Performance Management (Lecture 6)

According to Aguinis, (2013) performance management is a continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of individuals and teams and aligning performance with the strategic goals of the organization. Further Aguinis, (2013) describe that it should Alignment with strategic goals.

Figure i: The Key Tools And Techniques For Performance Management (Bernard Marr, 2018)

Source: https://www.bernardmarr.com/default.asp?contentID=772

Similarly, Armstrong, (2016, p. 89) define Performance management as the “continuous process of improving performance by setting goals that are aligned to the strategic goals of the organization, planning performance to achieve the goals, reviewing progress, and developing the knowledge, skills and abilities of people. It involves developing a shared understanding about what is to be achieved and how”.

Principles of Performance Management

According to the Armstrong and Baron, (1998-2004) they research the performance Management and identified the following 10 principles,

1. It’s about how we manage people – it’s not a system.
2. Performance management is what managers do: a natural process of management.
3. A management tool that helps managers to manage.
4. Driven by corporate purpose and values.
5. To obtain solutions that work.
6. Only interested in things you can do something about and get a visible improvement.
7. Focus on changing behavior rather than paperwork.
8. Based on accepted principle but operates flexibly.
9. Focus on development not pay.
10. Success depends on what the organization is and needs to be in its performance culture

Performance Management Process

When going though below diagram of Ibid, (2018) Performance management processes are concerned with interaction between the parties involved, but they also related to what individuals do about monitoring and improving their own performance, measuring performance, and documenting the outcomes of performance management plans and reviews. 

Figure ii: Performance Management Process: Ibid, (2018)

Source: http://www.theiplex.com/global/what-we-do/performance-management

Performance Management Cycle

According to Armstrong, (2009) explain about Performance Management cycle as per the below.

Figure iii: Performance Management Cycle: Armstrong, (2009).

Source: Armstrong’s Handbook Of human resource Management practice 11th edition

There are many versions of the performance management cycle, the most standard PM cycle is in Handbook of Performance Management by Armstrong and Taylor, (2014).

Figure iv: Performance Management Cycle: Armstrong and Taylor, (2014). 

Source: Armstrong’s Handbook Of human resource Management practice 13th edition

Objective of Performance Management

The objective of performance management is to organizational success directly correlated with individual employee performance.

• Align individual and organizational objectives

• Improve organizational performance

• Improve individual performance

• Provide the basis for personal development

• Develop a performance culture

• Inform contribution/performance pay decisions

According to Cappelli and Taris, (2016) to the Harvard Business review explains the global changers that organizations are adopting into performance management practices. They explain that company's like Adobe, Juniper Systems, Dell, Microsoft, IBM, Deloitte, Accenture, GAP have given up the traditional appraisal systems and replacing with frequent, informal check-ins between managers and employees.

Performance appraisal

Performance appraisal could be defined as a systematic evaluation process of a job performed by an individual during a period and giving value to its effectiveness whilst providing feedback to the job incumbent. Performance appraisal is an unavoidable element of organizational life. There are many decisions in modern organizations that depend on performance appraisals, and they are widely used in most organizations (Davis, 2001).

As a manager there are certain things can be done within the appraisal process to maximize engagement and encourage of the team and attain high levels of performance. Bristoll, (2018) pointed out 5 important factors that could be supported to maximize engagement and encourage team through appraisal process which is called “OSCAR” as shown below. According to that concept fair objectives and smart goals to meet them with competent enough staff and asses them according to job description based roles and tasks and finally review is vital to monitor input contributes to the organization's success.

Figure v: Stages of the Performance Management Cycle: Bristoll, (2018).

Source: http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqap/perfman-02.htm

Performance appraisal process

When going through the below diagram of Vionagwenjason, (2013) Performance management and appraisal process is identifying specific performance goals. 

Figure vi: Google Human Resource Management: Vionagwenjason, (2013)

Source: https://googleforus.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/performance-appraisal/

Performance Appraisal compared with Performance Management

Armstrong and Baron, (2005) describe following main differences of performance Appraisal and Performance Management.

Performance Appraisal	Performance Management
Top down Assessment	Joint process through dialogue
Annual Appraisal Meeting	Continue review with one or more formal reviews
Use of ratings	Rating less common
Monolithic system	Flexible process
Focus on quantified objectives	Focus on values and behaviors as well as objective
Often linked to pay	Less likely to be directly linked to pay
Bureaucratic – complex paperwork	Documentation kept to a minimum
Owned by the HR department	Owned by line mangers

Table i: Performance Appraisal compared with Performance Management 

References

Aguinis, H., (2013). Performance management (Vol. 2). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Armstrong, M. and Baron, A., (2005). Managing performance: performance management in action. CIPD publishing.

Armstrong, M., (2009). Armstrong’s Handbook Of human resource Management practice 11th edition.

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.

Armstrong, M.(2016) 'Armstrong’s Handbook of Management and Leadership for HR'. 4th ed. New York: Kogan Page.

Bernard Marr, (2018). The Key Tools And Techniques For Performance Management?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bernardmarr.com/default.asp?contentID=772
[Accessed 18 9 2018].

Davis, J.S., (2001). Approaches to performance appraisal in student affairs. College Student Affairs Journal, 21(1), p.92.

Helen Bristoll, (2018). OSCAR Principles of Performance Management. [Online]
Available at: http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqap/perfman-02.htm
[Accessed 18 9 2018].

Ibid, (2018). Performance Management Process. [Online]
Available at: http://www.theiplex.com/global/what-we-do/performance-management
[Accessed 20 9 2018].

Peter Cappelli and Anna Tavis, (2016). The Performance Management Revolution. [Online]
Available at: https://hbr.org/2016/10/the-performance-management-revolution
[Accessed 19 9 2018].

Stuart Hearn, (2017). Stages of the Performance Management Cycle. [Online]
Available at: https://clearreview.com/stages-of-performance-management-cycle/
[Accessed 18 9 2018].

Vionagwenjason, (2013). Google Human Resources Management. [Online]
Available at: https://googleforus.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/performance-appraisal/
[Accessed 21 9 2018].