The aim of the project was to compile a report on a management process within an organisation;

design, implement and document a procedure to deal with a management issue; review and

evaluate the process.

The essay describes management in general, its functions and levels concentrating on the process of

human resource management in particular. The procedure of performance appraisal, as its part, is

described in more details. A performance appraisal form was designed and consequently the process

has been reviewed and evaluated.

Management is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using

available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing,

leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or

effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and

manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources and natural

resources.

Since organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action,

including design, to facilitate the production of useful outcomes from a system. This view opens the

opportunity to 'manage' oneself, a pre-requisite to attempting to manage others.

The verb manage comes from the Italian maneggiare (to handle, train, control horses), which in turn

derives from the Latin manus (hand). The French word mesnagement (later ménagement) influenced

the development in meaning of the English word management in the 15th and 16th centuries.[16]

Some definitions of management are:

Organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies

and in achievement of clearly defined objectives. Management is often included as a factor of

production along with machines, materials and money. According to the management guru Peter

Drucker (1909–2005), the basic task of a management is twofold: marketing and innovation.

Another way of thinking, Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933), defined management as "the art of

getting things done through people". She described management as philosophy.[11]

It is essential to notice that management today is not limited to managing human resources only; it

has been divided into various branches like strategic management, financial management, time

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management, operations management, crisis management, etc. Each of these branches is handled

by managers who specialize in these fields.

Today the importance of good management has increased significantly. Managers achieve the

desired goals through performing key functions: planning, organising, staffing, leading, and

controlling.

For theoretical purposes, it may be convenient to separate the function of management but

practically these functions are overlapping in nature i.e. they are highly inseparable. Each function

blends into the other & each affects the performance of others.

Planning

It is the basic function of management. It deals with chalking out a future course of action &

deciding in advance the most appropriate course of actions for achievement of pre-

determined goals. According to KOONTZ, “Planning is deciding in advance - what to do,

when to do & how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are & where we want to be”. A

plan is a future course of actions. It is an exercise in problem solving & decision making.

Planning is determination of courses of action to achieve desired goals. Thus, planning is a

systematic thinking about ways & means for accomplishment of pre-determined goals.

Planning is necessary to ensure proper utilization of human & non-human resources. It is all

pervasive, it is an intellectual activity and it also helps in avoiding confusion, uncertainties,

risks, wastages etc.

Organizing

It is the process of bringing together physical, financial and human resources and developing

productive relationship amongst them for achievement of organizational goals. According to

Henry Fayol, “To organize a business is to provide it with everything useful or its functioning

i.e. raw material, tools, capital and personnel’s”. To organize a business involves determining

& providing human and non-human resources to the organizational structure. Organizing as

a process involves:

Identification of activities

Classification of grouping of activities

Delegation of authority and creation of responsibility

Coordinating authority and responsibility relationships

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Staffing

It is the function of manning the organization structure and keeping it manned. Staffing has

assumed greater importance in the recent years due to advancement of technology,

increase in size of business, complexity of human behaviour etc. The main purpose o staffing

is to put right man on right job i.e. square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round

holes. According to Kootz & O’Donell, “Managerial function of staffing involves manning the

organization structure through proper and effective selection; appraisal & development of

personnel to fill the roles designed on the structure”. Staffing involves:

Manpower Planning (estimating man power in terms of searching, choose the

person and giving the right place)

Recruitment, selection & placement

Training & development

Remuneration

Performance appraisal

Promotions & transfer

Directing

It is that part of managerial function which actuates the organizational methods to work

efficiently for achievement of organizational purposes. It is considered life-spark of the

enterprise which sets it in motion the action of people because planning, organizing and

staffing are the mere preparations for doing the work. Direction is that inert-personnel

aspect of management which deals directly with influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating

sub-ordinate for the achievement of organizational goals. Direction has following elements:

Supervision

Motivation

Leadership

Communication

Supervision- implies overseeing the work of subordinates by their superiors. It is the act of

watching & directing work & workers.

Motivation- means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the sub-ordinates with zeal to work.

Positive, negative, monetary, non-monetary incentives may be used for this purpose.

Leadership- may be defined as a process by which manager guides and influences the work

of subordinates in desired direction.

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Communications- is the process of passing information, experience, opinion etc from one

person to another. It is a bridge of understanding.

Controlling

It implies measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of

deviation if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is

to ensure that everything occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of

control helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann,

“Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made

towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation”.

According to Koontz & O’Donell “Controlling is the measurement & correction of

performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives

and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished”. Therefore controlling has

following steps:

Establishment of standard performance

Measurement of actual performance

Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if

any

Corrective action

Management is divided into a number of levels. The level determines the amount of authority and

status as well as the chain of command. The number of management depends on the size of the

business and work force; they can either increase or decrease. The levels of management can be

classified in three broad categories:

Top-level managers

Consists of board of directors, president, vice-president, CEOs, etc. They are responsible for

controlling and overseeing the entire organization. They develop goals, strategic plans, company

policies, and make decisions on the direction of the business. In addition, top-level managers play a

significant role in the mobilization of outside resources and are accountable to the shareholders and

general public.

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According to Lawrence S. Kleiman, the following skills are needed at the top managerial level.

Broadened understanding of how: competition, world economies, politics, and social trends effect

organizational effectiveness.

Middle-level managers

Consist of general managers, branch managers and department managers. They are accountable to

the top management for their department's function. They devote more time to organizational and

directional functions. Their roles can be emphasized as executing organizational plans in

conformance with the company's policies and the objectives of the top management, they define

and discuss information and policies from top management to lower management, and most

importantly they inspire and provide guidance to lower level managers towards better performance.

Some of their functions are as follows:

Designing and implementing effective group and intergroup work and information systems

Defining and monitoring group-level performance indicators

Diagnosing and resolving problems within and among work groups

Designing and implementing reward systems supporting cooperative behaviour

Low-level managers

Consist of supervisors, section leads, foremen, etc. They focus on controlling and directing. They

usually have the responsibility of assigning employees tasks, guiding and supervising employees on

day-to-day activities, ensuring quality and quantity production, making recommendations,

suggestions, and up channelling employee problems, etc. First-level managers are role models for

employees that provide: Basic supervision, Motivation, Career planning, Performance feedback,

Supervising the staffs.

When it comes to managers, it is necessary to mention that they fulfil a variety of roles. Dr. Henry

Mintzberg, a prominent management researcher, highlighted that: “what managers do can best be

described by looking at the roles they play at work”. In the late 1960s, Henry Mintzberg concluded

that managers perform ten different, but highly interrelated roles. Mintzberg published his Ten

Management Roles in his book, "Mintzberg on Management: Inside our Strange World of

Organizations," in 1990.

The ten roles are: Figurehead, Leader, Liaison, Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson, Entrepreneur,

Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, and Negotiator.

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The 10 roles are then divided up into three categories, as follows:

Category Role

Interpersonal Figurehead

Leader

Liaison

Informational Monitor

Disseminator

Spokesperson

Decisional Entrepreneur

Disturbance Handler

Resource Allocator

Negotiator

Interpersonal Category

The roles in this category involve providing information and ideas.

Figurehead - As a manager, you have social, ceremonial and legal responsibilities. You're expected to

be a source of inspiration. People look up to you as a person with authority, and as a figurehead.

Leader - This is where you provide leadership for your team, your department or perhaps your entire

organization; and it's where you manage the performance and responsibilities of everyone in the

group.

Liaison - Managers must communicate with internal and external contacts. You need to be able to

network effectively on behalf of your organization.

Informational Category

The roles in this category involve processing information.

Monitor - In this role, you regularly seek out information related to your organization and industry,

looking for relevant changes in the environment. You also monitor your team, in terms of both their

productivity, and their well-being.

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Disseminator - This is where you communicate potentially useful information to your colleagues and

your team.

Spokesperson - Managers represent and speak for their organization. In this role you're responsible

for transmitting information about your organization and its goals to the people outside it.

Decisional Category

The roles in this category involve using information.

Entrepreneur - As a manager, you create and control change within the organization. This means

solving problems, generating new ideas, and implementing them.

Disturbance Handler - When an organization or team hits an unexpected roadblock, it's the manager

who must take charge. You also need to help mediate disputes within it.

Resource Allocator - You'll also need to determine where organizational resources are best applied.

This involves allocating funding, as well as assigning staff and other organizational resources.

Negotiator - You may be needed to take part in, and direct, important negotiations within your

team, department, or organization.

It is important to ascertain that all the processes within the company function well including human

resources, upon which depends the operation of the whole organisation. Human resource

management deals with the most exclusive asset of the organization - employees. As we now live in

a world of strong competition, it is a must for an organisation to respond to changes and new

requirements effectively in order to stay in business. Qualified and well trained staff can carry an

organisation through a period of change and ensure its future success. Effective human resource

management is crucial for all types of organisations because of the importance of hiring and

maintaining a committed and competent staff.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the management of an organization's workforce, or human

resources. It is responsible for the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and rewarding of

employees, while also overseeing organizational leadership and culture, and ensuring compliance

with employment and labour laws. In circumstances where employees desire and are legally

authorized to hold a collective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's

primary liaison with the employees' representatives. HR's duties may be performed by a handful of

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trained professionals or even by non-HR personnel. In larger companies, an entire functional group is

typically dedicated to the discipline, with staff specializing in various HR tasks and functional

leadership engaging in strategic decision making across the business. There exist three principles

that every manager shall take into consideration in order to lead more effectively. They are the

following: all managers are human resource managers; employees are most important assets;

human resource management as a process must match the needs of the organisation with the needs

of the employee.

An HRM strategy consists of the following factors: “best fit” and “best practice”, which means that

there is correlation between the HRM strategy and the overall corporate strategy.

Human Resource Management is involved in such areas as planning, recruitment, selection, pay and

benefits, performance appraisal, training and development.

Benjamin Schneider wrote about managing people: “Effectiveness is not one sided. To be effective in

work, certain people must do many things well and they as people must derive same value from

their efforts. To have an effective staffing process, it requires as a first step the explicit job

description and specification and their remunerations." [17]

First of all, it is essential to estimate quantity and quality of employees needed to meet objectives of

the organization applying various techniques like managerial estimates, statistics, work studies, etc.

After that quality and quantity of available labour is taken into consideration. Thus, deficit and

surplus (or supply and demand) must be estimated, after which an action plan is prepared. After the

planning is completed, HR managers are attracting a group of potential candidates to apply for

available vacancies. Before doing that they are making a key choice of whether recruiting internally

or externally. A job description and job specifications are outlined. During selection stage, a number

of tools are used, such as interviews (information about candidates is gained, information about the

job is fully available to the candidates, applicants are left with the impression of fair treatment);

selection tests (intelligence tests, aptitude tests, proficiency tests, personality tests); reference

checking. When it comes to pay and benefits, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards are offered. Thus,

depending on the particular employee and their position, they give preference to autonomy,

responsibility, and challenge or job security, working conditions, and pay. One of the key functions

or HRM is performance appraisal, periodic assessment of the performance of the individuals.

Training and development is also important in order to offer the knowledge, skills and attitudes to

the employees as well as to generate growth of an individual.

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I would like to look into the process of performance appraisal in more details. A performance

appraisal (PA) or performance evaluation [1] is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an

individual employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria

and organizational objectives.[2][3] Other aspects of individual employees are considered as well, such

as organizational citizenship behaviour,[4] accomplishments, potential for future improvement,

strengths and weaknesses, etc. [2][5] To collect PA data, there are three main methods: objective

production, personnel, and judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most commonly

used with a large variety of evaluation methods.[1] A PA is typically conducted annually.[6] The

interview could function as “providing feedback to employees, counselling and developing

employees, and conveying and discussing compensation, job status, or disciplinary decisions”.[6] PA is

often included in performance management systems. Performance management systems are

employed “to manage and align" all of an organization's resources in order to achieve highest

possible performance.[1] “How performance is managed in an organization determines to a large

extent the success or failure of the organization. Therefore, improving PA for everyone should be

among the highest priorities of contemporary” organizations.[7]

Some applications of PA are performance improvement, promotions, termination, test validation,

and more.[8] While there many potential benefits of PA, there are also some potential drawbacks. For

example, PA can help facilitate management-employee communication; however, PA may result in

legal issues if not executed appropriately [9][1] as many employees tend to be unsatisfied with the PA

process.[10] Performance appraisals (PAs) are conducted at least annually, and however, “it has been

acknowledged that appraisals conducted more frequently (more than once a year) may have positive

implications for both the organization and employee.”[9] It is suggested that regular performance

feedback provided to employees may quell any unexpected and/or surprising feedback to year-end

discussions.[10] In a recent research study concerning the timeliness of PAs, “one of the respondents

even suggested that the performance review should be done formally and more frequently, perhaps

once a month, and recorded twice a year.”[10]

Other researchers propose that the purpose of PAs and the frequency of their feedback are

contingent upon the nature of the job and characteristics of the employee. For example, employees

of routine jobs where performance maintenance is the goal would benefit sufficiently from annual

PA feedback. On the other hand, employees of more discretionary and non-routine jobs, where goal-

setting is appropriate and there is room for development, would benefit from more frequent PA

feedback. [6]

9

There are a number of potential benefits of organizational performance management conducting

formal performance appraisals (PAs). There has been a general consensus in the belief that PAs lead

to positive implications of organizations.[13] Furthermore, PAs can benefit an organization’s

effectiveness.[12] One way is PAs can often lead to giving individual workers feedback about their job

performance.[9] From this may spawn several potential benefits such as the individual workers

becoming more productive.[14]

Other potential benefits include:

Facilitation of communication: communication in organizations is considered an essential function of

worker motivation.[9] It has been proposed that feedback from PAs aid in minimizing employees’

perceptions of uncertainty.[12] Fundamentally, feedback and management-employee communication

can serve as a guide in job performance.[9]

Enhancement of employee focus through promoting trust: behaviours, thoughts, and/or issues may

distract employees from their work, and trust issues may be among these distracting factors. Such

factors that consume psychological energy can lower job performance and cause workers to lose

sight of organizational goals.[9] Properly constructed and utilized PAs have the ability to lower

distracting factors and encourage trust within the organization.

Goal setting and desired performance reinforcement: organizations find it efficient to match

individual worker’s goals and performance with organizational goals.[9] PAs provide room for

discussion in the collaboration of these individual and organizational goals. Collaboration can also be

advantageous by resulting in employee acceptance and satisfaction of appraisal results.

Performance improvement: well constructed PAs can be valuable tools for communication with

employees as pertaining to how their job performance stands with organizational expectations.[12]

“At the organizational level, numerous studies have reported positive relationships between human

resource management (HRM) practices"[9] and performance improvement at both the individual and

organizational levels.

Determination of training needs: “Employee training and development are crucial components in

helping an organization achieve strategic initiatives”.[9] It has been argued that for PAs to truly be

effective, post-appraisal opportunities for training and development in problem areas, as

determined by the appraisal, must be offered. PAs can especially be instrumental for identifying

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training needs of new employees.[5] Finally, PAs can help in the establishment and supervision of

employees’ career goals.[12]

Even with all the potential advantages of formal performance appraisals (PAs), there are still

potential drawbacks as well. It has been noted that determining the relationship between individual

job performance and organizational performance can be a difficult task. Generally, there are two

overarching problems from which several complications spawn. One of the problems with formal

PAs is there can be detrimental effects to the organization(s) involved if the appraisals are not used

appropriately. The second problem with formal PAs is they can be ineffective if the PA system does

not correspond with the organizational culture and system.[9]

Complications stemming from these issues are:

Detrimental to quality improvement: it has been proposed that the use of PA systems in

organizations adversely affect organizations’ pursuits of quality performance. It is believed by some

scholars and practitioners that the use of PAs is more than unnecessary if there is total quality

management.

Negative perceptions: “Quite often, individuals have negative perceptions of PAs”.[13] Receiving

and/or the anticipation of receiving a PA can be uncomfortable and distressful [12] and potentially

cause “tension between supervisors and subordinates”.[14]

Errors: PAs should provide accurate and relevant ratings of an employee’s performance as compared

to pre-established criteria (i.e. organizational expectations). Nevertheless, supervisors will

sometimes rate employees more favourably than that of their true performance in order to please

the employees and avoid conflict.[9] “Inflated ratings are a common malady associated with formal"

PA.

Legal issues: when PAs are not carried out appropriately, legal issues could result that place the

organization at risk.[14] PAs are used in organizational disciplinary programs [12] as well as for

promotional decisions within the organization.[9] The improper application and utilization of PAs can

affect employees negatively and lead to legal action against the organization.

Performance goals: performance goals and PA systems are often used in association. Negative

outcomes concerning the organizations can result when goals are overly challenging or

overemphasized to the extent of effecting ethnics, legal requirements, or quality. Moreover,

challenging performance goals can impede on employees’ abilities to acquire necessary knowledge

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and skills.[15] Especially in the early stages of training, it would be more beneficial to instruct

employees on outcome goals than on performance goals.[9]

Derail merit pay or performance-based pay: some researchers contend that the deficit in merit pay

and performance-based pay is linked to the fundamental issues stemming from PA systems.

Human resource management (HRM) conducts performance management. Performance

management systems consist of the activities and/or processes embraced by an organization in

anticipation of improving employee performance, and therefore, organizational performance.

Consequently, performance management is conducted at the organizational level and the individual

level. At the organizational level, performance management oversees organizational performance

and compares present performance with organizational performance goals. The achievement of

these organizational performance goals depends on the performance of the individual organizational

members. Therefore, measuring individual employee performance can prove to be a valuable

performance management process for the purposes of HRM and for the organization. Many

researchers would argue that “performance appraisal is one of the most important processes in

Human Resource Management”.[10]

The performance management process begins with leadership within the organization creating a

performance management policy. Primarily, management governs performance by influencing

employee performance input (e.g. training programs) and by providing feedback via output (i.e.

performance assessment and appraisal). “The ultimate objective of a performance management

process is to align individual performance with organizational performance”. A very common and

central process of performance management systems is performance appraisal (PA). The PA process

should be able to inform employees about the “organization's goals, priorities, and expectations and

how well they are contributing to them”.

There are three main methods used to collect performance appraisal (PA) data: objective

production, personnel, and judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most commonly

used with a large variety of evaluation methods.[4]

Objective production

The objective production method consists of direct, but limited, measures such as sales figures,

production numbers, the electronic performance monitoring of data entry workers, etc.[4] The

measures used to appraise performance would depend on the job and its duties. Although these

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measures deal with unambiguous criteria, they are usually incomplete because of criterion

contamination and criterion deficiency. Criterion contamination refers to the part of the actual

criteria that is unrelated to the conceptual criteria.[4] In other words, the variability in performance

can be due to factors outside of the employee’s control. Criterion deficiency refers to the part of the

conceptual criteria that is not measured by the actual criteria.[4] In other words, the quantity of

production does not necessarily indicate the quality of the products. Both types of criterion

inadequacies result in reduced validity of the measure.[4] Regardless of the fact that objective

production data is not a complete reflection upon job performance, such data is relevant to job

performance.

The Happy-Productive Worker Hypothesis

The happy-productive worker hypothesis states that the happiest workers are the most productive

performers, and the most productive performers are the happiest workers yet, after decades of

research, the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance produces only a weak

positive correlation.

Personnel

The personnel method is the recording of withdrawal behaviours (i.e. absenteeism, accidents). Most

organizations consider unexcused absences to be indicators of poor job performance, even with all

other factors being equal; however, this is subject to criterion deficiency. The quantity of an

employee’s absences does not reflect how dedicated he/she may be to the job and its duties.

Especially for blue-collar jobs, accidents can often be a useful indicator of poor job performance, [4]

but this is also subject to criterion contamination because situational factors also contribute to

accidents. Once again, both types of criterion inadequacies result in reduced validity of the measure.[4] Although excessive absenteeism and/or accidents often indicate poor job performance rather than

good performance, such personnel data is not a comprehensive reflection of an employee’s

performance.[4]

Judgmental Evaluation

Judgmental evaluation appears to be a collection of methods, and as such, could be considered a

methodology. A common approach to obtaining PAs is by means of raters.[1] Because the raters are

human, some error will always be present in the data. The most common types of error are leniency

errors, central tendency errors, and errors resulting from the halo effect.[1] These errors arise

predominantly from social cognition and the theory in that how we judge and evaluate other

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individuals in various contexts is associated with how we “acquire, process, and categorize

information”.[1]

An essential piece of this method is rater training. Rater training is the “process of educating raters

to make more accurate assessments of performance, typically achieved by reducing the frequency of

halo, leniency, and central-tendency errors”.[1] Rater training also helps the raters “develop a

common frame of reference for evaluation” of individual performance. Many researchers and survey

respondents support the ambition of effectual rater training.[10] However, it is noted that such

training is expensive, time consuming, and only truly functional for behavioural assessments.[10]

Another piece to keep in mind is the effects of rater motivation on judgmental evaluations. It is not

uncommon for rating inflation to occur due to rater motivation (i.e. “organizationally induced

pressures that compel raters to evaluate ratees positively”).[1] Typically, raters are motivated to give

higher ratings because of the lack of organizational sanction concerning accurate/inaccurate

appraisals, the rater's desire to guarantee promotions, salary increases, etc., the rater's inclination to

avoid negative reactions from subordinates, and the observation that higher ratings of the ratees

reflect favourably upon the rater.[1]

The main methods used in judgmental performance appraisal are: [1]

Graphic Rating Scale: graphic rating scales are the most commonly used system in PA.[1] On several

different factors, subordinates are judged on 'how much' of that factor or trait they possess.

Typically, the raters use a 5- or 7-point scale; however, there are as many as 20-point scales.[1]

Employee-Comparison Methods: rather than subordinates being judged against pre-established

criteria, they are compared with one another. This method eliminates central tendency and leniency

errors but still allows for halo effect errors to occur.[1] The rank-order method has raters ranking

subordinates from “best” to “worst”, but how truly good or bad one is on a performance dimension

would be unknown.[1] The paired-comparison method requires the rater to select the two "best"

subordinates out of a group on each dimension then rank individuals according to the number of

times each subordinate was selected as one of the "best".[1] The forced-distribution method is good

for large groups of ratees. The raters evaluate each subordinate on one or more dimensions and

then place (or”force-fit”, if you will) each subordinate in a 5 to 7 category normal distribution.[1] The

method of top-grading can be applied to the forced distribution method. This method identifies the

10% lowest performing subordinates, as according to the forced distribution, and dismisses them

leaving the 90% higher performing subordinates.

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Behavioural Checklists and Scales: behaviours are more definite than traits. The critical incidents

method (or critical incident technique) concerns “specific behaviours indicative of good or bad job

performance”.[1] Supervisors record behaviours of what they judge to be job performance relevant,

and they keep a running tally of good and bad behaviours. A discussion on performance may then

follow. The behaviourally anchored rating scales (BARS) combine the critical incidents method with

rating scale methods by rating performance on a scale but with the scale points being anchored by

behavioural incidents.[1] Note that BARS are job specific.

Peer and Self Assessments

While most judgmental PA research is evaluated by a superior (e.g. supervisor, manager), peer

assessments are evaluated by one’s colleagues. With self-assessments, individuals evaluate

themselves.[1]

Peer Assessments: members of a group evaluate and appraise the performance of their fellow group

members.[1] There are three common methods of peer assessments. Peer nomination involves each

group member nominating who he/she believes to be the “best” on a certain dimension of

performance. Peer ratings have each group member rate each other on a set of performance

dimensions. Peer ranking requires each group member rank all fellow members from “best” to

“worst” on one or more dimensions of performance.

Self-Assessments: for self-assessments, individuals assess and evaluate their own behaviour and job

performance.[1] It is common for a graphic rating scale to be used for self-assessments. Positive

leniency tends to be a problem with self-assessments.[4]

360-Degree Feedback: 360-degree feedback is multiple evaluations of employees which often

include assessments from superior(s), peers, and one’s self.[1]

Performance Appraisal Interviews

The performance appraisal (PA) interview is typically the final step of the appraisal process.[1] The

interview is held between the subordinate and supervisor. The PA interview can be considered of

great significance to an organization’s PA system.[6] It is most advantageous when both the superior

and subordinate participate in the interview discussion and establish goals together.[1] Three factors

consistently contribute to effective PA interviews: the supervisor’s knowledge of the subordinate’s

job and performance in it, the supervisor’s support of the subordinate, and a welcoming of the

subordinate’s participation.[6]

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Numerous researchers have reported that many employees are not satisfied with their performance

appraisal (PA) systems.[10] Studies have shown that subjectivity as well as appraiser bias is often a

problem perceived by as many as half of employees.[10] Appraiser bias, however, appears to be

perceived as more of a problem in government and public sector organizations.[10] Also, according to

some studies, employees wished to see changes in the PA system by making “the system more

objective, improving the feedback process, and increasing the frequency of review.”[10] In light of

traditional PA operation defects, “organizations are now increasingly incorporating practices that

may improve the system. These changes are particularly concerned with areas such as elimination of

subjectivity and bias, training of appraisers, improvement of the feedback process and the

performance review discussion.”[10]

According to a meta-analysis of 27 field studies, general employee participation in his/her own

appraisal process was positively correlated with employee reactions to the PA system. More

specifically, employee participation in the appraisal process was most strongly related to employee

satisfaction with the PA system. Concerning the reliability of employee reaction measures,

researchers have found employee reaction scales to be sound with few concerns through using a

confirmatory factor analysis that is representative of employee reaction scales.

Researchers suggest that the study of employees’ reactions to PA is important because of two main

reasons: employee reactions symbolize a criterion of interest to practitioners of PAs and employee

reactions have been associated through theory to determinants of appraisal acceptance and success.

Researchers translate these reasons into the context of the scientist-practitioner gap or the “lack of

alignment between research and practice.”

Nowadays management has gained considerable significance. It is up to managers to enable an

organisation to operate successfully, to lead its employees in order to achieve objectives and goals.

Managers perform a number of functions depending on their level. In order to sustain an

organisation’s growth and development, managers perform a set of roles, such as interpersonal,

informational, and decisional. It is vital to ascertain that an organisation is operating in accordance

with its external environment but also consider functioning of its inner processes, including human

resource management and performance appraisal as its component. Performance appraisal is a

most important tool of human resource managers and cannot be disregarded. As the assignment

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reveals, each process of an organisation management requires detailed attention and presents a

significant link of the chain of the overall operation of the business.

References:

1 Muchinsky, P. M. (2012). Psychology Applied to Work (10th ed.). Summerfield, NC: Hypergraphic Press.

2 Manasa, K. & Reddy, N. (2009). Role of Training in Improving Performance. The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 3, 72-80.

3 Abu-Doleh, J. & Weir, D. (2007). Dimensions of performance appraisal systems in Jordanian private and public organizations. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(1), 75-84.

4 Muchinsky, P. M. (2006).Psychology applied to work (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

5 Broady-Preston, J. & Steel, L. (2002). Employees, customers, and internal marketing strategies in LIS. Library Management, 23, 384-393.

6 Cederblom, D. (1982). The performance appraisal interview: A review, implications, and suggestions. Academy of Management Review, 7(2), 219-227.

7 Muczyk, J. P. & Gable, M. (1987, May). Managing sales performance through a comprehensive performance appraisal system. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 7, 41-52.

8 DeNisi, A. & Pritchard, R. (2006, July). Performance appraisal, performance management, and improving individual performance: A motivational framework. Management and Organization Review, 2(2), 253-277.

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9 Schraeder, M. Becton, J., & Portis, R. (2007, Spring). A critical examination of performance appraisals. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 20-25.

10 Sudarsan, A. (2009). Performance appraisal systems: A survey of organizational views. The Icfai University Journal of Organizational Behavior, 3(1), 54-69.

11 Vocational Business: Training, Developing and Motivating People by Richard Barrett - Business & Economics - 2003. - Page 51.

12 Spinks, N., Wells, B., & Meche, M. (1999). Appraising appraisals: computerized performance appraisal systems. Career Development International, 4(2), 94-100.

13 Pettijohn, L., Parker, R., Pettijohn, C., & Kent, J. (2001). Performance appraisals: usage, criteria, and observations. The Journal of Management Development, 20, 754-771.

14 Jenks, J. M. (1991). Do your performance appraisals boost productivity? Management Review, 80(6), 45-47.

15 Kanfer, R. & Ackerman, P. L. (1989). Motivation and cognitive abilities: An integrative/aptitude-treatment interaction approach to skill acquisition. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 657-690.

16 Oxford English Dictionary

17 Madurai, Importance of Management, [Online],

http://madurai.hubpages.com/hub/importance-of-staffing, 8 December 2011.

18 Functions of Management - Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and controlling:

http://www.managementstudyguide.com/management_functions.htm

19 Mintzberg's Management Roles - Team Management Skills from Mind Tools

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/management-roles.htm

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