For the five page leadership memo assignment due for SHRM this coming week, to write to the leader of a public or nonprofit organization and address the question “What are the pros and cons of our current performance appraisal system, and what would you recommend the organization do to improve the system (if you believe there should be a system. If not, explain why not.)?” This is my raw outline to work from:

Week 7 notes:

“If we think of performance appraisals as a process rather than an event, maybe we’ll be better off” - Prof Jay

If performance appraisal done at same time as development planning, might send message that it’s a required thing not really cared about

“If performance data isn’t useful then stop collecting it”

Week 7 readings:

while review of incidents and the identification of lessons are more readily accomplished, true learning is much more difficult (Donahue and Tuohy 2006)

Concept of rational planning and logical incrementalism - important to be both opportunistic and deliberate - planning that produces a sufficiently flexible strategic framework can enable incremental decision-making that allows for taking risks and learning from mistakes (Poister, et. al. 2013)

single most compelling question raised about performance appraisal systems is whether their primary purpose is evaluative or developmental; that is, are they a grading tool or a learning tool? (Heil, Bennis, & Stephens 2000)

To really learn and develop, people must be able to share weaknesses as well as strengths (Heil, Bennis, & Stephens 2000)

Performance of an employee can’t be isolated from overall performance of department and organization (Heil, Bennis, & Stephens 2000)

Develop self-control-get feedback to the person who will use it first. (Heil, Bennis, & Stephens 2000)

Every system should require a complete analysis of learnings and areas for improvement. (Heil, Bennis, & Stephens 2000)

Effective development of managers does not include coercing them (no matter how benevolently) into acceptance of the goals of the enterprise, nor does it mean manipulating their behavior to suit organizational needs. Rather, it calls for creating a relationship within which a man can take responsibility for developing his own potentialities, plan for himself, and learn from putting his plans into action. (McGregor 1957)

The proper role for the superior, then, is the one that falls naturally to him under the suggested plan: helping the subordinate relate his career planning to the needs and realities of the organization. (McGregor 1957)

There is one unavoidable cost: the manager must spend considerably more time in implementing a program of this kind. (McGregor 1957)

Formal and informal research consistently reveals that employees desperately want to be judged on their accomplishments and to seek new opportunities (Luthy 1998)

In an evolved system, supervisors and employees work together to create an employee contribution and development plan that is specific to the employee and his or her position. (Luthy 1998)

Quarterly or semiannual progress updates, plus an annual review, also provide excellent opportunities to promote ongoing communication between employees and supervisors. (Luthy 1998)

relationship quality was almost twice as important as the employee’s performance rating (Teckchandani & Pichler 2015)

every employee needs to feel at least a basic level of support and trust from their manager (Teckchandani & Pichler 2015)

Trust and support go hand in hand (Teckchandani & Pichler 2015)

two main types of supportiveness: emotional and instrumental (Teckchandani & Pichler 2015)

trust is associated with enhanced job performance and enhanced citizenship behaviors (Teckchandani & Pichler 2015)

tips to help you be seen as being more supportive by your employees: Make yourself accessible to your employee truly care about their well-being Treating each employee uniquely is a sophisticated form of emotional support that goes a long way give effective informal feedback (Teckchandani & Pichler 2015)

performance data should be an output of a Performance Management process, not as an input or starting-point for developmental activities (Gravina & Siers 2011)

An optimal performance management system that serves both the developmental and administrative functions (Gravina & Siers 2011)

linking work behaviors to the organization’s strategic purposes (Gravina & Siers 2011)

Performance appraisal is best conceptualized and implemented as an output and not an input of the performance management process (Gravina & Siers 2011)

Ratees who receive training and understand the evaluation system tend to be more committed to its goals (Pynes 2004)

One way of documenting performance through the evaluation period is by maintaining employee performance logs. By documenting performance throughout the evaluation cycle, raters are able to provide specific feedback and to minimize their susceptibility to common rating errors. (Pynes 2004)

For many employees, positive reinforcement is a powerful motivator (Pynes 2004)

The evaluation process should open up communication between supervisors and employees (Pynes 2004)

Performance evaluations should be objective, job-related, and consistent with the org’s mission. They should enhance the org’s effectiveness. (Pynes 2004)

By tying the curricula of training more closely to key performance metrics and then measuring its impact on them, organizations can generate greater value from training programs and find useful insights to improve programs constantly (Cermak & McGurk 2010)

Poorly developed and administered appraisals result in diminished levels of employee satisfaction (Davis 2011)

feedback is thought to encourage the setting of meaningful learning goals to build on strengths and redress weaknesses (Bendall et. al. 2014)

Employees who can make sense of HRM and understand what is expected from them tend to report higher levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and participation in organizational citizenship behaviors (Bendall et. al. 2014)

High-quality performance appraisal appears to promote increases in reflection, knowledge sharing, and innovative behavior over time (Bendall et. al. 2014)

Week 6 readings:

Competency modeling is a method of collecting and organizing job information and worker attributes into broad competencies. Competency model is a set of competencies that are necessary for effective performance and they typically cover a broader range of jobs than traditional job analysis (Pynes 2009) Concept of strategic job and how strategic job design can better link jobs to strategic goals of the organization. - The difference between strategic jobs and non-strategic jobs in part reflects the difference between strategic success and operational excellence. (Becker & Huselid 2010)

strategic human capital resource combinations represent complex resources while the lower level resources represent commodity resources Ployhart et al (2014)

Week 5 readings:

A critique of performance management processes is that they tend to privilege certain values over others (Kroll and Moynihan 2015)

managers have a stronger incentive to use performance data if they are able to change processes autonomously and to determine how to achieve their goals (Kroll and Moynihan 2015)

clarifying the current strategy helps people understand exactly what the value proposition is that the organization offers (Bryson)

The absence of performance information may also create, or harden, major organizational conflicts. (Bryson)

By far the most important strategic planning techniques are individual thinking and group deliberation (Bryson)

As with every step in the strategic planning process, simpler is usually better. (Bryson)

Week 4 readings:

an organization’s identity is closely tied to its culture because identity provides a set of skills and a way of using and evaluating those skills that produce characteristic ways of doing thing Dutton and Dukerich (1991)

An organization’s image is directly related to the level of collective self-esteem derivable from organizational membership Dutton and Dukerich (1991)

Essential ingredients of the distinctive competence of character 25 are possession of a clearly defined mission and an embodiment of the mission’s values. (Goodsell 2011)

“sense of mission” has little to do with a written statement, consists of a coherent set of authentically felt norms that possess genuine meaning for all employees (Goodsell 2011)

a model made up of four components: purpose strategy policies values (Goodsell 2011)

More than any other quality, a strong sense of mission is indispensable to morale, image, and success (Goodsell 2011)

nudge-but don’t impose-cultural innovations (Goodsell 2011)

In authentic partnerships and communities, individuals flourish (Moxley 2000)

Vision cannot be imposed (Moxley 2000)

Culture is stronger than any individual (Moxley 2000)

For partnership to work, ownership, authority, and accountability must be felt at every level, by every person (Moxley 2000)

smart companies create internal conditions that enable individuals to develop leadership skills at every level Heil, Bennis, & Stephens (2000)

Motivated, involved, and committed employees can result in a lower cost of doing business, higher productivity, substantial process improvement, faster service innovations, better customer information, new employee referrals, and much more. Heil, Bennis, & Stephens (2000)

When team members share a common vision and enjoy regular contact with their co-workers, they generally receive faster, more accurate feedback, have more control over their work environment Heil, Bennis, & Stephens (2000)

Keep in mind, too, that people can’t be made to feel that their jobs are valuable. The only way for that to happen is to give them responsible positions. The simple truth is that if employees don’t play a significant role in the business, you can’t fool them into thinking they do. Heil, Bennis, & Stephens (2000)

the ability to succeed today will probably not be adequate a year from now, and that the best companies are focusing their training efforts 12 to 18 months into the future. Heil, Bennis, & Stephens (2000)

A good cause is one that excites employees, deepens their commitment, and lends meaning to their work. Heil, Bennis, & Stephens (2000)

Week 1,2,3 readings:

HR best serves the company’s interest by analyzing and sharing data, building skills, and developing leaders Allen (2015)

finding a single model to portray how all people are motivated has proven to be extremely difficult Frick (2011)

Leaders cannot force motivation. Leaders can mold an environment that allows workers to motivate themselves. Frick (2011)