for them in line with the greater organisational objectives. With focus on Wellton NHS Trust, this paper examines how and to what level performance appraisals can improve the organisation’s performance, the features of effective and ineffective appraisal design and implementation, a critical evaluation of the components of a high-performance work system, and lastly how the appraisal discussion should be integrated with other management tools and techniques to support performance development within HPWS. How and to what extent performance appraisals might improve organisational Essentially, to improve organisational performance, an organisation’s management should seek to offer systematic procedures to review and appraise the contributions that employees make to the organisational objectives (Osabiya 2014). This constitutes performance appraisal, which can be described as an integrated system that involves periodic planned discussions between the total performance of the employees and the management about the planned goals. When Wellton NHS Trust’s managers evaluate the employee’s achievements, it is agreed that they assist the employees to discover their strength and improve on their weaknesses. As Elverfeldt (2005) comments, this has a potential of motivating the employees to increase their levels of performance. However, evaluating the progress that each employee makes is not adequate. The performance appraisal should also be able to hold those in charge of executing certain tasks accountable. Hence, the performance appraisal should seek to evaluate the performance of individual employees against standards or goals set and in so doing take corrective actions where needed. Once the employee's strength and weakness are identified, training and additional measures to improve inefficiencies are performed. To a great extent, performance appraisal improves organisational performance at Wellton NHS Trust. Indeed, Gadzedzo (2009) made a similar observation in his analysis of performance appraisal as an organisational tool. He argues that performance appraisal serves as a foundation for the self-development of employees as well as the basis for effective corporate programme that guides employees on what to do, how to do it, as well as what areas they need to improve to improve their productivity as well as the essential personal development areas they need to focus on. Osabiya (2014) also contends that when performance appraisal is efficiently practiced, to a greater extent contributes to organisational performance and growth, on improved sales profitability as well as expansion. To this end, it becomes clear that performance appraisal as a management tool at Wellton NHS Trust is a fundamental contributor to improved organisational performance. Once there is an improvement in employee performance, the organisation would improve its performance in respect to meeting its core predetermined objectives. Performance appraisal at Wellton NHS Trust should, therefore, be interlinked to sets of standards that the management has set up. Ultimately, this would directly affect the key organisational goals. There is the need, therefore, to have a well-defined appraisal system in organisations to enable management to know how well individual workers perform on their job and if there is the need to improve performance or reward performance. Overall, performance appraisal systems should effectively improve or sustain employee performance, or else they would be a waste of money and effort. From a review of the literature, it also becomes apparent an important factor that can determine the effectiveness of performance appraisal system is the degree of acceptance by the employees (Elverfeldt, 2005). The characteristics of effective and ineffective appraisal design and implementation An effective appraisal design and implementation should have clearly set objectives. The objectives should be both specific and clear. An ineffective performance system lacks specific appraisal attributes that relate to the job description of the t the employee (CIPD, 2016). Additionally, it should contain consistent data. It should provide relevant and reliable data based on the objectives, which serve the principles of performance appraisal. It should also allow for employee participation. According to Elverfeldt (2005), employee participation in numerous areas of the appraisal process is likely to bring about an ethical and humane decision-making process. Employee participation should happen in the development of valid, reliable, useful, and fair performance standards. Second, there should be employee participation during the designing of the measurement scales. An effective appraisal design and implementation system should also allow for performance feedback. Providing feedback to the employees, in general, seeks to improve their performance by stimulating behavioural change. Therefore, the ways in which employees are given feedback on how they perform is a fundamental factor that determines the success of the performance appraisal system (CIPD, 2016). It should also allow for performance-based pay. A broadly accepted perception about improving employees’ individual performances is by tying pay them to performance to enhance their productivity (Murphy, 2015). A critical evaluation of the components in a high-performance work system High-Performance Work System describes a combination of management practices designed to bring up a situation in an organisation in which employee are greatly involved and are given greater levels of responsibility (Soens et al., 2011). Several key concepts make up the components that define an effective high-performance work system. The first component is providing employees with greater opportunities to take part in decision making. At Wellton NHS Trust, employees’ ability to take part in the decision-making process is viewed to be a crucial element of high-performance work system, as it permits employees to make decisions affecting their work environment. This in sequence affects the whole organisation. The participation enables employees to feel more empowered, leading to a greatly committed workforce. Training is the second component. Training provides employees with the requisite skills for the effective performance of their task more effectively. It also provides them with opportunities to take up greater responsibilities in the organisation. Additionally, it provides organisations with a means to cross-train the workforce in diverse skills, which make sure that the entire employee base can understand various roles in the organisation (Gadzedzo, 2009). Employee incentive is the third component. While the component of employee training and participation in decision-making assist in preparing employees and the organisations toward successfully implementing HPWS, they are not likely to be successful when there are not incentives. This implies that an organisation would need to seek for means they can use to link pay with performance (Wilkowska 2004). This is crucial as it serves to incentivise employees. This allows them to concentrate on outcomes that are beneficial to the entire organisation as well as themselves. Typically, incentives come in many varied forms, including stock options and in addition to bonuses, equity plans, increased pay, and profit sharing plans. At the same time, they can come in non-monetary forms, such as flextime, and free lunches. Apart from the key components of employee participation, training, and greater incentives, the component of technology is also crucial specifically for modern-day high-performance work systems. One reason for this is that technology is ubiquitous in the contemporary business work, and therefore it should be integrated as a component of an organisational development exercise. However, in high-performance work systems, it is important that technology should not be allowed to be a leading edge technology solution. Despite this, it provides an essential communication infrastructure for conveying and sharing information that enhances business performance (Wilkowska 2004). How the appraisal discussion should be integrated with other management tools and techniques to support performance development within a HPWS Performance management seeks to align the strategy and objectives of an organisation to tasks, and as a result, team, and individuals (Qureshi et al. 2010). This enables employees to be more aware of what tasks to perform, how the tasks should be performed as well as how the tasks are aligned with the overall agenda and vision or an organisation (IDeA n.d.). The manner in which individuals are managed is a component of an approach to performance management that is integrated. This is what makes up the ‘golden thread’ of performance management. The concept suggests that 'golden threads are considered to be in existing when targets, objectives, and performance indicators tend to be consistent across multiple levels, from the Central Government to individual organisations (Moullin 2006). It assists in making sure that business operations at lower levels of an organisation contribute to higher level objectives. A high-performance work organisations has key features such as a highly empowered and engaged employee base, flatter and minimal hierarchical organisational structures because of employee participation in decision-making, the high autonomy of employees, focused team-building efforts, and high-quality customer care (IDeA n.d.). Several methods can be used to integrate appraisal discussion with other management tools and techniques in order to enhance performance development within a high-performance work system. A key objective of an appraisal discussion is to re-evaluate the results that have been attained against the expressed objective. Additionally, it provides an emphasis on the level to which individual employees have contributed to the group work within a HPWS. It is important for an appraisal discussion to be integrated with the management techniques and tools to facilitate an amendment of the staff performance in effectively (Soens et al. 2011). A case in point is where employees who perform poorly at Wellton NHS Trust have to be constantly reassessed by their supervisors, peers, and colleagues to allow them to monitor the employee performance and to make their feedback to be helpful to the employees to provide quality services ((Wilkowska 2004). For instance, when Wellton NHS Trust receives poor reviews from customers regarding the levels of customer’s services, with the help of appraisal system such as 360-degree feedback, the line manager gets to effortlessly access employee performance effectively. However, Wellton NHS Trust may as well empower the employees to provide effective customer service. Therefore, there are some recommendations for escalating the effectiveness of performance management. For instance, the line managers at Wellton NHS Trust the management can open channels of communication, provide training and support to the line managers, increased the responsibility of the employees, and strengthen the link between employee performance and rewards (Soens et al. 2011). First-line managers should be involved in various areas of HPWS. Soens et al. (2011) provided evidence of the pivotal role that first-line managers can play in performance management systems, given that they are in charge of setting up performance objectives, overseeing the performance appraisal process, and providing performance feedback to employees. In respect to training, first-line managers take part in the identification of training needs, selecting employees that should be trained as well as creating a helpful training environment (Gadzedzo, 2009). Despite the crucial role that line managers would play in HPWS, the executive management as well as all leaders throughout the organisation should create a momentum for change by promoting a culture of high-quality performance and providing support systems and culture aligned to organisational objectives. As result of open communication channels, line managers at Wellton NHS Trust may easily pass information regarding the weak areas of employees as well as set forth to improve their performance by providing proper employee training on- or off-the-job. For this reason, it will improve Wellton NHS Trust’s employees’ skills and capabilities, and they would provide quality customer care services (Wilkowska 2004). In addition, Wellton NHS Trust should focus on developing employee’s skills and capabilities from all levels of the organisation by hiring consultants who can enhance their knowledge on the topic of employee etiquette's while handling customers. High-performance work system can further be enhanced by empowering employees to allow them to make an effective judgement (Soens et al. 2011). Conclusion In concluding, it is observed that performance management is an intrinsic component of management at Wellton NHS Trust, as it enables the organisation’s management to review employees’ the performance and to determine whether they do meet the organisational expectations. Therefore, performance appraisal is an effective performance management tool that Wellton NHS Trust uses to measure the performance of its workforce. At the same time, the report has also measured the effectiveness and significance of setting clear objectives, having a strategic alignment, and providing feedback in the process of employee appraisal. Additionally, the report also provides a recommendation on certain methods and strategies that the organisation can use to integrate high-performance work system. Reference List CIPD 2016, Could do better? Assessing what works in performance management, viewed 29 Nov 2016, https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/could-do-better_2016-assessing-what-works-in-performance-management_tcm18-16874.pdf Elverfeldt, A 2005, Performance appraisal – how to improve its effectiveness, viewed 29 Nov 2016, https://essay.utwente.nl/58960/1/scriptie_A_von_Elverfeldt.pdf Gadzedzo, W 2009, Performance appraisal as a tool for organizational productivity and growth at Ghana ports and habours authority (GPHA) – port of Tema, viewed 29 Nov 2016, http://dspace.knust.edu.gh/bitstream/123456789/7597/1/William%2BAgbesi%2BGadzedzo.pdf IDeA n.d., Performance management the people dimension, viewed 29 Nov 2016, http://www.lge.gov.uk/idk/aio/6237345 Moullin, M 2006, “The design of an alternative Balanced Scorecard framework for public and voluntary organisations,” Perspectives Performance, vol 5 no 1, pp.10-12 Murphy, B 2015, The impact of reward systems on employee performance, viewed 29 Nov 2016, http://esource.dbs.ie/bitstream/handle/10788/2487/mba_murphy_b_2015.pdf?sequence=1 Osabiya, B 2014, “Effectiveness of performance appraisal as a tool to measure employee productivity in organisations,” Journal of Public Administration and Governance, vol 4 no 4, pp.135-148 Qureshi, J, Shajehan, A. Rehman, Z & Afsar, B 2010, “Performance management systems: A comparative analysis,” African Journal of Business Management, vol 4 no 9, pp.1856-1862 Soens, N, Buyens, D & Taylor, S 2011, First-line implementation of high-performance work systems: exploring direct and mediated relationships with work unit performance, viewed 29 Nov 2016, https://public.vlerick.com/Publications/830f4137-05ab-e111-8afa-005056a635ed.pdf Wilkowska, I 2004 High Performance Work Systems – A Critical Realist Analysis of the Implementation and Employees’ Experience of the High Performance Work Systems Model, viewed 29 Nov 2016, http://www.uff.br/iacr/ArtigosPDF/104T.pdf Appendix Formative Feedback You will take part in a range of related practical activities relating to performance appraisal during weeks 7-9 during which you will receive both peer and tutor feedback to assist you in the preparation of coursework 2.  Activities to support you with the integration of this material into your assignment will be provided in week 11. *Please note, return dates are estimates and are subject to the satisfactory completion of all marking and moderation activities.  You should watch blackboard for announcements relating to any changes to these advertised dates. The line manager role should consider: Relevant themes/concepts from the module Supporting research and/or literature How could line managers act as a barrier to the effective design and implementation of IPRP schemes When the line manager directly supervises employees and denies them an opportunity to make some decisions, and makes unjust, unreasonable and unfair performance appraisal. The employees’ expectations regarding the competence of the management in delivering a fair and an effective IPRP scheme is, as a result, a crucial factor in the effective design and implementation of the scheme. As performance appraisals of the employees are based on performance standards, employees would be driven to attain these standards (Boachie-Mensah & Dogbe 2011). What approaches could be used to overcome the problems presented by line managers to the IPRP scheme The line managers should be provided with training on effective implementation of the IPRP scheme. The training should also be on effective definition and interpretation of the purpose of the IPRP scheme and how to convey performance standards to the employees to enable them to march their performance to the standards. According to Suff et al. (2007), in order for the scheme to be implemented effectively to improve employees’ work productivity and efficiency, the manager should be provided with effective training. The training programmes should be on effective implementation of the IPRP, and if this is not the case, then the scheme may be interpreted poorly to the employees Document 1: Appraisal Preparation This document is designed to help you plan for your appraisal practical. Take it in with you to the discussion to help to remind you what you want to cover. Note: You must attach a completed copy of this document as an appendix to coursework 2. Structure/Plan: What are the key elements you want to cover in the discussion? (consider the 7 steps video) Think about what order you will do things and how much time you want to spend on each part Objective setting, strategic alignment and feedback in that order. Each will take approximately 45 mins Environment: How will you prepare a relaxed environment and build rapport with the waiting list manager? How will you get them involved and talking? I will first introduce myself and inform the waiting list manager of the purpose and objective of the interview. I will ask the waiting list manager to provide a brief background of himself To get them talking, I will ask them open-ended questions. Review: What objectives will you review during the interview? What evidence do you want to introduce in relation to these? - how organisations evaluate and measures its employee’s achievements and behaviors - how effective managers carry out objective setting, strategic alignment and feedback I will seek to provide proof that performance appraisal does improve employee performance To prove the golden thread theory, which links the interrelation between the performance management at organisational level and the performance management at individual level Questions: What questions do you need to cover during the interview? What do you want to ask the waiting list manager about? 1. Does setting objectives enable managers to create a target for business owners to achieve? 2. Does strategic alignment help managers to link organisational resources with the business strategy so that divisions and employees of the company can collaboratively work with each other towards accomplishing the stated goals? 3. Does providing feedback to employees enable managers to improve employee performance after performance appraisal? Feedback: What are the key feedback points you want to provide? Where has the waiting list manager done well and where do they need to develop further? - The method that the waiting managers use to access the effective performance of their employees in order to provide employees effective feedback. Whether employee value the feedback. Who should be mainly responsible for providing feedback to employees. - With the help of appraisal system like 360 degree feedback, the waiting managers effectively access the performance of their staff in the effective manner. However, they have a problem performing strategic alignment Objective setting: What sort of objectives do you want to agree with the waiting list manager? I agree with the idea that the managers set varied yet relevant objectives: objectives aligned to the corporate-wide goals, objectives that are specific to company department and objectives that are specific to individual employee expectations. I also agree with the idea that the managers appreciate that the significance and efficiency of objective setting is that it motivates employees to render excellent service to their customers. Support: What sort of support do you think the waiting list manager will require? The waiting list manager requires full commitment of the top management, so that they can provide the required resources, including full financial commitment to fund their training to effectively carry out performance appraisal. Close: What are the key points you want to cover at the end of the discussion? I would like to highlight to the waiting list managers at the end of the training that in order to increase the effectiveness of performance management, they should also include opening channels of communication, training and support for line managers, intrinsic and extrinsic motivators such as recognition, and increased responsibilities. Other Reminders: The managers should strengthen the link between performance and reward We recommend you do some independent research around appraisal interviews. Good starting points include: ACAS (2014) How to manage performance [Internet] Available at http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/p/0/How-to-manage-performance-advisory-booklet.pdf CIPD (2014) Performance appraisal factsheet [Internet] Available at http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/performance-appraisal.aspx#link_2 Plus the wide range of HRM textbooks available in the library Document 2: Feedback Sheet Note: You must attach a completed copy of this document as an appendix to coursework 2. Observe the appraiser and provide feedback to them on how they can improve their performance appraisal skills. Areas you might want to consider include: Environment How well was a relationship established? How was it done? What was the climate like? How relaxed was the meeting? We established a strong rapport. The manager was friendly from the start. I believe it’s because I had made an effective introduction by stating my name and the purpose of the study. I also engaged the use of open-ended questions and minimally interrupted. The climate was friendly and relaxed throughout the meeting. Questioning skills Did they use an appropriate mix of question styles Did they use open questions to get the appraisee talking Did they ask the employee how they thought they had been performing? Did they use closed questions to clarify information where appropriate Did they use the funnel technique Did they probe for further information where appropriate [Try to record some examples of different question types used] I used an appropriate mix of question styles, mainly closed-ended and open-ended questions. The open questions got the managers talking. I did not interrupt them when they talked and only interjected with closed questions whenever I needed something to be clarified or needed to probe for further information where appropriate. I, however, did not ask them of their opinions on how they were talking. I did not use funnel technique, as my questions were haphazardly asked. Listening skills Did they demonstrate active listening skills Did they demonstrate positive body language Did they allow the speaker to finish Did they leave appropriate silences Did they ‘reflect back’ the appraisees comments Did they clarify details and check their understanding The manager did not demonstrate active listening skills, as he was periodically interrupted by a phone call and could excuse himself to take the call. On my part, I demonstrated active listening skills by nodding my head to show I was understanding him. However, he demonstrated positive body language, including leaning forward to show he was deeply interested. Additionally, he did allow me to finish speaking whenever it was my turn. Whenever, he spoke, he made it easy to understand certain technical issues about the job by clarifying the details. I also occasionally ‘reflected back’ the appraisees comments. Feedback skills Did they base the feedback on facts/observations Do they gain agreement with the appraisee about how well they performed Did they identify areas of strength Did they describe development areas confidently and clearly Did they help the appraisee explore how they could develop these areas Did they help the appraisee break development plans down into achievable steps I based the feedback on observations and facts obtained from the interview with the manager. The manager was in agreement with my feedback regarding how he had performed. I identified their key strengths in identifying objectives of the study and undertaking the appraisal. I also described development areas confidently and clearly, although failed to discuss with the appraisee how he could develop the weak areas. I also failed to help the appraisee break development plans down into achievable steps. Agreement How far did they reach agreement on the waiting list managers performance and contribution to results? What got in the way of this? What did the appraiser do to overcome areas of disagreement? To a great extent, I reached an agreement with the manager on his performance and contribution to results. Nothing got in the way of this. The Future Did they ask about the individuals job satisfaction Did they find out what ‘makes the employee tick’ Did they explore the employees career aspirations? The manager interviewed admitted to have asked about the individual employees’ job satisfaction. He also found what ‘makes the employee tick,’ which is greater rewards. They also explored the employees career aspirations in order to align their objectives to that of the organisation. Support What strengths were identified? Did they agree on how to further develop these strengths? What problems were identified? What solutions and options were identified? Were they agreed? Were any training and development needs identified? Were any interventions agreed? The key strengths identified include effective objective identification and provision of employee feedback. However, there was no agreement reached on how to further develop these strengths. The problem identified includes strategic alignment. The solution suggested included training on effective performance appraisal with particularly emphasis on how to undertake strategic alignment. We agreed on this recommendation. Managing the Discussion Did they achieve a balanced 2 way conversation (check your communication chart) Did the appraisee do most of the talking Did the discussion end positively Did they agree the next steps to be taken? We achieved a balanced 2 way conversation, although I deliberately let the appraisee to do most of the talking. The discussion ended positively and we agreed that the next step to be taken should include lobbying for greater top management support and training on strategic alignment. Other There should also be training on how managers should strengthen the link between performance and reward Document 3: Appraisal Form Note: You must attach a completed copy of this document as an appendix to coursework 2. NAME JOB TITLE 1. Review: How well has the manager met the objectives set at their last meeting? Explain why this rating has been given. Objective Rating Explanation/Justification/Evidence Objective setting 8/10 Aligns corporate objective to employee’s objectives Strategic alignment 5/10 Poor in aligning organisational resources with the business strategy 2. Going forward: What objectives have you agreed the manager should achieve by your next meeting? Objective Timescale Success Measures Strategic alignment 3 months Effectively aligns organisational resources with the business strategy 3. Support: Agree learning and development support required to achieve objectives 4. Career Aspirations: Record discussion about appraisees future career direction The manager looks forward to attain a top level managerial position of being a department head 5. Comments Manager Employee Poor methods for strategic alignment have prevented the manager from linking organisational resources with the business strategy so that employees of the company can collaboratively work with each other towards accomplishing the stated goals The employees’ objectives are aligned to that of the entire organisation, as they all seek to improve their performance in order to improve the performance of the organisation 1. Assessment Achievement of objectives* Not met all requirements/ objectives Met all the requirements/ objectives Exceeded the requirements/ objectives Levels of skill and knowledge* Below/developing the required levels of knowledge and skills for this post At the required levels of knowledge and skills for this post Beyond the required levels of knowledge and skills for this post Review Manager (name and signature) Reviewee (name and signature) Date Personal Development Plan (The Young Manager) NB: Please attach your completed PDP as an appendix to coursework 2 What are my development objectives? Priority What activities do I need to undertake to achieve my objectives? What support/resources do I need to achieve my objectives Target date for achieving my objectives Actual date of achieving my objectives To improve skills in executing strategic alignment Priority area Attend training on effective methods of performance appraisal Financial resources to hire a consultant or attend coaching Wellton NHS Trust Read More