PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND APPRAISALS (HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT); Onibokun Samson O.

Performance management and appraisals

Performance management facilitates high levels of performance, and creates a culture encouraging continuous improvement. But it is not always a positive experience for staff, and carried out badly it is a demotivater .Learn how to make this a positive experience, opening up a dialogue that enables problems to be aired and dealt with sensitively, positive feedback to be given and development plans agreed and implemented. Learn how to manage team performance and consider how to motivate staff.

Performance management is a process which organizations use to align their resources, systems and employees to strategic objectives and priorities. It contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams, enabling them to achieve high levels of organizational performance, and creates a culture that encourages the continuous improvement of business processes and peoples’ skills and performance.

It brings together many of the elements of people management, including learning and development. It is complex and needs to be understood by staff and management. Performance management is commonly achieved through annual performance appraisals.

Line managers need to appreciate their role in managing performance and how the performance appraisal contributes to performance management. New managers should be trained in how to carry out appraisals sensitively and constructively.

It is useful to run a regular seminar on the process, which all new staff attend during their first year. This ensures they understand the process and the reasons for, and benefits of, performance management and appraisals.

Performance management establishes a shared understanding of targets that are to be achieved, and the management and development needed to ensure that they are achieved. Used across an organization it relates to everything the organization does, and will filter through its human resource policies, culture, and communications.

Performance appraisal or review is one of the range of tools that can be used to manage performance. It is an opportunity for individual employees and their line managers to have a dialogue about the employee’s performance and development, and any support required from the manager.

During the process the parties examine and evaluate an employee’s performance against an agreed standard, document the results, and provide feedback to the employee to show where, how and why improvements can be made. This should be a free-flowing conversation during which views are exchanged.

Feedback should be handled sensitively, while providing information on performance and progress, and what is required to continue to perform well in the future. This is also an opportunity to discuss any change programme and evolution of job roles.

Positive reinforcement should emphasize what has been done well, and constructive criticism should be used to discuss what might be improved.

Performance appraisals review past actions and behaviour so they offer an opportunity to reflect on past performance. But to be successful they should also be used as a basis for making development and improvement plans and reaching agreement about what should be done in the future.

The employee’s aspirations will be discussed. An action plan should be developed with targets for next years performance, particularly with regard to improvements in identified areas. A learning and development plan will be produced if appropriate.

Outside the meeting the manager may, confidentially and for the benefit of HR, record the suitability of the employee for promotion or retention. Often the employee’s bonus or salary is based on the outcome of the appraisal.

Performance reviews, carried out well, can enhance relationships between staff and managers, and are an excellent tool for developing staff and providing an effective vehicle for target setting and review.

Used badly they are a dreaded annual event for many staff, because poor or lazy managers use them as an opportunity to highlight problems that have occurred during the year.

I have known a manager to keep a written list of the years “problems” and produce them as a basis for the appraisal. It would have been more effective to tackle each problem as it arose, discuss it with the staff member at the time and show them how each situation would have been better dealt with!!

There is no right or wrong way to conduct an appraisal, the format will depend on the people involved and the nature of the business. The meeting may take the form of a free dialogue between appraisers and appraisee, or follow a more formal structure. It is helpful to have a standard document (paper or online) to collect consistent information for each appraisal.

The best way to deal with an appraisal is for both parties to prepare in advance, by considering the following;-

The appraiser should consider:

·         How well or badly the person has performed since the last meeting.

·         Any problems which have arisen, and potential solutions if they have not been dealt with.

·         Progress against agreed development plans from the last appraisal.

·         Feedback to be given at the meeting, with supporting evidence.

·         Factors that have affected performance, within and outside the appraisee’s control.

·         Points for discussion on the actions that could be taken by both to develop or improve performance.

·         Potential directions the appraisee’s career might take.

·         Possible objectives for the next review period.

Appraisees need to consider:

·         What they have achieved since the last review, with examples and evidence.

·         Objectives not achieved, with explanations.

·         What they most enjoy about the job and how they might want to develop the role.

·         Problems or barriers to performance encountered, and proposed solutions.

·         Aspect of the work in which improvement is required and how this might be achieved.

·         Learning and development needs identified.

·         Support and guidance needed.

·         Aspirations for the future, in the current role and in possible future roles.

·         Objectives for the next review period.

This preparation encourages a discussion of performance, and a development plan should arise from the discussion. An action plan should be developed, and targets agreed for the next period

Appraisal skills for managers

What characterises an effective appraisal meeting? How are the outcomes different from a poor one? Managers who carry out appraisals need to learn the skills to ensure the appraisal is a positive experience for all concerned, with outcomes that encourage performance optimisation.

They need to ask the right type of questions, develop listening skills, and give effective feedback to help employees appreciate the impact of their actions and behavior. Feedback can be used positively to reinforce good points, and also be used to identify opportunities for further positive action.

Appraisal skills for managers

A constructive appraisal meeting is one in which:-

·         The appraisee does most of the talking.

·         The appraiser actively listens and respond to points.

·         Solutions are proposed and discussed

·         There is reflection and analysis.

·         Performance, not personality, is analyzed,

·         The whole period is reviewed, not just recent or specific events.

·         Achievement is recognized and reinforced.

·         The meeting ends positively for both parties, with an agreed action plan for sustained and improved performance in the future.

A bad appraisal meeting:

·         Focuses on a list of errors, problems or omissions.

·         Blame is allocated

·         The appraiser does most of the talking, there is not a two way dialogue

·         Solutions are not proposed.

·         Ends in argument or disagreement between appraiser and appraisee.

·         Leaves the appraisee feeling demotivated.

Managers who are expected to carry out performance appraisal should have some appropriate training. This should include the reasons the organization carries out appraisals, and the skills of performance appraisal.

Managers need to appreciate how the process fits into the wider strategic process of performance management, and how the data collected contributes to an analysis of the organization’s human resources, and its capability to contribute to business strategy and value.

They should have an opportunity to practice the skills needed to carry out an effective appraisal. They need to learn to ask the right questions, listen actively and provide constructive feedback.

In this context asking the right questions means using both open and probing questions.

Open questions are general and enable people to answer in various ways, take the conversation where they want it to go, and encourage them to talk freely.

For Example:

·         How do you feel things have gone this year?

·         How do you see your career developing?

·         How do you feel about that?

·         Why do you think that happened?

Probing questions dig for more specific information on events and reasons.  They indicate support and encourage provision of information about feelings and attitudes, they can “reflect back” and check understanding.

For Example:

·         That’s interesting. Can you tell me more?

·         How important is that to you?

·         Just to confirm, do you mean that ….?

Listening

A good listener should:

·         Concentrate on the speaker

·         Be aware of behaviour, body language and intonations.

·         Respond when necessary but not interrupt.

·         Ask relevant questions to clarify meaning.

·         Demonstrate understanding by making short comments such as “I see “.

Giving feedback is a skill that managers need to learn and practice. Feedback should be based on facts, not subjective opinion, and should be backed up with evidence and examples.

Feedback should be used to help employees understand the impact of their actions and behaviour. It is best used positively to reinforce good points and identify opportunities for further positive action. Sometimes corrective action may be needed.

Feedback will work best when:

·         Events are described rather than judged.
E.g. X became upset when Y was said “Is a description rather than a judgment such as “you upset X by saying Y “.

·         Feedback is accompanied by questions asking why, in the individual’s opinion, certain events happened.

·         People accept feedback better when they are encouraged to work round to their own conclusions about what happened and why.

·         Feedback is related to actual events, and observed actions.

·         Understanding is reached about what went wrong,

·         The action decided is to correct the problem not apportion blame.

360 degree review or feedback

An alternative approach to performance management is the use of 360 degree assessment. Here comment and feedback is gathered from a wide range of people, including the person’s direct reports, line manager, colleagues and customers.

Sometimes to provide anonymity for contributors, the feedback is collated and presented to the appraisee by HR, or even a peer in another branch or department.

Management of team performance

A danger with performance related pay or bonuses is that they can create a competitive atmosphere which does not produce the best results for the business, as people vie with each other to maximize their individual earnings .Individual bonuses can be divisive and disruptive unless they are carefully managed.

Consequently many performance targets are based on team results, to ensure everyone pulls in the same direction.

A downside of this is that people may lose sight of the target and fail to understand what is required of them to achieve the group target. Not everyone in a team can contribute to specific targets, so they need to understand they must do more in the achievement of the targets they can influence.

A good way to manage this is to hold regular team meetings-say quarterly, for an annual target. Each target should be examined, progress against milestones and targets evaluated, and suggestions made as to which part of the team can achieve this target and what each of them need to do .

For example in a retail organization the team may have a turnover target of £1m, and be at £200k at the end of the first quarter, Taking into account seasonal fluctuations the likely result on current performance is forecast to be £950k. This means the team need to generate an additional £50k as a minimum to protect the bonus.

Only certain members of the team can influence this directly – Buyers by creating more demand, or merchandisers by converting more of the existing demand into sales that could otherwise be lost by stock shortages.

The briefing manager should divide the target by the number of buyers and merchandisers and challenge each of them to contribute that figure as a minimum.

This will require some preparation by the management team, but if handled correctly, can produce spectacular results.