Performance and Effectiveness Unit IV. Performance – Refers to an employee's accomplishment...

Performance and Effectiveness

Unit IV

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Performance

– Refers to an employee's accomplishment of assigned tasks

– Means to do something or produce something

– It is a systematic description of the job relevant strengths and weaknesses of an individual or group

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Appraisal

– Means to decide the value of work done

– Are judgments of the characteristics, traits & performance of others

– Appraisal period is the length of time during which an employee's job performance is observed in order to make a formal report of it

– Information gained from the process • determines the relevance of individual and work-group performance to

organizational purposes,

• to improve the EFFECTIVENESS of the unit, and to improve the work performance of employees

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Performance Appraisal

• A process of evaluating an employee's performance of a job in terms of its requirements

• Also known as Performance review, performance evaluation, merit rating

• Performance Appraisal is a process that involves determining and communicating to an employee how s/he is performing the job and ideally, involves establishing a plan of improvement. – Bayers & Rue

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Performance Appraisal

• Performance appraisal is fundamentally a feedback process.

• Researches indicate that feedback may result in increases in performance varying from 10-30 percent. That is a fairly inexpensive way to improve productivity.

• But to work effectively, feedback programs require sustained commitment. The challenge for managers, then, is to provide feedback regularly to their employees.

• The cost of failure to provide such feedback may result in the loss of key

professional employees, the continued poor performance of employees who are not meeting performance standards, and a loss of commitment by all employees.

• In sum, the myth that employees know how they are doing without adequate feedback from management can be an expensive fantasy.

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Subjective and Objective Measures of Performance• Performance measurement is typically the source of many problems

as it is seen as subjective. It is a measurement process as well as an intensely emotional process.

• Traditionally, performance evaluation system focused on the consistent use of pre-specified traits or behaviors

• To improve consistency & validity of measurement, considerable training is used to help supervisors to make valid assessments

• Rather than simply training the supervisors, all participants are trained in methods of measuring & assessing performance

• By focusing on both subjective & objective measures of performance,

the appraisal process is more understood, accepted & accurate

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Performance Management

• Is the total process of observing an employee's performance in relation to job requirements over a period of time and then making an appraisal of it

• The process by which executives, managers and supervisors work to align employee performance with the firm's goals

• Performance Evaluation is a crucial part of a firm's performance management process

• Performance Evaluation is the activity used to determine the extent to which an employee performs work effectively.

• Other terms of performance evaluation include performance review, personnel rating, merit rating, performance appraisal, employee appraisal & employee evaluation

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Timings of Performance Appraisal

• Traditionally fixed by managers or personnel staffs

• Could be a yearly or newer approaches increases the frequency of feedback

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Purposes of Performance Appraisal

• Conducted for a variety of purposes – affirmative action, pay, promotion, HRP

• For employees – career feedback, getting a raise, being promoted

• To improve the work performance of employees by helping them realize and use their full potential in carrying out their firm's missions.

• Provide feedback to employees and serve as a vehicle for personal and career development.

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• As basis for reward allocations (decisions as to who gets salary increases, promotions & other rewards)

• Appraisals can be used for identifying areas where devt. efforts are needed (Mgmt. needs to spot the individuals who have specific skill or knowledge deficiencies)

• To provide information to employees and managers for use in making work related decisions

• Support personnel decisions to promote outstanding performers: To weed out marginal or low performers; to train, to transfer, or discipline others; and to justify merit increases (or no increases). It serves as a key input for administering a formal organizational reward and punishment system

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• Used as a criterion against which selection devices & devt. programs are validated

• (E.g. Our selection process is successful in differentiating satisfactory performers from unsatisfactory performers. But there must be some standard of satisfactory performance. The devt. of a valid, reliable & bias-free performance appraisal system can establish such standards)

• Help establish objectives for training programs

• Can help diagnose organizational problems

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Performance Evaluation Process

Establish Performance Standards

Discussion with the Employees

Corrective Action

Comparing Standard and Actual Performance

Measure Actual Performance

Communicate Performance Expectations

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The Appraisal Process

1. Establish Performance Standards• Performance standards should have evolved out of job analysis &

the job description

• Performance standards should be clear & objective enough o be understood & measured

• Value phrases tell us nothing e.g. "A good job"

• The expectations a manager has in terms of work performance by her subordinates must be clear enough in her mind so that she will be able to, at some later date, communicate these expectations to her subordinates & appraise their performance against these previously established standards

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The Appraisal Process (conti…)

2. Communicate Performance Expectations to Employees• Once performance standards are established, it is necessary to communicate

these expectations

• Unfortunately, too many jobs have vague performance standards (not part of an employee's job to guess what is expected of them)

• Communication is a 2-way street & mere transference of information from the manager to the subordinate regarding expectations is not communication

• Communication is when the transference of information has taken place & has been received & understood by the subordinate

• Therefore, feedback is necessary from the subordinates to the manager

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The Appraisal Process (conti…)

3. Measure Actual Performance• To determine what actual performance is, it is necessary to acquire

information about it

• We should be concerned with 'how' we measure & 'what' we measure

• 4 common sources of information are frequently used by managers to measure actual performance– Personal observation– Statistical reports– Oral reports– Written reports

• Each has its strengths & weaknesses

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• 'What' we measure is probably more critical to the evaluation process than 'how' we measure, since the selection of the wrong criteria can result in serious dysfunctional consequences. 'What' we measure determines to a great extent, what people in the organization will attempt to excel at

• The criteria we choose to measure must represent performance as it was stated & articulated in the first 2 steps of the appraisal process

• E.g. When we tell an employee that she will be evaluated based on criterion X & then appraise her performance based on criterion Y, we can expect her effort to do a good job to decline, & we can expect her to behave in such a manner that she will look good on criterion Y

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The Appraisal Process (conti…)

4. Compare actual performance with standards• Attempt is to note deviations between

standard performance & actual performance

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The Appraisal Process (conti…)

5. Discuss the appraisal with the employee• One of the most challenging tasks facing managers is to present an

accurate appraisal to the subordinate & then have the subordinate accept the appraisal in a constructive manner

• One of the most emotionally charged activities

• The impression that subordinates receive about their assessment has a strong impact on their self-esteem & their subsequent performance (Pygmalion Effect)

• Conveying good news is considerably less difficult for both the managers & the subordinates than conveying bad news

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• Appraisal can have negative as well as positive motivational consequences

• E.g. A survey of over 8,000 high-school seniors found that people seem to see themselves as better than average. 70% rated themselves above average on leadership, 60% rated themselves in the top 10% & 25% saw themselves among the top 1%. This survey indicates that truthful appraisals will frequently place the manager in a situation where the subordinate's perception of her own performance overstates the manager's appraisal

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The Appraisal Process (conti…)6. Initiation of Corrective Action• Corrective action can be of 2 types

• First is immediate & deals predominantly with symptoms

• The other is basic & delves into causes

• Immediate corrective action is often described as 'putting out fires' whereas basic corrective action gets to the source of deviation & seeks to adjust the difference permanently

• Immediate actions corrects something right now & gets things back on track. Basic action asks how & why performance deviated

• Good managers recognize that they must find the time to analyze deviations & in situations where the benefits justify such action, permanently correct significant differences between standards & actual performance

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Problems of Performance Evaluation

• Unclear Standards: Ambiguous criteria, subjective weightings

• Outright biases may lead to favored treatment for some employees.

• Supervisors may adopt an easy way out by rating inferior employees as an average one. (Ratings on central tendency: e.g. 3 out of 5)

• Recency effect: Greater weight to recent occurrences. E.g. employee rating based on just last week's performance

• Halo Effect: Based on one characteristic

• Contrast Effect: Rate people relative to other people rather than to performance standards

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• Leniency Error: Using one's own value system which acts as a standard against which appraisals are made. +ve and –ve leniency error

• Primary Effect: Initial impression influences the decision on year end appraisal

• Inappropriate substitutes for performance: Effort, enthusiasm, appearance, etc. are less relevant for some jobs than others.

• Impression management: If employee positively influences the relationship with the supervisor, he/she is likely to receive a higher rating.

• Unclear Standards: Subjective interpretations

• Emphasizes too much on superior position by placing him or her in the role of a judg , thus countering his or her equally important roles of teacher and coach.

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Effective Performance Evaluation System

1. Relevance• Clear link between organization's objectives & performance standard• Job dimensions on which employee is to be rated should be based on job elements

described in the job description2. Sensitivity• Should be capable of distinguishing an effective performer from an ineffective

performer• If a result fails to categorize effectiveness of the performers, it will not be sensitive

to performance level of a productive or unproductive employee3. Reliability• Reliability depends on the chances of close observation for the appraiser to evaluate

job behavior & performance of the employees4. Acceptance• Result should be acceptable to all involved parties• All parties – managers, subordinate & appraiser- must be involved & they should

support it5. Practicability• The techniques & instruments should be easy to understand & use

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Role of HR in a firm’s competitiveness

• Organizations today are facing a lot of pressures from global environment

• Competitive pressures have forced business act promptly

• Some of the areas are:– Cut costs, to innovate, to enter new market, to develop

a flexible & productive HR strategy• Productivity largely depends upon performance of

HR of an organization• Better the performance of the personnel, better the

competitive advantage, thus, higher productivity

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• Productivity & competitiveness of an enterprise depends upon the performance of its HR

• Thus, to enhance their performance, HR managers must execute programs to appraise & develop its employees

• As performance & productivity increases, business can pay higher wages to its HR

• Productive organizations get more goods & services out of given inputs

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Methods of Evaluating Employee Performance

• In this section, we will look at how management can actually establish performance standards & devise instruments that can be used to measure and appraise an employee's performance

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Methods of Performance AppraisalI. Absolute Standards

(Subjects are not compared with any other person)

1. Essay Appraisal• Simplest method of appraisal

• The rater writes a narrative describing an employee's strengths, weaknesses, past performance, potential & suggestions for improvement

• Rater describes the strong & weak aspects of the employee's behavior

• Open-ended, there are guidelines on the topics to be covered Strengths+ Simplicity, it requires no complex forms or extensive training to compete

+ Provides considerable information, much of which can easily be fed back & assimilated by the employee

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Weaknesses- Because the essays are unstructured, they are likely to vary

widely in terms of length & content. This makes it difficult to compare individuals across the organization

- A 'good' or a 'bad' evaluation may be determined as much by the rater's writing skill as by the employee's actual level of performance

- Provides only qualitative data & HRM decisions improve when useful quantitative date are generated. Quantitative data can be compared & ranked more objectively

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Methods of Performance AppraisalI. Absolute Standards

(Subjects are not compared with any other person)

2. Critical Incident Appraisal• Focuses on the rater's attention on those critical or key behaviors that make the

difference between doing a job effectively & doing it ineffectively (Appraiser writes down anecdote (story))

• Raters maintain a log of behavior incidents that represent effective or ineffective performance

• E.g. the college dean might write the following critical incident about one of her instructors: "Outlined the day's lecture on the chalkboard at the beginning class"

• Specific behaviors are cited, not vaguely defined personality traits. E.g. Employee is 'aggressive', 'imaginative' or 'relaxed'. Does not tell us anything about how well the job is being done

• Critical incidents, with their focus on behaviors, judge performance rather than personalities

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Strengths+ It looks at behaviors

+ A list of critical incidents on a given employee provides a rich set of examples from which the employee can be shown which of his behaviors are desirable & which ones call for improvement

Drawbacks- Can lead to overly close supervision. Gives the impression that everything

they do will be recorded in the boss’s book

- Appraisers are required to regularly write these incidents down, but doing this on a daily or even weekly basis for all their subordinates is time-consuming & burdensome for managers

- No quantification, therefore, the comparison & ranking of subordinates is difficult

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Examples of Critical Incidents for Assistant Plant Manager

Continuing Duties Targets Critical Incidents

Schedule production for plant

90% utilization of personnel and machinery in plant; orders delivered on time

Instituted new production scheduling system; decreased late orders by 10% last month; increased machine utilization in plant by 20% last month

Supervise procurement of raw materials and inventory control

Minimize inventory costs while keeping adequate supplies on hand

Let inventory storage costs rise 15% last month; overordered parts “A” and “B” by 20%; underordered part “C” by 30%

Supervise machinery maintenance

No shutdowns due to faulty machinery

Instituted new preventative maintenance system for plant; prevented a machine breakdown by discovering faulty part

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Methods of Performance AppraisalI. Absolute Standards

(Subjects are not compared with any other person)

3. Checklist• A checklist is a set of objectives or descriptive statement

• The evaluator uses a list of behavioral descriptions & checks off those behaviors that apply to the employee

• E.g. Are supervisor's orders usually followed? (Y/N)

• Once the checklist is complete, it is usually evaluated by the staff of personnel dept., not the manager doing the checklist

• Therefore, the rater does not actually evaluate the employee's performance, he merely records it.

• An analyst in the personnel dept. then scores the checklist, often weighting in the factors in relationship to their importance

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• The final evaluation can then be returned to the rating manager for discussion with the subordinate, or someone from the personnel dept. can provide the feedback to the subordinate

• If the rater believes that the employee possesses a trait listed, the rater checks the item, it not, the rater leaves it blank

Advantages+ Reduces some bias, since the rater & the scores are different

Drawbacks- From a cost standpoint, this appraisal method may be inefficient if there

are a no. of job categories, because a checklist of items must be prepared for each category

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Methods of Performance AppraisalI. Absolute Standards

(Subjects are not compared with any other person)

4. Graphic Rating Scale• Devted. by Walter D. Scott

• One of the oldest & the most popular methods

• A printed form, one for each person to be rated is used

• Employees are rated on personality characteristics & performance

• Rater is presented with a set of traits & is asked to rate employees on each of the characteristics listed

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Can be used to assess the factors below:

• Employee Characteristics

– Initiative– Leadership– Cooperativeness– Dependability– Attitude– Loyalty– Creative ability– Emotional ability– Coordination

• Employee Contribution– Quality & quantity of

work– Responsibility assumed– Specific goals– Leadership offered– Attitudes toward

superiors

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• The ratings can be in a series of box or a continuous series

• The assessor goes down the list of factors & notes that point along the scale or continuum that best describes the employee

• E.g. on a scale of 1 to 5 where the highest no. (5) denote the best rating whereas the lowest no. (1) would denote the poor rating

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E.g. Discontinuous or multiple type of scaleOne factor is used along a discontinuous scale

Attitude0 5 10 15 20No interest Careless Interested Enthusiastic Enthusiasticin work Indifferent in work about job opinions &Constant instructions adviceComplainer sought by

others

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A Graphic Rating Scale with Unclear Standards

Note: For example, what exactly is meant by “good,” “quantity of work,” and so forth?

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Quality of work

Quantity of work

Creativity

Integrity

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Advantages of Graphic Rating Scale

+ Easy to understand and easy to use

+ Though they do not provide the depth of information, they are less time-consuming to devt. & administer

+ They permit quantitative analysis & comparison

+ Greater standardization of items so comparability with other individuals in diverse job categories is possible

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Disadvantages of Graphic Rating Scale

- It does not provide in-depth information as compared with other techniques

- Generally subjective

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Methods of Performance AppraisalI. Absolute Standards

(Subjects are not compared with any other person)

5. Forced Choice Method• Forced Choice method were developed as graphic rating scales allowed

supervisors to rate everyone high

• Evolved after a great deal of research conducted for the military services during WWII

• A special type of checklist, but the rater has to choose between 2 or more statements

• The appraiser's job is to identify which statement is most (or in some cases least) descriptive of the individual being evaluated

• Calls for objective reporting & minimum subjective judgment

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• The rating elements are several sets of pair phrases or adjectives (usually sets of 4 phrases, 2 of which are +ve, 2 –ve)

• The phrases are related to job proficiency or personal qualifications

• The rater is asked to indicate which of the 4 phrases is most & least descriptive of the employees

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Example of the Illustrative StatementsFavorable terms earn a + credit

a. Makes little effort & individual instructionb. Organizes the work wellc. Lacks the ability to make people feel at eased. Has a cool, even temperamente. Is punctual & carefulf. Is a hard worker & co-operativeg. Is dishonest & disloyalh. Is overbearing & disinterested in work

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Example of a Forced Choice

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Advantage of Forced Choice

+ Since the appraiser does not know the 'right' answer, it reduces bias & distortion

+ (For e.g., the appraiser may like a certain employee & intentionally want to give her a favorable evaluation, but this becomes difficult if one is not sure which response is most preferred)

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Disadvantages of Force Choice

- Disliked by appraisers. Many do not like being forced to make distinctions between statements that are difficult to differentiate between

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Methods of Performance AppraisalI. Absolute Standards

(Subjects are not compared with any other person)

6. Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)• Developed by Smith & Kendall

• Received considerable attention by academics in recent years

• Combines major elements from the critical incident & graphic rating scale approaches

• Usually 2-4 days are needed to develop a BARS

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5 Steps BARS procedure

1. Generate Critical Incident (job dimensions must be identified)• Job holders/supervisors are asked to describe specific critical incidents

of effective performance behavior

2. Develop Performance Dimensions• These people then cluster the incidents into a smaller set

( 5 to 10) of performance dimensions• Many examples of actual job behavior are described

3. Each dimension is anchored with positive and negative critical incidents

4. All incidents are scaled on 7 to 9 point scales

5. Each ratee is then rated on the dimensions

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Example on grocery clerks in a large grocery chain store

• A number of critical incidents were collected there and these were then clustered into 8 performance criteria:

1. Knowledge & Judgment2. Responsibility3. Skill in HR4. Skill in Operation of Register5. Skill in Bagging6. Organizational Ability7. Skill in Monetary Transactions8. Observational Ability

• For the criteria "Knowledge & Judgment", the scale ranges from 1-7, for rating performance from "extremely poor" to "extremely good"

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Example of BARS

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Advantages of BARS

+ More accurate, since BARS is done by experts, results are sufficiently accurate

+ Clear standards: Critical Incidents along the scale clarifies what is meant by 'extremely good' and 'average' performance

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Disadvantages of BARS

• Time-consuming and expensive

• A separate rating form must be developed for each job or job family

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II. Relative Standards

• Individuals are compared against other individuals

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II. Relative Standards1. Group Order Ranking

• Employees are placed in a classification reflecting their relative performance, such as “top one-fifth”

• Prevents supervisors from clustering their employees at the high end of the scale

• Also avoids clustering around the mid-points as occurs in some organizations

• Often used in recommending students to graduate schools

• E.g. evaluators are asked to rank the student in the top 5%

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Advantages of Group Order Ranking

+ It prevents raters from inflating their evaluations so everyone looks good

Disadvantages- When the no. of employees being compared is

small (4 employees), it may be possible that they may all be excellent, yet the evaluator may be forced to rank them

- Zero-sum game

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II. Relative Standards2. Individual Ranking

• Requires the evaluator merely to list the employees in an order from highest to lowest

• Only one can be 'best”

• E.g. Of the evaluator is required to appraise 22 individuals, this method assumes that the difference between 1st and 2nd individual is the same as that between the 21st and the 22nd

• Even though some of the employees may be closely grouped, this method allows for no ties

Advantages & Disadvantages• Same pluses & minuses as Group Order Ranking

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II. Relative Standards3. Paired Comparisons

• Each employee is compared every trait with all the other persons in pairs one at a time

• For e.g., if there are 5 persons to be compared, A is compared to B, C, D and E in order. A similar comparison is made in respect of other personnel

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Paired Comparison Method

Note: + means “better than.” − means “worse than.” For each chart, add up the number of 1’s in each column to get the highest-ranked employee.

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Advantages of Paired Comparisons

• Ensures each employee is compared against each other

Disadvantages• Becomes difficult when large nos. of

employees are being compared

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III. Objectives or outcomes

• Measurement against achievement of set objectives or outcomes as in MBO

• Includes mutual objective setting and evaluation based on the attainment of the specific objectives

• MBO: Philosophy of mgmt. which seeks to minimize external controls & maximize internal motivation through joint goal setting between manager & subordinate & increasing the subordinate’s own control of his work

• The conclusions are based on observations & evidence of performance rather than superior’s opinion of the subordinates

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It has 4 steps

1. Goal-setting• The organizational overall objectives are used as guidelines from which

department & individual objectives are set• These goals act as standards by which the employee's results will be

evaluated

2. Action-planning• The means are determined for achieving the ends• Identifies the activities necessary to accomplish goals

3. Self-control• Monitoring & measuring of performance – review one's own performance

4. Periodic progress review• Manager-subordinate reviews are conducted in a constructive manner• Corrective actions taken in a deviation

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IV. 360 Degree Performance Appraisal

• Also known as multi-rater feedback, multiple-source feedback, full-circle appraisal or group performance review

• The appraisers are supervisors, peers, subordinates, employees themselves

• Performance appraisal by all these parties is called 360° appraisal

• The purpose of the feedback is to assist each worker to understand his own strengths & weaknesses

• A person who has thorough knowledge about the job done

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• Who should evaluate performance?– Immediate supervisor.– Peers.– Subordinates.– Self-appraisal.– Clients.

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Emerging Issues in Performance Appraisal

1. Self-managed teams PE• These teams create special challenges for PA

as they generally perform without supervisors

• Both individual & team performance need to be measured

• Thus, a suitable technique needs to be developed to assess the performance of empowered teams

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2. Dealing with problems of PE• PE may be based on subjective judgments• It’s reliability & validity may be questioned• To minimize the impact of appraisal problems:– First, be familiar with the problems– Choose the right appraisal method– Train supervisors to eliminate rating errors

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3. Legal and ethical issues in appraisal• PE data are used to make many important HR

decisions• E.g. pay, promotion, training, transfer,

termination etc.• Appraisal system is a common target of legal

disputes involving charges of unfair & biasness

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4. Who should evaluate performer?• There are several possible raters: immediate

supervisor, peers, subordinates, self-appraisal, clients etc.

• It is not an easy task to apply 360 degree appraisal & use multiple raters

• It is really tough to manage & integrate the process into a larger performance management system

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5. Low appraiser motivation (solving raters’ problems)

• It is very difficult to become a good appraiser• So, training of appraisers can make them more

accurate raters & reward to accurate appraisers

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6. Evaluating too many employees• A single supervisor appraising a number of

subordinates• Limited time, short-cut process, fatigue,

becoming lenient etc. may affect the appraiser’s attitude

• Thus, this may lead to rating losing it’s validity & reliability

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7. Conflict between HR and line managers• Both blame each other for poor ratings and

support• Increase the role and responsibility of line

managers as well• Provide them training and rewards for

accurate appraisal

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Meaning of Career

• Means advancement ("his career is progressing nicely")

• Means a profession ("she has chosen a career in medicine")

• Means a lifelong sequence of jobs ("his career has included 15 jobs in 6 different organizations")

• Means a 'sequence of positions occupied by a person during the course of a lifetime'

• Any work, paid or unpaid, pursued over an extended period of time, can constitute a career (D & D)

• The occupational positions a person had over many years (Dessler)

• Giving employees the assistance to form realistic career goals & the opportunities to realize them (Dessler)

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Career Development• Employers play an important role in the career management process

• More firms today engage in career development activities that help foster employee commitment

• An opportunity for career devt. is the milestone to ensure a sustained career devt. of employees working in an organization

• Career planning in the organization will be successfully formulated & implemented with the collective efforts of employees who seek careers & the employing organization

• Effective organizational career development ensures:– Needed talent will be available– Organization will attract and retain high talent personnel– Minorities and women will have opportunities for growth and development– Reduces employee frustrations

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Concept of Career Development

• When an organization understands the importance of career devt, it can offer numerous opportunities to employees

• These opportunities can involve simply a tuition reimbursement program or a detailed counseling service for developing indi career paths

• The overall objective of these programs is to match employees' needs & goals with current or future care opportunities in the organization

• A well-designed career devt. effort will assist employees in determining their own career needs, devt. & publicize available career opportunities in the organization, & match employees needs & goals with the organization

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Individual vs. Organizational Perspective

Managerial/Organizational Perspective

• Career development involves tracking career paths

• Looks at individuals filling the needs of the organization

Individual Perspective• Indi. career devt. focuses on

assisting indis. to identify their major career goals & to determine what they need to do to achieve these goals

• Includes the indi's career devt., outside as well as inside the organization

• Addresses each indi's personal work career irrespective of where the work is performed

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External vs. Internal Dimensions to a Career

External Dimension• Is realistic & objective

• Represents the objective progression of steps through a given occupation

• It may be v. explicit (e.g. A physician who moves from an undergrad. prog to med school, internship, residency, licensing, hospital etc.

• It need not be an upward progression (e.g. an automobile factory worker achieves visible programs, though not necessarily upward)

Internal Dimension• Is a subjective concept of progression &

evaluation of his career

• This concept of career may be v. vague, as when one has the general ambition to 'get ahead'

• Vague because it has a number of intangible indicators which are different to evaluate & study

• E.g. A general ambition of an indi to go ahead, to achieve v. specific plans such as a specific rank, position, income or skill by the age of 40

• Focuses on indi's careers rather than on organizational needs

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• The major influences on indi's attitudes & behaviors will not be objective reality, but rather their subjective perception of their career relative to their expectations

• E.g. Complaining about one's work, demonstrating strong commitment, exhibiting high motivation, absences etc. are frequently responses to one's subjective perceptions about work & career devt.

• The actual reality means little

• E.g. A & B have same jobs but perceptions differ

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Career Stages

1. Exploration (occurs prior to employment)2. Establishment3. Mid-career4. Late-career5. Decline

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Process of Career DevelopmentEffective organizational career development techniques

1. Improve manpower planning & forecasting system2. Improve the dissemination of career option information3. Initiate career counseling in connection with performance

appraisal4. Opportunity to assess capability of employee by internal &

external assessment centres5. Support of education training activities for all levels of employees6. Job posting (Information to all employees about job openings)7. Special assignments & job rotation (Periodic job changes)8. Career development workshops9. Sabbaticals, flexible working hours & other off-work activities10. Flexible rewards & promotional systems

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Effective Individual Level career devt. techniques

• Making your career decision• Achieving your career goals:

- Select your first job judiciously.- Participate in an internship.- Do good work.- Present the right image.- Learn the power structure.- Gain control of organizational resources.- Stay visible.

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• Career devt is a significant aspect of HRD, although its importance may not be the same in all the cultures

• Although in many organizations a detailed plan of the career path of every individual may be impossible, it should be possible to establish a career devt policy as guidance for staff devt & for motivating individual performance

• A lifelong series of activities that contribute to a person's career exploration, establishment, success & fulfillment - Dessler

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The career opportunity program provides several services to employees:

• It makes available a broad range of information about available jobs & the qualification needed to fill them

• It provides a system through which qualified employees may apply for these positions

• It helps employees establish career goals

• It encourages a meaningful dialogue between employees & supervisors about the employee's career goals

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The Value of Effective Career Development

1. Ensuring needed talents2. Improves the organization's ability to attract

& retain high talent personnel3. Ensuring growth opportunities for all

employees4. Reduces employee frustration

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Career Planning

• Career Planning involves matching an individual's career aspirations with the opportunities available in an organization

(Ivancevich)

• Career Planning is the deliberate process through which someone becomes aware of personal skills, interests, knowledge, motivation & other characteristics & established action plans to attain specific goals (Dessler)

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Need for Career Planning

1. To increase managerial competence2. To increase technical/functional competence3. Job security4. Creativity5. For retaining employees in the organization6. Autonomy & independence

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Process of Career Planning

1. Self-assessment by employees2. Exploring opportunities3. Identification of occupational orientation4. Identification of career anchors (life-career

cycle interaction)5. Identification of high-potential occupation6. Setting career goals to meet the career issues7. Setting career plans8. Implementing career plans