8.14 Summary

Performance management systems aim to help employees contribute to organizational effectiveness through the assessment of individual performance. The system aligns company goals with employee goals and feeds the data into various HR systems, including compensation, employee development, and employee records. The performance appraisal system is a crucial part of the organization. It is also disliked by employees and managers as it is time consuming. Successful performance management requires careful consideration, design, and implementation. Linking performance evaluations with compensation can impact employee focus on development. Performance management provides feedback for employee development and documents HRM decisions and actions. The balanced scoreboard is one approach to evaluate performance at the organizational level. HR departments play an important role in designing and monitoring balanced scoreboards. Before designing or revising an existing performance management system, there are many factors to consider.

The performance evaluation process involves several steps, including the development of a fair and objective evaluation form, identification of performance measures, defining guidelines for feedback, creating reward and disciplinary steps, and establishing a schedule for performance evaluations. Regular check-ins are recommended, with short projects requiring only a post-performance evaluation and longer projects requiring 2-3 scheduled evaluations. The process should be structured, formal, and fair, promoting growth and development while acknowledging the contributions of team members.

The 360 Feedback model is a multi-source assessment that provides different perspectives on a person’s skills, behaviours, abilities, and performance, offering opportunities for individuals to rate themselves and others. The Management by Objectives (MBO) theory focuses on setting goals for employees based on organizational objectives to improve their motivation and contribution to the success of the company. MBO is criticized for its lack of innovation stimulation and the inability to identify all necessary objectives for organizational success. Despite its criticisms, MBO is a key foundation for Project Management today.

This chapter discusses different methods used for employee performance evaluations, including trait methods, behavioural methods, comparative methods, and results methods. Their advantages and disadvantages are subjectivity and lack of consistency. Specific methods discussed include the graphic rating scale, essay appraisal, checklist scale, critical incident appraisals, work standards approach, and ranking methods.

The chapter also discusses individual, team, and manager performance reviews. For individual reviews, Human Resources Specialists need to gather information, set agendas, ask non-judgmental questions, and provide feedback. Self-evaluations, group workshops, and establishing goals are also helpful. In team reviews, questions may be sent out ahead of time to ensure equal participation and to assess team goals. The manager’s performance review may involve stakeholders, and the same best practices apply, including gathering information, providing feedback, and setting goals. The article emphasizes the importance of recognizing high performers without neglecting those who contributed less.

This section discusses the process of completing and conducting a performance appraisal, highlighting the importance of making sure the evaluation has a direct relationship to the job and involving managers and employees in the process. The performance appraisal is just one part of the performance review system, which also includes goal setting, monitoring, feedback, coaching, and development of improvement plans. The HR professional should also train managers and employees on the standards for completing performance evaluation forms and provide tips on how to provide feedback to employees during the appraisal process.

It is important to have clear rules and policies in place, as well as the need for consistency in enforcing these rules when disciplining employees for performance issues. The performance appraisal is seen as a tool to evaluate employees’ overall performance. The Performance Issue Model is used to develop policies for handling different types of performance issues. The model includes five areas of performance issues: mandated issue, single incident, behaviour pattern, persistent pattern, and disciplinary intervention. The article also highlights the importance of addressing performance issues in a timely manner to prevent further problems.

This text discusses how to handle employee performance issues, which can be investigated by HR professionals. Proper documentation is necessary to terminate an employee later if performance issues continue. The documentation should include the date, time, location of the incident, description of the issue, notes from the discussion with the employee, an improvement plan, next steps, and signatures from the manager and employee. Investigative interviews should be conducted in private, and unionized organizations are entitled to union representation. The progressive discipline process is useful for non-performance issues.  It involves a series of steps, including unofficial verbal warnings, official written warnings, improvement plans, suspension or punishment, and termination. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can help resolve disputes, performance issues, and terminations. Employee separation can occur through resignation, termination, or absconding, and costs can be high. Resignations involve a formal notification, an exit interview, and a plan for the workload. The termination process involves different steps, and layoffs can also occur.