Win-Win Performance Appraisals: What to Do Before, During, and After the Review to Get the Best Results for Yourself and Your Employees: What to Do ... the Review (BUSINESS SKILLS AND DEVELOPMENT) - Softcover

Holpp, Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071736115 ISBN 13: 9780071736114

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education, 2011

Synopsis

Increase Productivity with High-Impact Performance Reviews!

Performance appraisals may not be everyone’s favorite task. Done right, though, they serve as a vital part of company strategy―and document in black and white your contribution to the organization’s success.

Win-Win Performance Appraisals gives you the knowledge, insight, and tools to transform every performance review from a painful, one-hour “sit down” into a collaborative process for achieving long-term goals.

GET ALL THE INSIGHT, TIPS, AND TACTICS TO:

• Align objectives with corporate strategy
• Write unbiased, productive evaluations
• Hold face-to-face reviews focused on moving forward ―not looking back
• Avoid possible legal pitfalls
• Conduct follow-up reviews that benefi t you and your employee

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Win-Win Performance Appraisals

Get the Best Results for Yourself and Your Employees: What to Do Before, During, and After the Review

By Lawrence Holpp

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright ©2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-173611-4

Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. What's Your Situation?
2. Setting Objectives
3. Improving on Performance Appraisal Forms
4. Evaluating Your Employees
5. Conducting Performance Appraisal Meetings
6. Legal Issues in Performance Management
7. Following Up After the Performance Appraisal Meeting
8. Performance Management as a Continuous Process
9. Managing Teams and Performance Appraisal
A Final Word
Index

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

What's Your Situation?

What performance management and appraisal mean in your specific situationdepends at least largely on your organization and on expectations—bothformal and informal, explicit and implied.

What is performance management for your organization? How is it handled? Whatare the processes and practices?

Performance Management in Your Organization

There are several models for performance management maturity that show aprogression consisting of four or five stages or levels. Exhibit 1-1shows an example of a performance management maturity model.

In the Performance Management Maturity Model (PMMM) (Exhibit 1-1),roughly one-third of organizations are stuck in Stage 0 or 1. These aretypically, but not solely, small businesses that need some sort of performanceappraisal form to protect themselves from lawsuits arising from claims ofimproper action by their managers. The performance appraisal process is nottaken too seriously. Distribution and collection of forms are the responsibilityof HR, and managers may actually get away altogether with not doing appraisals.In these organizations, performance appraisal is not used to link strategy withpeople, but is merely a paperwork function that has to be done just like expenseforms and change orders. We hope this book will help managers in theseorganizations manage performance and coach, lead, and develop their employees.

Most organizations are in Stage 2 of the PMMM. They have automated theperformance appraisal process, it is considered an integral part of everymanager's responsibilities, and managers do it with reasonable skill andregularity. It's part of a larger performance management cycle that includesperiodic check-ins, coaching, and planning. But it's still not an integral partof overall strategy. When goals are formulated at the highest levels in Stage 2organizations, there is no concerted effort to drive goals down to the firstlevel of the organization. Strategy may be discussed, PowerPoint presentationsmay be made, memos may be sent, but the real work of integrating performanceappraisals with overall goals is neglected. At the high end of Stage 2,organizations become conscientious about coaching and managing performance andinsist that managers adopt a coaching role with their subordinates. Yet despitegood intentions, there's little coordinating effort to ensure that coaching andobjective writing are done in a consistent and verifiable fashion.

A handful of companies have made it to Stage 3. Not only do they have fullyautomated performance appraisals in place, but performance management isuniversally adopted. Tools are readily available in the form of training andcoaching, and the organization supports a learning culture from top to bottom.These organizations have learning management processes that are respected andpowerful and fully utilized by employees and managers. In the appraisal process,managers in these organizations all use notations directing associates tointernal training opportunities and the organization supports and makes readilyavailable improvement efforts.

They train managers in how to conduct performance appraisals, how to coach andcounsel, and how to deal with employee problems. They keep records onperformance management-related actions by both managers and subordinates andautomatically prompt managers when critical events are due. These organizationssometimes describe their HR functions as "talent management" to includesuccession planning, high-potential programs, mentoring, advanced businesstraining, and careful scrutiny by senior management of people plans throughoutthe business.

Stage 4 organizations may be as much a theoretical concept as real brick-and-mortarcompanies. The concept represents a goal to be strived for more than aresting place for companies that have achieved performance appraisal perfection.Stage 4 organizations have all the tools of those at Stage 3 but use them evenmore dexterously. They have maximized the ability to react to marketfluctuations through alignment of people. They plan, execute, and change on adime. They are masters of continuous improvement without relying on thecumbersome structure of Six Sigma or other organizational overlays. They treatpeople management and development with the rigor of financial management and canaccount for the financial impact of training and coaching. They successfullyassimilate and orient acquisitions because their culture is both strong andpractical and they have a long-term working relationship with customers thatsurpasses all other partnerships.

The PMMM continuum is dynamic. Once an organization gets to Stage 3 or even 4,the leaders can't rest on their laurels. They must embrace change and acceptchallenges to their structure. It's a paradox that such cultures are so wellintegrated that they almost don't need the structure of even the most perfectperformance appraisal. But it wasn't always so and it isn't even now. To get toStages 3 or 4, you need the structures built in Stages 1 and 2.

Regardless of the level at which your organization operates, this book is abouthelping everyone who aspires to higher levels of communication and performanceusing tools designed to facilitate that. When performance appraisal is donewell, it improves employee motivation, performance, and commitment. It's thegoal of this book to help you do that. Doing the things this book recommendswon't necessarily get you to Stage 4, but it will help you build a platform ofskill that will put you much closer than you may be now.

Performance Management: Six Assumptions

Whatever the situation of performance management in your organization, what youas an individual manager do to manage the performance of your employees is up toyou. According to Robert Bacal, author of Performance Management(McGraw-Hill, 1999), there are six beliefs or assumptions that are basic tosuccessful performance management:

1. Performance management is a process undertaken with employees and not done toemployees.

2. The planning, communicating, and evaluating of performance occur as apartnership (with the exception of "unusual situations that require unilateraldisciplinary action").

3. Most employees, once they understand what's expected of them, will make everyeffort to meet those requirements.

4. The purpose of performance management isn't to look at the past and assignblame but to solve performance problems as they occur and prevent them wheneverpossible.

5. When performance deficits occur, we need to identify the real causes of thedeficit, whether they are causes in the system or causes connected with theindividual employee.

6. For the most part, if the manager does his or her job in supportingemployees, each employee is really the "resident expert" about the job he or shedoes and how to improve performance.

Performance Management Cycle

Many models have been developed for the performance management process, oftenpresented with graphics that may be effective in making some models moreappealing, making them seem more correct than other approaches. Keep one pointin mind: the best model is one that results in the best performance managementresults for the specific situation.

In this book we'll use a model for the performance management process,consisting of four stages. This is really a variation on the well-knownPlan-Do-Check-Act cycle.

1. Plan. Establish expectations for the employee.

2. Do. Help the employee perform.

3. Check. Appraise the employee's performance.

4. React. Act upon the results of the performance appraisal.

Organization of This Book

The chapters of this book won't follow the logic of this performance managementcycle. Why not? Because this book is mostly about the performance appraisalprocess, but that's part of the performance management process, and it'simportant to remember that. We're going to be occupied mainly with the Plan andCheck parts of the process. Managers have expectations and they appraise theiremployees. Sadly, some may do little or nothing else. After we cover those twophases of the performance management cycle, we then provide some information onDo and React. We consider how you can help your employees perform their jobsbetter and how you can reinforce your performance appraisals by giving youremployees what they deserve.

CHAPTER 2

Setting Objectives

Good objectives link company strategy—the big picture—to whatemployees do in their jobs and ensure alignment between what employees do andwhere senior management wants the company to go. When the performance appraisalprocess is based on objectives, rather than rankings or ratings, it confirmsthat manager and employee are on the same side, working together.

The objective-setting process can provide a stimulating and creative environmentfor developing work plans that test and challenge both the employee and themanager to do the best they can and to ensure personal growth and development.The earlier in the performance management cycle you set objectives, the better.

Setting objectives allows you to:

• Create clear performance expectations in advance

• Ensure that employees are working on the right things in the right way

• Focus on measures and results, rather than activities

• Link daily activities to broader business objectives

• Establish a baseline for performance appraisal

• Develop a dialogue with each of your employees on the challenges and goals ofthe job

• Initiate discussions of personal and career development

Setting objectives is important, because without good objectives:

• Performance evaluation is subjective and subject to bias

• Employees may remain unclear about job priorities

• New employees may be at a loss as to what to do

• It's difficult to drive strategy into action

• Priorities suffer whenever circumstances change

• Competing priorities can't be evaluated and resourced against overriding goals

In short, without good objectives, the focus of an organization may be lost andemployees will be unable to direct their efforts toward those things that ensurethe survival and success of the company.

The Manager's Role in Setting Objectives

We will assume that you will involve each employee in setting objectives for hisor her work. Why? Because it's the smartest way to manage performance.Involvement inspires engagement and commitment, which inspires betterperformance.

Share the responsibility of setting objectives and benefit from getting inputfrom your employees and showing that you value their collaboration in theperformance appraisal process from the start of the cycle.

Set Objectives for Your Work Group

The first step in setting objectives with each of your employees is to setobjectives for your work unit. There are basic guidelines that should work inany situation. Objectives may be imposed on you from above, so you may not becompletely free to follow the steps below. However, these steps may help youwork more effectively with those objectives.

• Understand your company's overall strategy, broad objectives, and vision andhow they relate to your team or work group.

• Set objectives for your work unit that are aligned with the organization'sobjectives.

• Prioritize those objectives.

• Share your objectives with others outside your department— your manager,customers, stakeholders—to get their input.

• Make sure every objective has a distinct measurement standard.

• Meet with all of your employees as a team and review the work unit'sobjectives. Encourage frank discussion of the objectives and revise themaccordingly.

• Give all employees a copy of the unit's objectives and ask them to think abouthow each of their jobs fits in with the unit's objectives.

The Employee's Role in Setting Objectives

Here's a checklist you can give your employees to help each of them prepare formeeting with you to set individual objectives.

* Review your performance appraisal and objectives from last year. Indicate foreach objective the degree of success you had.

* If you had difficulty achieving an objective, identify the reasons why thathappened. Were there circumstances beyond your control?

* Consider in what ways your job has changed. What new responsibilities do youhave? Do you have clear objectives for those responsibilities? Do you need anyadditional resources, training, or coaching?

* Do you have new career aspirations or any personal goals that weren't includedin last year's appraisal process but should be included now?

These questions should help your employees think about their evaluations andtheir responsibilities so they can better prepare for meeting with you to settheir objectives. They are necessarily general; you may want to add some moreparticular questions to this list.

Inputs into the Objective-Setting Process

Here we look at some factors to consider when you and your employees meet todiscuss their responsibilities and set objectives. You may make a list of thoserelevant to your situation, whether for all of your employees or only some ofthem. Then you might want to give a list to each employee in advance of themeeting or bring the list to the meeting as a guide for your discussion.

Strategic Corporate Goals

Since the primary purpose of performance development is to enable and motivateemployees to contribute more effectively and efficiently to the organization,performance objectives should derive from the goals and priorities of theorganization. By "goals" we mean outcome statements that define what anorganization is trying to accomplish. Goals generally involve major actions andmultiple programs, whereas objectives are actions that contribute to attaininggoals. (In Chapter 3 we discuss the art of turning goals intoobjectives.)

Strategic goals are general goals that form part of an organization'scorporate strategy. They are targets developed to direct organizationalactivity. Some strategic goals are easier than others to translate into workunit goals and then into individual performance objectives.

Big-picture corporate goals are often translatable into unit goals when theyhave as their basis sound metrics. For example, in the heyday of the qualitymovement, Florida Power and Light had as its chief corporate goal "To become thebest managed electric utility in the United States and an excellent companyoverall and be recognized as such." This inspiring slogan was based on qualitymetrics, metrics that translated into work unit objectives and performanceobjectives for employees. Goals like "zero defects" and "zero defections," alongwith customer satisfaction scores were adopted by work units. However, withoutthose metrics, quality goals, and standards, that strategic goal might have beendifficult to translate at the levels of work units and employees.

If your organization uses a balanced scorecard, you can use that to developperformance objectives with your employees.

Work Unit Objectives

The objectives of the work unit should derive, as noted above, from theorganization's strategic goals. In addition, you may want your unit to haveother objectives, including objectives that reflect and reinforce the unit'sculture. Make sure that your work unit has at least some shared objectives. Thiswill encourage your employees to collaborate and to share resources.

Position Descriptions

Position descriptions are sometimes the most underused sources of objectives.When they are current and detailed, they constitute one of the best sources ofobjectives a manager can draw on. A good job description describes theresponsibilities, tasks, and levels of authority for the position. Often jobdescriptions have been developed to justify a new position or a position indanger of being eliminated, to establish job requirements for recruiting andhiring, and/or to provide a basis for promoting employees. (In fact, oftenmanagement provides guidance on promotion by saying, explicitly or implicitly,"When you are doing what employees at the next level are doing, you are readyfor promotion.") If position descriptions have been developed carefully andbased on research, they can also be a good source of competencies, which in turncan form the basis of many objectives. (We discuss this in Chapter 3.)

However, job descriptions sometimes become so outdated as work responsibilitiesshift and change that they are of little value in developing performanceobjectives for the employees in those positions. If you decide to use a jobdescription as input into the objective-setting process, review it carefully andmake sure it fits the job. Take notes so you can revise it as necessary later.

Many position descriptions list everything that the employee is expected to dowithin each functional area. In setting objectives, you should keep the numberof objectives for each area reasonable and practical.

Think of the job responsibilities in terms of priorities. If you aren't sure howto proceed, here are some guidelines:

• List the areas of responsibilities.

• Rate those responsibilities in order of relative importance in terms of thevalue of the position to your work unit and the organization. That may be easierif you start by ranking them, beginning with the most important.

• Focus on the essential responsibilities. Maybe all of them seem essential, butif you needed to replace that employee with a temp for a month, you'd probablybe able to narrow the list of responsibilities down to the essential ones.

Objectives from Prior Appraisals

One of the best ways to start developing performance objectives is by reviewingperformance appraisal documents from the previous year. This provides concreteinformation on how things went last year and maybe enables you to identifyproblems with past objectives and with the job descriptions from which thoseobjectives were derived.

Naturally, the value of using objectives from prior appraisals depends on howwell those objectives worked and whether the job situation has changed. You maynot be able to use prior appraisal documents with all of your employees. Ifappraisals haven't been satisfactory, maybe the objectives weren't accurate. Ifthat's the case, then you can probably learn from the experience and revise theobjectives worth salvaging. However, if the job situation is different, it maybe wise for you to take a zero-based approach in setting objectives.

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Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071736115
• ISBN 13: 9780071736114
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208