Response from the Textbook
Of all the factors that determine the success or failure of an organization, human resource management is the most important. If the abilities and goals of the organization and the workforce are not aligned, the organization’s chances of success reduce. Performance management, therefore, is the process through which organizations create work environments that extracts the most utility and productivity from the employees (Snell et al., 2016). Performance management takes two main forms. First, there is the performance evaluation, where managers compare an employee’s job description and how they have fulfilled their duties within a specific time frame. The employee will receive information on potential areas they could improve. Performance evaluations are largely considered to be ineffective by researchers, but are still used by organizations (Snell et al., 2016). For those that do not use performance evaluations, a peer employee feedback system is emerging as a popular alternative.
Note that the information required for a proper performance management program needs to come from various independent and unbiased sources. In the absence of these, supervisors, peers, suppliers, and subordinates are alternative information sources (Snell et al., 2016). Even then quantitative and highly reliable measures of performance management have been developed. These range from graphic rating scales to the critical incident ratings and checklists, among others (Snell et al., 2016). Organizations will choose different methods based on their needs. For instance, graphic rating scales are desirable when delivering feedback (Snell et al., 2016). However, they are also highly subjective. Critical incident ratings, on the other hand, can be more accurate and objective, but are limited by the number of resources required to perform them. Regardless of the approach taken, everything must be within the limits of the law or applicable ethical guidelines.
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Responses from Outside Sources
Buckingham, M., & Goodall, A. (2015). Reinventing performance management. Harvard Business Review , 93 (4), 40-50.
The above source documents the justification and efforts that are being taken to reinvent performance management at Deloitte. By conducting a survey, Buckingham & Goodall (2015) report that Deloitte managers has lost their faith in the utility of the company’s approach to performance management. Over half of these managers believed that their approaches improved neither employee engagement nor inspire higher performance. The main justification to change the company’s approach to performance management, therefore, is to close the distance between the workforce and the company’s objectives. If the two are aligned, performance management can be used to increase the company’s productivity.
Bititci, U., Cocca, P., & Ates, A. (2016). Impact of visual performance management systems on the performance management practices of organisations. International Journal of Production Research , 54 (6), 1571-1593.
The authors of this article perform a study to determine the relationship between visual strategies and performance management strategies on the management practices of different companies. Trends at the workplace are driving businesses and managers to increasingly consider inclusive management practices. Such practices include fostering mutual respect, collaboration, and involving all pertinent stakeholders in idea generation and strategic planning processes. The nature of performance management in these organizations will change as the relationship between the management and the workforce evolved to being an informal one.
Franco‐Santos, M., & Otley, D. (2018). Reviewing and theorizing the unintended consequences of performance management systems. International Journal of Management Reviews , 20 (3), 696-730.
Performance management can be implemented in different ways. Each approach has its benefits and drawbacks. However, unintended consequences from performance management approaches are a field of research that is emerging. By reviewing different papers in literature, Franco-Santos & Otley (2018) and conclude that the most common unintended consequences of directive performance management systems are selective attention, manipulation, and illusion of control. These are undesirable outcomes from the poor implementation of performance management systems. in other words, some of the factors influencing the success of a performance management system are familiarity with the system, error, self-fulfilling forecasts, and ignorance of social relationships.
Critique/Analysis
Overall, performance management is a highly diverse and involving process. From the definition provided by Snell et al. (2016), performance management is a straight forward process. Organizations have goals and objectives and the key to achieving them is to align them with the abilities and interests of their workforce. Implementing performance management to achieve the desired result is the difficult step. As pointed out, by Buckingham & Goodall (2015), knowing what is wrong and what to do is one step in implementing a performance management system in an organization. Doing it correctly is the other part. Snell et al. (2016) concurs with this view when they note that some performance management practices, such as performance evaluations, are quickly falling out of favor to meet the emerging needs in an organization. Some of these needs are a call for a more inclusive leadership and human resource management system, where the distance between the managers and the workforce is not only close, but also respectful (Bititci et al., 2016). Another perspective on performance management is that when implemented wrongly, it can have a lot of unintended consequences (Franco-Santos & Otley, 2018). Some of these consequences are counterproductive and reduce the impact of existing efforts and initiatives to improve the organization. In other words, before implementing a performance management strategy, managers should evaluate all pertinent factors and the organization’s needs. They should also not ignore the input from their subordinates by soliciting their feedback on all important decisions.
References
Bititci, U., Cocca, P., & Ates, A. (2016). Impact of visual performance management systems on the performance management practices of organisations. International Journal of Production Research , 54 (6), 1571-1593.
Buckingham, M., & Goodall, A. (2015). Reinventing performance management. Harvard Business Review , 93 (4), 40-50.
Franco‐Santos, M., & Otley, D. (2018). Reviewing and theorizing the unintended consequences of performance management systems. International Journal of Management Reviews , 20 (3), 696-730.
Snell, S., Morris, S., & Bohlander, G. W. (2016). Managing human resources . Cengage Learning.
