Key Elements in a Performance Management Process - Assignment Example

Name: Professor: Course: Semester: Date: Q1. Key elements in a performance management process I. Planning Performance planning is the first component of a performance management process. It is a very crucial part of the whole process as the employee and the appraiser get to jointly define the purpose of the process and why it is important for the both of them. At this stage it is important to define what the whole process is all about (Brewerton and Millward, 2001). The appraiser views performance standards to form the frame of reference which are used to judge the performance of an employee. To the employee it becomes important for them to know from the appraiser what is expected of them. According to (Brewerton and Millward (2001) at this stage the two participating parties; the supervisor and the employee, can accomplish several important objectives that are crucial that this point. They are; defining goals, discussing expectations from key performance areas which can be performed by the employee within the stipulated performance evaluation time. This process can only be considered complete upon mutual agreement of the supervisor and the employee. The supervisor should clearly define roles, discuss specific job requirements and answer appraises questions. II. Evaluating performance Performance appraisal or evaluation is conducted twice per year in many organizations; One in mid year and another one at the end of the year. The appraise gives his filled up personal ratings in the self appraisal form but ultimately the final ratings are provided by the appraiser. Performance evaluation is intended to give performance information to be used for administrative and development purpose of the concerned individual within the organization. How the process is conducted and the outcome may have an effect on employee’s attitudes towards the performance management process and thus influence final achievement of the process. It is common to see ratings for administrative purposes being biased to motivate employees but may be harsh for development purposes of which the employee doesn’t get a hint about but are used to develop him/her (Breakwell and Millward, 1995). Breakwell and Millward (1995) argue that the success of the evaluation process is determined by the level of honesty and active participation by both the appraiser and the employee to identify points of weaknesses in the performance and how they can be turned into strengths. Since the evaluation process happens only twice a year, there is a tendency to concentrate mostly on the individual when evaluating performance and disregard other contributing factors like working environment. It is therefore vital that the appraiser and the employee explore the whole process together so that the appraiser may identify possible areas of shortcomings which may affect the productivity of the employee and therefore necessitating organizational change. III. Providing feedback for employee performance This is a very important element of performance management process for both the both the concerned employee and the relevant decision makers. At this point the employee is made aware by the appraiser of the areas of improvement as per his/her performance and also whether his /her performance is equal or less to the expected level of performance as agree upon at the first stage of performance management. It has to be a very open and transparent process in order to show commitment by the two parties that they intend the greater good of the organization. This way the training and development needs of the employee will be identified and worked upon. It is the duty of the appraiser to ensure that the employee meets all the expected outcomes for the organization. This is achieved through counseling, guidance and coaching of the employee to improve his/her overall productivity. It is important that the feedback process be given in a clear and concise manner. It should not be given in any threatening tone but rather supportive way in which the employee and the appraiser discuss career development opportunities and decisions which the employee ought to take in order to improve performance and develop his/her career (Pettijohn, Pettijohn and d’Amico, 2001). Why a well designed performance management system is important for both the employee and the organization A well designed performance management system is both a strategic and integrated approach towards a company achieving its profitability and development goals. This is achieved through improved performance by the employees and developing the capabilities of the individuals and the teams in the organization so that they can give their full potential towards the organizations productivity. From this understanding it can be seen therefore that a well developed performance management system can be regarded as a means through which an organization achieves its objectives through improving the performance of individuals and teams (Brewerton and Millward, 2001). The organization gets a chance and a platform to communicate to its staff the expectations it has in their performance and also defines roles for everyone in order for them to be responsible for their success or poor delivery. It should be understood then that this is a continuous process that does not end when an individual achieves his performance targets but rather raises the bar higher for even better performance. It results in development of both the individual and the organization so it’s ultimately a win-win situation for both participating parties (Brewerton and Millward, 2001). Certo (2011) notes that organizations that are entrepreneurial in nature with a sense of continuity usually adopt very effective performance management system that will enable the organization succession plan be successful. When an individual is adequately prepared to understand his/her roles in the organization and gives a good performance then he/she might be on the way to becoming a future manager in the organization to head crucial departments or the organization. This is achieved gradually and usually causes little disturbance as the individual is usually very much accustomed to his/her job environment and requirements. A well developed performance management is therefore a proactive means of succession management in organizations that are highly concerned with their continued profitability and growth even when the current crop of management is gone. For the employee a good performance management helps them understand the areas of improvement they need to work on in order to become more competent in discharging their duties as professionals and not only for the sake of the company. This is very beneficial as it develops confidence in the employees as they discharge their duties. Career development also prepares employees for challenging situations in the future which they may be able to face if they acquire the right knowledge through performance management. And as mentioned earlier, it is an opportunity for them to be groomed for future management tasks within the organization (Breakwell and Millward, 1995). . Q2. Discuss four methods for performance evaluation and their pros and cons, with an example of a job to illustrate each method 1. Critical incident method This method involves a proactive manager recording critical instances throughout the year in which the employee did something very well and when he did something badly. The information can then be used as a basis for discussion during the performance appraisal where the manager points out all these incidents and the employee says something about them in relation to the performance expectations agreed upon at the start of the performance management process. It can therefore be seen that the method simply involves the manager recording positive and negative performance behavior of an employee and using it as a basis for judgment (Certo, 2011). A manager will for example use this method to record how a customer representative responds to clients’ issues and how the clients respond after the encounter. Advantage The advantage with this method is that it highlights all the positive things an employee does and can be used to motivate them later during the appraisal. The negatives are also recorded and can be used as point of reference when improvement and development areas are being identified during feedback stage. Disadvantage The method is very shallow and may not regard the set of circumstances that make an employee behave in a certain positive or negative manner. Sometimes it is all about structural problems and not the individual actions that point to poor performance. This method has no consideration for that. 2. 360 evaluation method It should be understood that an employee’s development or progress in usually felt in his own department within the organization. Equally how his organizational effectiveness is seen by how he interacts with the rest of the organizations staff. This understanding provides the basis for the 360 evaluation method. The method involves managers of other departments giving anonymous appraisal of the individual being appraised. The individual must be working regularly with the departments whose managers will appraise him/her. Within the department, the individual is appraised mainly basing n his/her job description and the overall organizational effectiveness (Murray and Grant, 2006). Accountants may be used to rate colleagues in the procurement department they work with and vice versa, provided they interact regularly. Advantage The fact that the employees who spend most of the time together are used to appraise each other means that you can get very reliable information on the person being appraised since they know of each others weaknesses and strengths. This method also reduces the time an appraiser has to spend in the company observing the performance of the persons being appraised since he can use the accumulated knowledge and experience of departmental managers and staff in the organization to get information useful for appraisal. Disadvantage This method may fail to yield good results as employees who have worked together tend to cover up weakness of their colleagues in fear that the information they give may be used to discharge their colleagues of their duties. Honesty therefore is the greatest problem associated with this method 3. Management by objectives This is a defined result oriented method which is based on real quantifiable performance goals and not qualitative analysis of the individuals being appraised. The goals are agreed upon during the planning stage of the appraisal process. During the appraisal, the appraiser simply looks at the performance achievement in terms of quantifiable aspects and then proceed to advise on how goals can be achieved effectively to give results incase the employee fails to achieve the set targets. The method emphasizes a lot on the quantifiable goals to be achieved and not how the employee should achieve the goals or even the set of factors within the working environment ((Pettijohn, Pettijohn and d’Amico, 2001, Murray and Grant, 2006). This method is used mostly in marketing department where performance of marketing officials is determined by the sales volume per assessment period and not other parameters Advantage This is a result oriented method and it puts pressure for performance in the employees when they pursue goals that they were involved in setting. It therefore results in good performance of various departments in the organization as the results are measurable Disadvantage This process is more concerned about the end results and not how they were achieved and may therefore neglect critical factors that contribute to performance such as organizational processes that may impact on employee performance. It also disregards other aspects of employees such as team-working ability and organizational effectiveness. 4. Graphic scale This is probably the oldest method of performance management in use. It is also very popular with many managers. Employee’s performance in various areas where he is allocated duties is graded on a scale by the manager. The graphic scale then provides the manager with an opportunity to graphically compare the performance of many employees at the same time. There is usually a range which can be numerical or qualitative in terms of poor to excellent (Certo, 2011). This method can be used to assess the performance of various departments in organizations such as sales and accounting departments relating to duties allocated by the department managers. Advantage This method gives the manager an opportunity to identify his productive employees and the unproductive through the use of the graph. He can therefore decide on a course of action for each and compare his results in the next appraisal Disadvantage The method does not take into consideration other factors like hardships of the jobs given to different employees neither does it take into consideration other aspects of performance such as organizational effectiveness and job uniqueness but evaluates employees on a common scale. The method does not give an employee the chance to contribute to the grading and thus may be biased References *Brewerton,P., & Millward, L. (2001). Organizational Research Methods: A Guide for Students and Researchers, SAGE *Murray.P., Grant.J., (2006). Contemporary Issues in Management and Organizational Behavior, Routledge *Certo .S., (2011). Modern Managemnt: Concepts and Skills, Pearson Education *Breakwell, G., & Millward, L. (1995). Basic evaluation methods: Analysing performanace, practice and procedure, Wiley *Pettijohn, C. E., Pettijohn, L. S., & d’Amico, M. (2001). Characteristic of performance appraisals and their impacts on sales force satisfaction. Human Resource Development Quarterly,Vol 12 #2, pp.127-146. Read More