Managing Employee Performance Essay
Table of contents
Introduction. 3
Discussion. 3
- Personnel assessment 3
- Corrective actions and disciplinary policies. 4
- Performance standards and job descriptions review.. 5
- Describing performance appraisal form.. 6
- Training manual drafts for managers/supervisors and personnel 6
- Personnel motivation. 7
- Improving performance. 7
- Addressing rater/appraiser bias. 8
- Ethical and legal considerations. 9
Comprehensive performance management and appraisal document for Matrix Organization
Performance management presents an opportunity for Matrix Organization to comprehensive involve the most amount of dialogue with its stakeholders. In fact, it is a process for managing and developing the performance of personnel in the organization, its objective is to plan, track and assess the performance of personnel for a specific period of time. Through applying the performance management system, the organization gains the capacity to motivate personnel while further increasing their effectiveness and efficiency. On the other hand, performance appraisal is a process for evaluating the performance of personnel in regularly scheduled time periods. Unlike performance management that occurs more regularly and relies on the most current performance, performance appraisal is restricted to past performance and is conducted over long periods of time such as every six or twelve months. Performance management and appraisal work in concert to improve personnel management efforts in the company (Bacal, 2014). The present paper discusses the important components of performance management and appraisal that are necessary for the successful management of personnel performance in Matrix Organization. Managing Employee Performance Essay
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1. Personnel assessment
Personnel assessment seeks to evaluate all employees by collecting their demographic information with a focus on their numbers, specific occupations, and output in the workplace in terms of work hours and product quantities as well as feedback from other personnel and customers (Crawley, Swailes & Walsh, 2013). The intention of this step is to gather information about the individual personnel with the intention of making career-related and employment decisions. To be more precise, the results of the assessment help in making decisions about program evaluation, career guidance and exploration, promotion, training and development, placement, and selection. It involves the use of assessment tools (presented as procedures and tests) that measure employment and career-related qualifications with a focus on sampling performance and behavior. The procedures and tests can include projective instruments, subjective procedures, inventory, and traditional ability and knowledge tests. As such, the personnel assessment is designed to measure vocational interests, work values, work styles, skills and abilities. It is deliberated to predict job tenure, satisfaction, career success, leadership potential and job performance. It is presented as a computer simulation, work-sample, or paper-and-pencil format. Its level of quantifiability, objectivity and standardization will be subject to legal and professional standards, and vary with personality inventories, interview, achievement tests, and subjective evaluations of resumes being used (Barney & Hesterly, 2014). Managing Employee Performance Essay
2. Corrective actions and disciplinary policies
This component acknowledges that there are occasions when personnel perform below par or require attention and corrective action would be necessary. It details the corrective action and when they would be required to include guidance, positive reinforcement and coaching. It also mentions how the managers and supervisors would handle performance issue and track underperformance. The scope of these policies include progressive discipline, corrective action, verbal coaching, verbal warning, written warning, review of corrective action, disciplinary action, disciplinary probation, demotion, suspension, termination for cause, investigative leave, and emergency leave (Crawley, Swailes & Walsh, 2013). While the organization offers a harmonious and safe work environment where personnel can perform their jobs effectively and productively, the personnel’s conduct must uphold the organization’s reputation and integrity. Towards this end, the organization must adopt a code of conduct that establishes the standards that all personnel must follow in their dealings with customers, other personnel and stakeholders. The code should include the corrective actions and disciplinary policies that govern performance and conduct. In addition to the code, personnel are expected to follow all federal, state and local laws and regulations in fulfilling their personnel responsibilities and duties. Disciplinary and correction actions would be undertaken in cases where personnel fail to meet performance and/or conduct expectations, or violate pertinent organization procedures and policies or laws. It is important to note that corrective actions and disciplinary policies do not constitute an implied or express contract between personnel and the organization. This implies that the organization reserves the right to discontinue, modify, alter or change these policies as required (Barney & Hesterly, 2014).
3. Performance standards and job descriptions review
This component indicates what each personnel must conduct to meet performance expectations, as well as indicating the performance levels that match to the different ratings of under-performance and over-performance. The intention is to ensure that each personnel has a well-crafted position whose description by personnel and the organization match, to facilitate mutual problem-solving and communication (Crawley, Swailes & Walsh, 2013). A well-defined job description is preferable since it generates greater accountability through defining the scope of work, what is expected of personnel, and the required competencies and skills. It is important for the description to focus on the job objectives and goals to include the broad parameters of the job such as degree of financial responsibility, periodic and daily activities, production responsibilities and management responsibilities as well as the expected interactions with other personnel positions especially when they overlap. Through this information, the organization is able to ensure that the right people are recruited for the job positions, and those who are already in the position can be trained for specific elements to address their existing shortcomings (Bowerman & Van Wart, 2015).
4. Describing performance appraisal form
This component describes the performance appraisal format best suited for the organization. Graphic rating scales are preferred since they are simple, identify goals, and offer periodic measurements for goal attainment and rating performance. In addition, it mentions how often the performance appraisal should be conducted, whether annually, six-monthly or any other time period (Crawley, Swailes & Walsh, 2013). A comprehensive performance appraisal form has three sections that use a rating scale to be completed by both the personnel (self-assessment) and supervisor/manager/appraiser. The first section presents the objectives, action items, outcomes, personnel rating and manager rating. The second section presents the general performance requirements to include job knowledge (professional and technical skills), communication skills, management skills, organizational skills, and initiative. The final section presents professional development to check the training and certification programs attended and successfully completed (Christiansen & Chandan, 2017). Managing Employee Performance Essay
5. Training manual drafts for managers/supervisors and personnel
The training manual should have two sections. The first section is targeted at managers/supervisors, and presents a discussion on why performance appraisal is necessary for the organization, how objective appraisals should be conducted, how appraiser error and bias should be minimized, and how to conduct meetings with personnel to deliver their performance appraisal (Ozbiglin, Groutsis & Harvey, 2014). The second section is presented at personnel and presents a discussion on how personnel can conduct self-assessment of their performance, and how to interact with appraisers. Also, how to use constructive feedback, and professionally dispute unfair appraisals. This is intended to create workable and effective solutions to managing performance in the workplace (Ozbiglin, Groutsis & Harvey, 2014).
The performance appraisal should be linked to personnel motivation. That is because the appraisal offers feedback to aid in the development of personnel. In fact, the appraisal is used in the distribution of rewards such as promotions, pay raises, and bonuses. This is not a surprising link given that motivation theories mention that rewarding behavior improves the odds of that behavior being repeated. To be more precise, linking the results of performance appraisal to motivations and rewards is anticipated to result in personnel perceiving that good performance will be rewarded thereby creating a positive loop. These sentiments are expressed by the two main groups of motivational theories, process theories (such as Locke’s goal setting theory, Adam’s equity theory, Women’s expectancy theory and Skinner’s reinforcement theory) and content theories (such as Herzberg’s two factors theory, McCelland’s theory of needs, Alderfer’s ER theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs). These theories all acknowledge that motivation occurs through reinforcement and rewards whereby the desired performance is rewarded while the undesired performance is punished. The motivation should be well structured and formalized so that all personnel are handled fairly and the organization does not strain to fulfill the motivation conditions (Plunkett, Allen & Attner, 2013).
The performance appraisal should make good use of feedback to improve performance. In this case, feedback should be offered in a constructive manner that focuses on discussing the issues negatively affecting performance while aiding personnel to resolve these issues without criticizing the personnel. In fact, feedback should shift attention from behavior since this creates the possibility of the personnel being defensive and non-receptive to the feedback. To be more precise, the feedback should increase personnel participation through offering them an opportunity to present their side of the story thus allowing them to react positively to the feedback process and accept it as fair. In addition, it is important for the manager/supervisor/appraiser to be acknowledge about the personnel’s performance so as to offer constructive feedback (Christiansen & Chandan, 2017).
8. Addressing rater/appraiser bias
Rater bias is an inherent risk in any performance appraisal activity. In fact, it is not uncommon for raters to make judgment errors and prejudiced decisions that distort the measurement outcomes either for or against an employee. This is contrary to expectations from personnel that their performance would be evaluated fairly and without bias. There is a need to identify the specific biases so as to develop the best strategies for addressing them. There are many kinds of biases that can show up in performance management, and some of the more common rate biases and how they can be addressed has been presented in Table 1 (Lussier & Hendon, 2016). Managing Employee Performance Essay
Table 1. Common rater biases and how to address them
| Rater bias | Explanation | Intervention |
| Primary effect (first impression) | Forming an overall impression about a personnel based on particular characteristics identified in the first meeting. | Objective appraisal through training while ignoring personal features and qualities that many not offer an adequate base for the appraisal. |
| Halo effect | Rating based on a few outstanding features (either negative or positive) rather than all features. | Applying structured appraisal that uses a pre-identified format with all relevant features identified. |
| Horn effect | Rating based on a few features that were not performed well | Applying structured appraisal that uses a pre-identified format with all relevant features identified. |
| Contrast effect | Unfair comparison between personnel rather than using pre-identified standards | Applying pre-identified standards that rate personnel on individual merits rather than comparing between personnel |
| Excessive lenience or strictness | Taking the line of least resistance or applying tyranny of exact assessment | Applying the right balance between lenience and strictness |
| Personal biases | Influence by personal perceptions from demographic peculiarities without consideration for performance features | Objective appraisal that focuses on pre-identified performance features. |
| Spillover effect | Overemphasis on past performance at the expense of present performance | Objective appraisal that balances between past and present performance |
| Recency effect | Rating is largely influenced by the most recent outcomes | Objective appraisal that balances between past and most recent performance |
9. Ethical and legal considerations
The law (whether employment or labor laws) does not mandate for any organization to conduct performance appraisals. However, the law prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on non-job related activities as would be reported for performance appraisal features. This implies that if a company conducts performance appraisal, then it should be keen to ensure that the appraisal does not violate peripheral laws or ethical ideals. Besides that, performance appraisal can be considered as a selection-based or employment test thus making the process subject to employment laws. This requires that the raters/appraisers conduct the appraisal in a manner that ensures a consistent and effective process that is timely and unbiased (Bacal, 2014). There are eight considerations that should be made. Firstly, the process should not discriminate against personnel on the basis of demographic features that include premises of sexual inclination, pregnancy, conjugal status, inability, gender, age, religion or ethnicity. Secondly, the appraisal should avoid improper language, emotive harassment, and inflammatory remarks. Thirdly, it should result in accurate and fair results that are supported by tangible evidence that can be verified. Fourthly, the appraisal results should not simply be used to make financial decisions (such as demotion, promotion and transfer), but should also be used to optimize performance, make decisions about learning for future growth and performance, and career planning. Fifthly, the appraisal records should be kept and maintained by the organization to act as protection, particularly the records that report poor performance. The records would offer protection against legal action by personnel who feel that they have been unfairly dealt with by the organization. Sixthly, the results of the appraisal should be considered confidential and private such that they are stored in controlled and secure locations. Seventhly, the same appraisal format should be used for all personnel with consistent application in terms of timeliness, interpretation and structure. Finally, personnel should be offered an opportunity to comment on the results on the appraisal. The opportunity should allow them to express either their agreement or disagreement with the results while requesting reviews or appeals by upper level management (Sims & Sauser, Jr., 2015). Managing Employee Performance Essay
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One must accept that performance management should be reliant on objectively conducted appraisals process. In addition, one must acknowledge that the process helps in planning, tracking and assessing the performance of personnel for a specific period of time. The process has nine components. The first component is personnel assessment that collects demographic and job performance information. The second component is corrective actions and disciplinary policies that details how subpar performance should be addressed. The third component is the performance standards and job descriptions review that describes the expected performance. The fourth component is the performance appraisal form offers a framework for collecting ratings on actual performance as it relates to expected performance. The fifth component is training manual drafts that educates all personnel on what they should expected from the performance appraisal as well as their responsibilities. The sixth component is personnel motivation that presents a reward system for good performance. The seventh component improving performance that focuses on offering constructive feedback to address performance shortcomings. The eighth component is addressing rater bias that ensures an objective appraisal through guarding against bias. The final component is ethical and legal considerations that ensures the process is fair while guarding the organization against legal action.
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Barney, J. & Hesterly, W. (2014). Strategic management and competitive advantage concepts and cases. London: Pearson Education Limited.
Bowerman, K. & Van Wart, M. (2015). The business of leadership: an introduction. New York, NY: Routledge.
Christiansen, B. & Chandan, H. (2017). Handbook of research on human factors in contemporary workforce development. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Crawley, E., Swailes, S. & Walsh, D. (2013). Introduction to international human resource management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lussier, R. & Hendon, J. (2016). Fundamentals of human resource management: functions, applications, skill development. Thousand, CA: SAGE Publications.
Ozbiglin, M., Groutsis, D. & Harvey, W. (2014). International human resource management. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Plunkett, W., Allen, G. & Attner, R. (2013). Management: meeting and exceeding customer expectations (10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Sims, R. & Sauser, Jr., W. (ed.) (2015). Legal and regulatory issues in human resource management. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Managing Employee Performance Essay