Module 5

• Implementing a Performance Management System

  1. Communication

  2. Appeals Process

  3. Training Programs

  4. Pilot Testing
• The implementation of a performance management system requires the involvement of the stakeholders
• Successful implementation requires wide organizational support and acceptance
• Communication Plan

  1. Gain system acceptance

  2. Train raters to observe and evaluate performance

  3. Train raters to give feedback

  4. Describe appeals process

  5. Pilot test the system

  6. Fix any glitches
• After implementation, there is a need to monitor and evaluate the system on an ongoing basis
• Communication Plan


  Ensures information regarding the performance management system is widely disseminated in the organization
• Questions a Communication Plan should answer


  • What is performance management?
  • How does performance management fit into our strategy?
  • What's in it for me?
  • How does it work?
  • What are my responsibilities?
  • How is performance management related to other initiatives?
• Selective Exposure


  A tendency to expose our minds only to ideas with which we already agree
• Selective Perception


  A tendency to perceive a piece of information as meaning what we would like it to mean even though the information, as intended by the communicator, may mean the exact opposite
• Selective Retention


  A tendency to remember only those pieces of information with which we already agree
• Ways to minimize negative impact of biases

  1. Involve employees in design of system

  2. Understand employee needs

  3. Create positive attitude before negative attitudes form

  4. Provide facts and consequences

  5. Put information in writing

  6. Use multiple communication channels

  7. Use credible communicators

  8. Repeat information frequently
• Appeals Process


  Allows employees to resolve disagreements regarding performance ratings or resulting decisions in an amicable and non-retaliatory way
• Types of issues that can be appealed

  • Judgmental issues (validity of performance evaluation)
  • Administrative issues (whether policies and procedures were followed)
• Rater Training


  1. Provides participants with needed skills and tools to implement the performance management system

  2. Helps increase satisfaction with the system
• Rater Error Training (RET)


  Makes raters aware of rating errors they are likely to make and helps them develop strategies to minimize those errors
• Rater Errors

  • Similar-to-me error
  • Contrast error
  • Leniency error
  • Severity error
  • Central tendency error
  • Halo error
  • Primacy error
  • Recency error
  • Negativity error
  • First impression error
  • Spillover error
  • Stereotype error
  • Attribution error
• The more similar the person is to the supervisor

  The more positive the first impression will be
• Spillover error


  Scores from previous review periods unjustly influence current ratings
• Stereotype error


  A supervisor has an oversimplified view of individuals based on group membership
• Attribution error


  A supervisor attributes poor performance to an employee's dispositional tendencies instead of features of the situation
• Frame of Reference Training


  1. Familiarize raters with performance dimensions

  2. Discuss job description and duties

  3. Review performance dimension definitions and discuss examples

  4. Rate fictitious employees and justify ratings

  5. Discuss differences between trainee and correct ratings
• Behavioral Observation Training


  1. Teach raters how to observe, store, recall, and use information about performance

  2. Use observational aids like notes or diaries to record behaviors
• Self-Leadership Training


  1. Observe and record existing beliefs, self-talk, and mental imagery patterns

  2. Analyze functionality of beliefs, self-talk, and imagery

  3. Identify and substitute more functional thinking

  4. Monitor and maintain beliefs, self-verbalizations, and mental images
• Pilot testing allows identification and early correction of flaws before full implementation
• Online implementation can add efficiency and speed up processes, but success depends on following best practices
• Monitoring and Evaluation

  1. Assess number of individuals evaluated

  2. Analyze distribution of performance ratings

  3. Evaluate quality of information provided

  4. Assess quality of follow-up actions

  5. Gather feedback on performance discussion meetings

  6. Assess system satisfaction
• Quality of performance assessments


  • Quality of the information provided in the open-ended sections of the forms
• Quality of follow-up actions


  • Whether the system leads to important follow-up actions in terms of development activities or improved processes
  • Extent to which follow-up actions involve exclusively the supervisor as opposed to the employee
• Quality of performance discussion meeting


  • Confidential survey to gather information about how the supervisor is managing the performance discussion meetings
• System satisfaction


  • Confidential survey to assess the perceptions of the system's users, both raters and ratees, about satisfaction with equity, usefulness, and accuracy
• Overall cost/benefit ratio or return on investment (ROI)


  • Participants rate the overall cost/benefit ratio for the performance management system
• Unit-level and organization-level performance


  • Measurement of customer satisfaction with specific units and indicators of the financial performance of the various units or the organization as a whole
• Performance Development Plans


  Plans that specify courses of action to be taken to improve performance
• Developmental Plan Objectives

  • Improve performance in current job
  • Sustain performance in current job
  • Prepare employees for advancement
  • Enrich the employee's work experience
• Content of Developmental Plan

  • Description of specific steps to be taken and specific objectives to reach
  • Resources and strategies that will be used to achieve the objectives
  • Objectives include the end product, completion date, and how the supervisor will know the new skill has been acquired
  • Objectives should be practical, specific, time oriented, linked to a standard, and developed jointly by the supervisor and the employee
  • Plan should keep the needs of both the organization and the employee in mind
• Developmental Activities

  • On-the-job training
  • Courses
  • Self-guided reading
  • Mentoring
  • Attending a conference
  • Getting a degree
  • Job rotation
  • Temporary assignments
  • Membership or leadership role in professional or trade organizations
• 360-degree Feedback Systems


  Systems that gather information on an employee's performance from different groups (superiors, peers, customers, subordinates)
• 360-degree feedback systems are most helpful when used for developmental purposes only and not for administrative purposes
• 360-degree Feedback System Report

  • Includes information on dimensions for which there is agreement that further development is needed
  • Can include graphs showing areas where employees' perceptions differ the most from other raters
  • Can show average scores across sources of information to identify areas needing improvement
• Integrative "talent management" systems allow organizations to manage data about employees in a systematic and coordinated way, linking performance management to recruiting, compensation, training, and succession planning