Performance Management - Coursework Example

? Performance Management work Executive Summary Performance management and its implications have evolved to be greatly important in recent times. This paper deals with a critical theoretical review of the whole performance management system, its tools and techniques and its practical implication. A healthcare company named Bromley Healthcare is considered in this paper as a case and a critical review of its human resource management has been made. The performance management system with specific emphasis on 360 degree appraisal method has been aligned to the work culture of the said company. Various situations have been considered while making the research and a suggestive appraisal form has been framed for implementing in the company. The paper has distinctively two parts. The first part deals with a theoretical review of performance appraisal and the second part deals with alignment of the theories with the practical implications and its effects. The design of the suggested performance appraisal form has been explained in brief. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Part 1 – Critical Academic Discussion 6 Performance Management System – A Theoretical Overview 6 360 Degree Appraisal Method 8 The Way 360 Degree Appraisal Differs from the Other Appraisal Systems 9 Advantages of 360 Degree Appraisal 10 Disadvantages of 360 Degree Appraisal Method 11 A Successful 360 Degree Appraisal 12 Part 2 – Client Report 13 About the Company 13 Importance of Performance Management in Healthcare Industry 14 Prerequisites of Performance Management System in Healthcare Sector 15 Performance Management for Bromley Healthcare 16 Conclusion 21 Self–Learning Analysis 22 References 23 Bibliography 26 Appendix 27 Introduction Performance is completion of assigned task that is measured against the set standards of perfection and cost. A good performance is the one that meets the set standards and caters to a cost effective completion of the task. In context of an organisation, where an employer – employee relationship exists, the performances of the employees are constantly monitored to ensure a timely completion of the tasks which can result in overall success related to the business unit (Pulakos, 2004). Performance management typically relates to the development of human resource of an organisation by appraisal of their performance. The performance management system can be termed as “Achilles’ heel” of the whole human resource system. The employees employed in an organization need to be enlightened about the objectives of the enterprise and an alignment to these objectives on the part of the employees would lead to achievement of the overall success of the company. Implementation of performance management system helps to measure the achievement of organizational strategy (Pulakos, 2004). Elaborately, a performance management system may be defined as a continuous process identifying the performances of the employees, measuring these performances using various methods and tools, developing the downsides of individual performance and finally aligning the same with the organization’s strategic goals (Health Service Executive, n.d.). Performance appraisal is the activity catering to the formation of performance management system as a whole. There are various performance appraisal systems available globally to measure the performance of any individual. A performance management system considers the various strategic planning initiatives of the organization, it follows an ongoing feedback process in order to facilitate the employees develop their performance and the whole process is driven by the line managers of the company (Health Service Executive, n.d.). Among the various methods available for appraising the performance of individuals, this paper intends to shed some light on the 360 degree performance appraisal method and its implications within an organization named Bromley Healthcare on practical basis. Part–2 of this paper deals with the implementation of the 360 degree appraisal method, for all senior managers of the organization. Part 1 – Critical Academic Discussion Performance Management System – A Theoretical Overview Performance Management System has contributions towards the organization, the managers and the employees of the organization. It helps the employees to define their performance and measure their success clearly increasing their motivation to perform better. The self–esteem of the employees is enhanced also contributing to the development of the employees. On the part of management, the managers’ supervision and their reviews are clearly communicated, they get to know more about the subordinates, a differentiation between poor performance and good performance is maintained in time. The whole process makes the employees overtly confident and competent about their tasks. Finally, considering the organisational point of view, it may be said that the implementation of performance management system facilitates to clarify the organizational goals by a greater extent; it facilitates the changes required in an organisation; makes a platform to build appropriate and fair administrative actions and lastly provides greater protection on the legal edge (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, n.d.) Human Resource Management involves a range of activities that tends to take a heed of the various human resource issues arising in an organisation. Among the list of activities in human resource management, performance appraisal is one of the most important activities which aligns the organisational objectives to the individual objectives. Performance Management System forms a sub–set of the whole human resource management system (Bhattacharya, 2011). With a shift in the view of considering the traditional command and control methods of achieving desired levels of performance, a modern approach was developed to measure and initiate a better performance. Thus, the formation of Human Resource Development as a part of the whole Human Resource Management was formed. A traditional view to the performance management system was considered to be the determinant for determining the promotion, transfer and compensation of an employee. With the involvement of human dynamics and evolution of Human Resource Management from Personnel Management, performance management was placed as one of the most important aspects in connection to the human resource of the organisation as it contributed in determining a gamut of attributes than the traditional ones (Bhattacharya, 2011). The performance appraisal follows a specific process. The process has the following steps: Establishment of the standards of performance Communication of the set standards to the employees Measurement of the actual performance of the employees Comparison of the actual performance with the set standards In case of a negative variation in performance an initiation of corrective measure Communication of the ratings given to the performance of the employees Discussion of feedbacks with the concerned employee A post–appraisal interview Initiation of corrective action if required Source: (Maharshi Dayanand College, n.d.) A performance management system is used by an organisation to spot the degree of achievement of organisational goals, to plan the human resource, to confirm the decision of selection, to determine the promotional factors of the employees, the compensation decisions are most importantly related to the performance appraisal system and last but not the least the training and development needs of the employees are set with the help of this mechanism (Maharshi Dayanand College, n.d.). There are various methods of measuring the performance of individuals of a company. The methods are namely; the ranking method, paired comparison method, forced distribution method, forced choice method, checklist method, critical incident methods, graphical ratings method, essay method, confidential report method, field review method, person–to–person method, Management by objectives (MBOs), behaviourally-anchored rating scale (BARS), assessment centres, 360 degree appraisal method and cost accounting method. The point of concern in this particular paper is the various aspects of performance management system with specific emphasis on the 360 degree performance appraisal method (Maharshi Dayanand College, n.d.). 360 Degree Appraisal Method The 360 degree performance appraisal system also called as Multi Source Multi Rater (MSMR) is one of the most practiced performance appraisal tools used by companies across the globe. The 360 degree performance appraisal system is a formal process wherein an individual duly receives feedbacks from more than one individual or from “multi–raters”. These raters are the persons who are in constant terms with the individual in concern. The objective behind such feedback from the various raters is to let the individual know about his/her performance and its effectiveness. The raters generally involved in a 360 degree appraisal method are an individual’s superiors, subordinates, peers, customers and the individual him/her-self. These raters involved in the process reply to a number of standardised question set to evaluate the performance of the individuals. Apart from evaluating the performance, there are various other aspects that are evaluated such as the performance outcomes and the performance behaviour of the individual. The whole feedback process is reliant on the various scales of ratings and their scores as provided by the raters (Meenakshi, 2012). The Way 360 Degree Appraisal Differs from the Other Appraisal Systems The 360 degree appraisal method is different from the other appraisal methods available in two ways, namely; accuracy of the provided feedback and acceptance of the feedback. Accuracy of the Provided Feedback: It is believed that the 360 degree method of performance appraisal is mush superior in its implications as well as outcome than the various other appraisal systems available as it provides much accurate and complete feedback of an individual’s performance outcomes, behaviour and competencies involved. In comparison to the traditional performance appraisal, where there was a single superior involved to provide the feedbacks to individuals, 360 degree performance appraisal system involves a number of individuals of all levels of the unit to provide feedback to an individual. The all around feedback caters to an overall development of the individual with respect to co–employees of all levels. The accuracy of feedback provided by the appraisal tool depends on regular interaction between the raters and the concerned individual. The main assumption considered by 360 degree method to maintain accuracy is assessing an individual in consultation with the full circle of people involved in the day–to–day business activities. The view that more involvement of raters caters to more accurate feedback of the individual is one of the unique features of 360 degree appraisal method (Alexander, 2006). Acceptance of the Feedback: In comparison to the traditional feedback system, 360 degree appraisal method involves the feedback of more than one rater, thus making it a more concrete basis of appraising an individual. The impact of multi–sourced feedback is much more penetrating than a single sourced feedback. The acceptance of multi sourced feedback is considered to be more effective by an individual and the scope of bringing about changes is comparatively more than usual. The employees might find 360 degree appraisal to be more acceptable as unlike the traditional methods, where there is one single supervisor providing feedback about an individual with limited knowledge of his / her activities, the modern method provides feedback from a range of related individuals from various levels of the firm (Alexander, 2006). There are various parties involved in the 360 degree appraisal method. These parties are namely, the top management, the immediate superiors, the peers, the subordinate, self and lastly the customers. These parties play different roles in the appraisal method (Alexander, 2006). Advantages of 360 Degree Appraisal The advantages involved in implementation of 360 degree appraisal effects three parties. They are the employees, the managers or the co–workers and the organisation itself. Employee: The employee being the person in question in the whole process of performance management, benefits the most with respect to his/her organisational objective linked development as well as individual development. The feedback mechanism involved in 360 degree appraisal method provides the employee with a clear notion of development in specific fields (Scribd, 2013). Managers Or the Co–Workers: The 360 degree appraisal creates a better environment favourable for better team work. The flow of communication is made much smoother in this appraisal system. The team members tend to be more acceptable to the company goals with their involvement in the developmental process (Scribd, 2013). Organisation: The organisation at the node of the whole process possesses a better knowledge of the plans that the employees have about development. The 360 degree performance appraisal method makes a platform for creating an environment of trust and belongingness between the organisation and its employees (Scribd, 2013). Disadvantages of 360 Degree Appraisal Method Other than the various advantages that a 360 degree appraisal method bears, there are a number disadvantages that cater to the faltering of the mechanism. These disadvantages talked of are enumerated below: i. 360 degree appraisal method is considered to be very time consuming in nature (Scribd, 2013) ii. There is an involvement of hesitance in providing the necessary and true feedback (Scribd, 2013) iii. The method tends to keep only an operational focus thus the aspects involved in relation to interpersonal relation to performance is ignored (Scribd, 2013) iv. The whole process is much based on the memory of the rater. Thus, the feedback may be influenced by factors such as the occurrence of recent incidents (Scribd, 2013) v. The performance perception gaps are hardly filled (Scribd, 2013) A Successful 360 Degree Appraisal To sketch and implement a successful 360 appraisal method, an organisation must realize the distinction between the purpose of the appraisal and its use. The people involved must be properly educated and communicated about the whole mechanism. The implementation of the mechanism must involve the use of a pilot group during the ongoing of the process. The administrative actions following the feedback to be taken must be reviewed properly before being put to implementation. The raters involved must be adequate and appropriate. Also, the raters must be appointed in relevant and limited groups to avoid repetition or wrong rating of the individuals. The scales involved must be well communicated and considered before being put to use. The survey conducted must be short and customised according to the need of the organisation and each of the questions must be provided with a score. Furthermore, there is a tendency of the raters to mark the individuals somewhere in the midway of the rating scale. In order to avoid such situations, the rating scale must be set in such a way so that it eliminates the scope of such markings. Part 2 – Client Report About the Company There are a number of “community health services” of Bromley that a new establishment is providing named Bromley Healthcare. Bromley Healthcare was established in the year 2011. This is a new company formed with 800 members. These members are supposed to provide National Health Service (Bromley Healthcare, 2011). Bromley Healthcare is a health service providing organisation and it aims at providing the best possible and a broad assortment of community healthcare services for the people at Bromley. The enterprise considers its staff as their main asset and they tend to continue and complete the journey hand–in–hand with the staff (Bromley Healthcare, 2011). Bromley Healthcare is a healthcare provider to the community that comes with services to be provided to a varied age group of people. It comes with a huge variety of nursing services for the children and adults of different ages. Apart from providing the community with nursing services, the concern also provides the community with a large number of therapy services including language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. They also provide specialist services with special attention on diabetes and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). They also have a number of teams who help people stay safely at home and out of the hospital (Bromley Healthcare, 2011). The value of Bromley Healthcare is vividly explained in the diagram below: Source: (Bromley Healthcare, 2011) The main concern of this corporation is the safety and well being of their patients in every possible ways. Importance of Performance Management in Healthcare Industry The main point of concern in this paper about the company is the performance appraisal system of the senior managers involved in the corporation. Performance management in healthcare is quite significant as the performance of a healthcare employee is directly impactful to the health of patients. Thus, this sector needs a systematic method to ensure high level of performance in order to serve the patients’ better. It is through a systematic method that the employees can be made to understand the healthcare goals and the standard of healthcare required for the patients (Healthcare Source, 2012). Prerequisites of Performance Management System in Healthcare Sector The healthcare sector is required make certain alterations to put performance management system in practice. A few of such prerequisites are mentioned hereunder: Adequate Pay Levels: The performance management system is at the core related to the pay structure of a company, as with better performance every employee has an increased expectation of pay levels (Martinez & Martineau, 2001). Staffs Have All The Tools, Equipments and Skills To Perform Their Job: It is meant to make a resourceful organisation for the staffs of the organisation as it is the staffs that should be well facilitated to perform better. The organisation’s concern for its employees shall act as the catalyst to increase the performance standards (Martinez & Martineau, 2001). To Achieve Balanced Incentives For The Staffs To Perform Well: There should be well structured incentives for the employees that would ignite the spirit of performing better (Martinez & Martineau, 2001). The Decision Making Factor and a Local Autonomy: Performance Management System to yield success requires the management to have a cordial relationship between the employers and the employees. This would enable the employers to know their employees better and thus appraise their performance better (Martinez & Martineau, 2001). Maintaining Familiarity With the Methods of Planning: The performance of the employees contribute to the organisational planning as a whole. The employees must be communicated and made known the planning methods of the organisation (Martinez & Martineau, 2001). Performance Management for Bromley Healthcare Performance management has a varied number of tools and techniques to measure the performance of employees. Considering healthcare to be a service industry and its core connection to the patients who are the potential customers, 360 degree appraisal method seems to be best fitted for the industry. The 360 degree appraisal method is a scattered feedback system that provides feedback to in individual from various levels of the organisation. As the employees working with the healthcare sector need to maintain patience in their approach while dealing with their customer, i.e., patients, therefore a 360 degree appraisal is of much relevance in this regards. Bromley Healthcare is a community healthcare service that provides assistance to a large range of individuals of all age groups with regard to the health related issues. The senior managers of the enterprise need to maintain a check on their performance in order to be able to serve the community better. While devising a performance appraisal device for Bromley Healthcare, the main factors that are to be considered shall be the various behavioural approaches required for the employees to serve the purpose of the enterprise. In case of healthcare, employees are supposed to demonstrate poised behaviour towards their customers who are supposed to be patients. The serving attitude and mentally of the employee are of much importance which shall cater to good behaviour while serving the patients. The employees of Bromley Healthcare must be made clear with the objectives of the corporation which is mainly serving the people of the community with as much compassion as possible. The suggested 360 degree appraisal form for the appraisal of the senior managers of Bromley Healthcare is given hereunder: Employee: ________________ Date: ________ Evaluator: ________________ Specify Your Level of Acquaintance with this Person ___________ Management Competency Kindly Enumerate Three Specific Strength Areas and Growth Requirements of the Employee From You View (Consider the Management Competencies Listed Beside) 1. Inclusiveness 3 areas related to strength: 2. Managing people 3. Stewardship and managing resources 4. Problem solving 5. Decision making 6. Strategic planning and organizing 3 areas suggested for growth: 7. Communication 8. Quality improvement 9. Leadership 10. Teamwork 11. Service focus Source: (UC Berkeley, 2007) Bromley Healthcare being a newly established enterprise in the healthcare industry, it shall have to design a strong performance management system right from the beginning in order to keep a track on the performances of its employees. The importance of good performance shall therefore be clear to the employees from the very beginning and hence will enable the enterprise to come up with better services for the patients. The aforesaid appraisal form has its implication to the enterprise’s core. Each of the element suggested to measure the competency of the employees has different implications. Inclusiveness: This aspect shows the promotion of cooperation, equity, respect for everybody around including their differences and it facilitates to bring the best attributes in others. Managing People: This aspect shows the capacity of the employees to cope with the people around them. A feedback on this aspect would surely help in coaching the individuals to focus on techniques of dealing with various types of people. Stewardship and Managing Resources: This pertinent aspect deals with the accountability of the employees towards the resources of the enterprise and their uses. It may be helpful in evaluating the belongingness of the employees towards the enterprise. Problem Solving: Being in a healthcare sector, the employees must be always ready to solve any problem that tends to come their way. Thus, this aspect shall measure the problem solving attitude of the employees that affect the service of a healthcare sector to a great extent. Decision Making: The timely and assertive decision making of the employees belonging to healthcare sector is important as they deal with the patients and a correct decision at the precise time might serve to save the life of patient. Strategic Planning and Organising: This facet is helpful in making out the employees’ contribution in the strategic planning of the enterprise. The enterprise tries to recognise its employees as the strategic partner increasing their belongingness and accountability towards the enterprise. Communication: This aspect is very important in enabling a smooth running of the enterprise. Thus, the employees’ evaluation with respect to their communication ability is an important factor to be considered in the performance appraisal system. Quality Improvement: The efforts of employees to enhance quality of services provided in the enterprise are greatly important as this is the bedrock behind reaching to the set objectives. Leadership: Identifying the leadership quality in an employee or group of employees shall act as the platform for making decisions for promotion and determining the revision of salary as and when required. Teamwork: Healthcare sector being one of the most sensitive industries as it deals with the health conditions of patients therefore following teamwork among the employees shall enable the organisation as a whole to serve the customers better. Service Focus: This aspect of performance is a must in case of healthcare sector as Bromley Healthcare is a part of service sector. Thus, the employees’ focus on providing service of the best quality to the customers should be evaluated and steps must be taken accordingly to enhance such aspect. Source: (UC Berkeley, 2007) The 360 degree performance appraisal form has form has two parts. An explanation to the left hand column is given above. Based on the attributes in the left hand column the appraiser shall have to mention three areas of strength and growth for the employee in concern. This form of 360 degree appraisal method is more an open ended effort to evaluate the employees’ performance. Differing from the general method of rating scale based performance appraisal for an enterprise of healthcare sector, an open ended question-answer pattern seems to be more useful. The possible problem that might arise with this appraisal system would be involvement of time to a considerable extent. Apart from this, a constant follow up to bring about changes according to feedbacks about the employees need to be made. Without a proper follow-up in connection to the feedback shall make the whole appraisal process ineffective and unsuccessful. Thus, it needs to be ascertained that constant updation is made to the entire process according to the necessity to ensure complete success of the procedure. Conclusion From the overall discussion, it may be noted that performance appraisal of employees is important for the smooth running and development of the organisation as well as the employees themselves. Performance Management is a mechanism that bridges the gap between the individual goals and the organisational goals, making a synchronisation of both thus yielding to better overall performance. Among all the performance appraisal methods available 360 degree appraisal system is the best suited for healthcare sector as it is a service industry and the employees must be evaluated from every level to enable them perform better and attain complete employee satisfaction. Bromley Healthcare being a new social enterprise in the healthcare sector has wider scope of implementation of 360 degree appraisal method. Thus, the said appraisal method would be of help in evaluating the managers of this enterprise. Self–Learning Analysis This paper has been a great learning experience as a whole. Making a research about the whole situation gives me a concrete review about performance management system. I got to know that performance appraisal system is one of the most important pillars of human resource management. The paper had been planned in a structured way. Various theories and facts had been considered throughout the research. The pros and cons of performance appraisal and the various theories involved are critically analysed. A specific emphasis on a particular method of performance appraisal has been maintained. 360 degree appraisal is the method discussed with emphasis, considering its various purpose, advantages and disadvantages also its implications with a practical edge has been framed. A social healthcare enterprise named Bromley Healthcare has been considered for the practical implication part. An appraisal form of the 360 degree method has been suggested to Bromley Healthcare and a brief discussion on the attributes of the form has been mentioned with clarity. A link between the theoretical review and the real life example has been drawn in order to connect the ends clearly. The researches involved in the paper has contributed to a new learning experience providing umpteen number of dimensions to the thought process regarding performance management system s a whole. This invaluable experience can be put to practice in the professional field in future while devising strategic human resource management initiatives in the organisational context. References Alexander, D. M. (2006). How do 360 degree performance reviews affect employee attitudes, effectiveness and performance? Retrieved from http://www.uri.edu/research/lrc/research/papers/Alexander_360.pdf Bromley Healthcare. (2011). Welcome to Bromley Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.bromleyhealthcare.org.uk/about-us/welcome-to-bromley-healthcare Bromley Healthcare. (2011). Quality account. Retrieved from http://www.bromleyhealthcare.org.uk/__documents/report-for-2010-2011-final.pdf Bhattacharya, D. (2011). Performance management systems and strategies. India: Pearson Education India. Health Service Executive. (n.d.). Introduction to the Performance Management System (PMS). Retrieved from http://www.hse.ie/eng/staff/Benefits_Services/Performance_Management/Chapter_1.pdf Healthcare Source. (2012). A better way to manage employee performance and improve quality care. Retrieved from http://www.healthcaresource.com/solutions/performance-management.html Maharshi Dayanand College. (n.d.). Performance Appraisal. Retrieved from https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CDoQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mdcollege.in%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F10%2FPerformance-Appraisal.ppt&ei=C8fnUKfoJM37rAf7nYHICw&usg=AFQjCNFVcalyy-OhiITWPMw1cyoceh_Fyg&sig2=R_MoP_qR9ob7g4LoknbCmA&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.bmk Martinez, J. & Martineau, T. (2001). Introducing performance management in national health systems: issues on policy and implementation. Retrieved from http://www.sti.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Pdfs/swap/swap034.pdf Meenakshi, G. (2012). Multi source feedback based performance appraisal system using Fuzzy logic decision support system. Retrieved from http://airccse.org/journal/ijsc/papers/2112ijsc08.pdf Pulakos, E. D. (2004). Performance management. Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/about/foundation/research/documents/1104pulakos.pdf Scribd. (2013). 360 degree feedback. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/51156422/360-degree-feedback University of Nevada, Las Vegas. (n.d.). Implementing a Performance Management System: Overview. Retrieved from https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDoQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.unlv.edu%2Familler%2FMGT%2520494%2FChapter%25207.ppt&ei=4bjnUJeMJYPsrAfq1oHoDA&usg=AFQjCNEgZLBCRGe3oPsBMf4oat8YVgW4sQ&sig2=jJVZSO8DU1GK2_ccIucGXw&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.bmk UC Berkeley. (2007). 360 degree evaluation form. Retrieved from http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/performance-management/forms Bibliography Anderson, A. (2013). Reliability of 360-degree performance appraisals. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reliability-360degree-performance-appraisals-12084.html CustomerInsight. (2012). 360 degree feedback. Retrieved from http://www.custominsight.com/360-degree-feedback/what-is-360-degree-feedback.asp Gluck, S. (2013). 360 degree performance appraisal process. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/360-degree-performance-appraisal-process-1923.html Parker, T. R. (1998). Exploring 360-degree feedback performance appraisal. Retrieved from http://www.usfa.fema.gov/pdf/efop/efo29061.pdf Appendix Consent Sheet Project Title: Performance Management Coursework: 360-degree feedback Name of Researcher: 1. Nature of Work: It is an academic piece of work which is a part of development and learning program. 2. Methods of Data Collection: Based on qualitative secondary data collection method. 3. Required Participants: The employees of all hierarchical levels including the senior managers of the organisation. 4. Anticipated Timeframe: Approximately one month time period. ________________________ ________________ ________________ Name of Participant Date Signature _________________________ ________________ ________________ Researcher Date Signature Read More