Matt Brown

Michael Byne

Appraisal Plans Designed to meet three needs:

Provide judgments to back up salary increases, promotions, transfers, demotions, and terminations.

Tell a subordinate how he is doing, suggesting needed changes and “where he stands” with the boss.

Provide basis for the coaching and counseling by the superior.

Effective Goal Setting Specific, challenging goals lead to better performance.

Feedback on goal-directed performance motivates only if it leads to the setting of higher goals.

Positive feedback gives the worker a sense of achievement and accomplishment.

Competition does not directly motivate performance, but it does persuade employees to accept and strive to meet goals.

DDI/SHRM Study Findings Both managers and staff see a lot of room for

improvement in performance management practices.

Respondents give the lowest grades to feedback and coaching.

Respondents don’t see a clear link between their performance and pay.

Respondents describe performance management as a fragmented system that lack continuity.

Improving Performance Management 1. Organization readiness

Involve employees in developing the system. Communicate how the system works to all employees.

2. Systems Integration Performance management system must be integrated with other

systems and organizational objectives.

3. Training Must commit to a high level of training for appraisers and

appraisees alike. Managers and employees need to be taught how to set objectives

and track and measure performance.

4. Evaluation Effectiveness of performance management system can only be

ensured if managers are held accountable for using it effectively.

Is Performance Appraisal Beneficial? Widely considered as one of the most valuable HR

tools.

Staffing, transfer, layoff, termination, and promotion decisions are based on appraisals.

Can serve as a motivational device to provide feedback to employees.

Assess potential and identify training needs.

Factors Causing Antipathy Toward Performance Appraisal Systems Ownership

Neither manager nor subordinate has any sense of ownership.

They are not involved in the design or administration of the system.

Are not frequently being trained to us the system.

Bad News

Managers do not like to deliver negative messages to people.

Employees do not like to receive bad news.

Negative messages generate defensive reactions and promote hostility.

Factors Causing Antipathy Toward Performance Appraisal Systems Adverse Impact

Bad reviews have an adverse impact on a person’s career.

Managers are conscious of the paper trail that follows formal appraisals.

Scarce Rewards

Few formal rewards for taking the process seriously.

Many informal rewards for not delivering unpopular messages.

Factors Causing Antipathy Toward Performance Appraisal Systems Personal Reflection

Managers hesitate to give poor appraisals for feat that the appearance of poor work by an employee will reflect poorly on the manager’s ability to select employees.

Improving Effectiveness of the Appraisal Process 1. Get employees more involved in the design,

development, and administration of the system. Participation creates ego involvement and a sense of commitment.

2. Invest more heavily training raters to use the system.

3. Create an environment in which performance information is viewed as a resource that managers can use to develop subordinates.

4. Make performance appraisal the responsibility of the ratee, not the rater.

5. Use multiple raters. This reduces sampling error and makes raters more comfortable.

Performance Rating Study 1. Sex

Men are neither tougher nor more lenient than women. Men do not rate women more gently or strictly than they do other men, or vice versa. Sex appears to be irrelevant.

2. Race Supervisory raters gave higher ratings to subordinates of their

own race than to subordinates of a different race. As for peer ratings, race had no effect.

3. Age One study found younger supervisors were less lenient than

older ones; the other found no difference at all.

4. Education Rater education had no effect.

Tying It All Together Performance appraisal is here to stay.

An overwhelming majority of organizations use the approach.

There is a widespread dissatisfaction with almost everything concerned with performance appraisal.

Neither appraisers nor appraisees feel comfortable with the process.