Performance Management - Essay Example

Performance management What is performance management? Storey and Sisson define performance management as a” an interlocking set of policies and practices which have as their focus enhanced achievement of organizational objectives through a concentration on individual performances”. The key elements of performance management are: The creation of the shared vision of the organizations shared objectives. The establishment of performance objectives. The use of a formal review process to establish functional group and individual progress towards goal achievement. The linking of performance evaluation and employee development and rewards to motivate and reinforce desired behavior. Performance management can thus have a significant impact on the success of an organization through promoting cooperative effort towards common goals, encouraging teamwork and more open communications, increasing individual and group performance and facilitating change. Firms with an effective performance management program often outperform firms without one. The most commonly used performance appraisal systems are Ranking: the manager grades every person’s ranking from best to worst is the oldest method by comparing an employee with his subordinates. Grading: the system describes the performance levels such as superior, good etc. and the employee is placed in the grade that best describes his performance. Graphic scales: This is one of the most popular methods and involves the manager choosing one of the five either subjective or objective criteria for each person. Critical incidents: In this the manager chooses to record the highlights of the employee performance and uses that as a basis for judging the employee. Behaviorally anchored rating scales: A performance method that combines the element of traditional rating scale and critical incidents method. Behavior observation scales: this is a performance appraisal system that uses critical incidents to develop a list of desired behaviors to perform a specific job successfully. Essay Description: A written statement describing an employee’s strengths and weaknesses, past performance and future development as prepared by the appraiser. Management by Objectives: Involves setting up a specific goal with each employee and periodically reviewing it. Assessment Center: Technique that uses interviews, tests, simulations, games and observations to evaluate an individual’s potential. My department’s appraisal is based on the performance measurement system that uses graphic scales. This is one of the most popular performance appraisal systems. Typically the manager can choose one of the five degrees for each criterion. The selection of the criteria to be measured can be centered on subjective factors (such as initiative and dependability) and/or on objective factors (such as quality and quantity of work). Advantages of the Graphic Scales This kind of performance measurement is quick to develop It is very easy to administer since grading is easy. It can be used easily across a number of employees for comparison. Disadvantages of the Graphic scales There is not much depth in the assessment standards. There is a probability for a contrast effect, that is an average employee following an outstanding employee may be rated as poor, an average person following after an employee with a poor rating may be graded excellent There might be a friendship bias, meaning a positive form of leniency where a manager rates an employees performance better that it actually is based on his personal relationship with him. A central tendency where the mangers tend towards the middle of the rating scale. A positive/negative halo when the appraiser tends to rate performance either at one extreme or another. Positive/negative leniency when the manager seems to exaggerate the swing towards better or worse performance. Ambiguity in the interpretation of scales by the manager causes poor rating. Impact on employees The performance appraisal if conducted fairly and with an open mind often has a positive effect on the employees. When the appraisal is executed fairly and squarely, the employee comes away happy with the rating he received. Mostly, better ratings are linked to rewards and incentives commonly the raise he is eligible for the next year and most employees look forward to it. It overall improves his morale and motivates him to better his performance and hence makes reaching his goals and objectives easier. Even in areas where he has not met expectations and received a low rating, a capable appraiser is able to create reassurance in the employee of future performance and growth. Often, the appraiser and the appraised know each other well due to working side by side on a daily basis. When the given rating does not appeal to the employee, it paves the way for a lot of tension between the employee and management. If the appraiser is biased and the performance appraisal is not properly rated, the employee suffers because of this and feels demoralized that his work has not translated into rewards. At the same time, even if the appraiser is fair, the employee does want to admit to substandard performance as he loses his chance to reap linked rewards. Hence he may still not be happy with the outcome of a fair appraisal. This leads to interpersonal conflicts within the organization. Impact on department performance Needless to say a well-conducted and honest performance appraisal where the ratings are fair will result in an overall satisfied employee and motivate him to perform better. The more the number of satisfied employees in a team, the entire department will benefit from an improved performance. Unsatisfactory appraisals on part of the appraiser or non-acceptance of the underperforming employee will result in tensions and loss of teamwork in the work place. A feeling of envy due to other employees enjoying benefits while they do not creates an imbalance in the working environment. Employees may also lose faith in the performance measurement process and this causes lack of motivation to perform and impacts the overall productivity of the department negatively. Suggestions for improvement Appraisers should comprehend the seriousness of the rating process, accept responsibility and work accordingly. The interviews should be done in private, with respect for the employee with an open mind and without getting personal. Issues should be addressed directly without circumventing. Appraiser should be able have a clear understanding of the ratings without ambiguity in order to judge an employee by those standards and rate them. Employee needs to be assessed as an individual and not by comparison. Employee should be given a chance to defend himself, and the rating criteria must be visible to him. Offering suggestions for improvement positively reinforces faith of the management in his betterment. Sources Performance appraisal Retrieved 19th October 2005 Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service Employee Appraisal Retrieved 19th October 2005 Serving the American Public: Best practices in Human Resource Management June 1997 Retrieved 19th October 2005 Tool Pack Consulting Alternative performance Reviews Retrieved 19th October 2005 Stone, Raymond J. Human Resource Management Fourth Edition John Wiley and Sons Read More