Management 351 – Class 4 Chapters 7 and 8 Shifting chapter 9 out one week (cascade) Announcements/Other Items

Test recap Instructor mid-term evaluation Term papers/Matewan due

Term papers may be late without explanation Late papers drop one (1) point per day

Chapter 7 – Appraising and Managing Performance Performance appraisal involves the

identification, measurement, and management of human performance in organizations. Identification: knowing what behaviors lead to

performance (job and company related).Measurement: anchored tools to provide

consistent assessment of performance.Management: feedback and goal setting.

Uses of performance appraisalLook backward (recap the year)

Is this of any value? Address performance concerns?

Measurement of goal attainmentSet new goalsDiscuss professional development objectives

Identifying Performance Dimensions

Speaks to what is measured – that is, what do we do that determines performance?

Typically shown through ratings:1, 2, 3, 4Poor, Good, Excellent, Exceptional

Relative and Absolute Judgments

Relative: compares one employee’s performance to that of other employees“How is Jack doing relative to Jill?”Advantage: forces comparisons and avoids

‘clustering’ of ratingsDisadvantages:

Mask the degree of the difference between comparitors

Relative information is missing making judgments of how “good is good” or how “bad is bad” difficult

Forces distinctions where none may actually exist

Absolute Judgments

Absolute: compares each employee’s performance to an anchored scale

Advantages: Drives consistency across managers and groups Avoid conflict among workers (is this an advantage?) Easier to defend than relative systems

Disadvantages: Everyone can receive the same rating thereby saving

a manager from confronting differences “Non-anchored” ratings can vary manager-to-

manager

Trait Appraisal Instruments

Some traits are consistent and enduring:DecisivnessReliabilityEnergyLoyalty

Focuses on the person, not the performance (leads to defensiveness)

Look for how these traits impact observable behavior

Behavioral Appraisal Instruments

Indicates the relative frequency of a particular type of behavior – that is, what type of behavior is most frequently exhibited

BARS: Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (figure 7.7)

These tend to be very concrete/observable

Higher face validity (better acceptance and application)

Behavioral Appraisal Instruments

Disadvantages:Can be time consuming to developThey are, by definition, incomplete (we can

not define all behaviors at every level)Organizational/job changes can make them

obsolete very quicklyViewed as “unnatural” in many studies

(people prefer dealing with traits)

Outcome Appraisal Instruments

Focus on deliverables or outcomes Commonly referred to as “Management by

objectives” or MBO. Eliminates bias and error (particularly when

outcomes are objectively measurable). Problems:

Poorly defined outcomes can drive wrong behaviors Dead-body syndrome: the ends justifies the means

Summary of Appraisals

See figure 7.8 on page 231! What’s missing???

Organizational uses!This represents the worst of HR Includes developmental but places admin first

and ‘risk management’ last

Challenges to Performance Management Rater errors and bias

Halo: rating similarly across dimensions Restriction of range: tends to rate everyone similarly

Leniency, central tendency and severity errors

Comparability: similarity of ratings by different managers (how is this avoidable?)

Frame of Reference (FOR) training: essentially training that “anchors perceptions”

Challenges to Performance Management

Liking:Emotional and unconscious (in many cases) Is established very quicklyLiking and positive reviews have a strong

positive correlation

Precautions: awareness is your best ally Politics

Balance of Chapter

Good content – read it Addressing performance concerns:

TimelyBehaviorally specificCoaching until it is not effectiveWarnings

Specific objectives Specific timeframes Specific outcomes if objectives not attained

Chapter 8 – Training the Workforce

Training: providing employees with specific skills or helping them correct deficiencies in their performance “in the moment” or for present needs.

Development: future-focused development of abilities.

Challenges in Training Why train? What’s the goal? Start by asking if, given the goal, is training the

solution? Are the goals clear and realistic? Is training a good investment? Will training work? Is training a benefit? Is it an investment?

Why would we treat these differently?

The three phases of managing the training process Phase 1: Assessment:

Organizational analysis: culture, mission, business climate and objectives and structure

Task analysis: looks at the “delta” between current and desired tasks or work

Person analysis: which employees need training

Clarify the objectives: Actionable? Measurable? Desirable? Realistic?

Figure 8.3 (page 267) Great example of breaking down a fuzzy objective

into actionable skills

The three phases of managing the training process Phase 2: “The Training and Conduct

Phase” (just do it!)Location (on or off the job):

OJT: job rotation and apprenticeshipsPresentation

Slides, videotapes, teletraining, CBT, e-learning (in some cases combining classroom with web based tutorials), simulations, VR, classroom and instructor based.

Types: Skills training: focuses on learning new skills either

as part of new hire or with new products Retraining: focuses on keeping skills sharp or

reinforcing them for better/more efficient application

Cross-functional training: training in areas other than an employee’s base area (job rotation) to make folks more adaptable and increase cross-organizational knowledge/awareness

Team training: how to work and play well together Creativity training: brainstorming and ?

Types: Literacy training: particularly with ESL and when

hiring large work forces In house programs Company/local school Company/local state government

Diversity training: focus on awareness of, support for and ability to work in a diverse environment

Crisis training: focused on industries likely to need it

Customer service training: can you guess?

The three phases of managing the training process Phase 3: Evaluation

Look at Return on Investment (emerging trends?) – page 283

Begin with the end in mind, right?Consider using scientific methodology:

Control group and training groupPre-establish and do not communicate

objectives to group being trainedGo beyond the, “Did you like this” assessment