Promantek Corporate Blog

What Development Means. Self-Development means being personally committed to and actively working to continuously improve yourself. It means understanding that different situations and levels may call for different skills and approaches. It means using your strengths and working on weaknesses and limits.

If you are passionate about self-development, you seize on-the-job opportunities and get involved in a variety of activities to maximize development. You seek to learn new information about your profession on a regular basis. You ask for formal and informal feedback to better understand and overcome weaknesses. You know your strengths well and continually maintain and use them to advantage.

At work you ideally keep your skills current. Your read up and keep in touch with in-house and industry experts. You attend appropriate training activities and accept on-the-job challenges that stretch abilities. You are aware of development needs and are willing to work on areas that require improvement.

Why Development Discussions Aren't Easy. Development discussions are not always easy to accomplish. Being aware of the following factors that lead to unsuccessful discussions, or keep discussions from occurring, will help you avoid pitfalls.

Constructive Criticism is Difficult to Hear. You may not feel comfortable receiving constructive criticism. However, it is important to listen to what you manager has to say, get specific behavioral examples of improvements needed, and be open to reassessing your opinion.

"Nothing in it for Me" You may feel not rewarded for focusing on development. In the drive to accomplish results, too much emphasis is sometimes placed on current results and not enough on the kinds of skills you will need in the future.

Lack of Time and Dedication. Development takes time and dedication on both your part and your manager's part. Often the time needed for this is difficult to find because of the pressure to "get things done." As a result employees often don't pursue or seek out challenge or change. As a result plans often don't contain an adequate level of detail. Nonetheless, the including discussions, plans and resulting activities are important to the long-term success of your organization.

The Appraisal Cycle Begins with a Performance Plan. Every manager should ensure that a Performance Plan is in place for their employees at the beginning of the appraisal period and that a Performance Appraisal is conducted at the end of the period. Communicating what an employee is supposed to achieve before they begin working is fundamental to achieving the organization's goals.
A Good Performance Plan. A good Performance Plans should begin with a Job Description which spells out the basic duties and responsibilities of the job. Generally it consists of tasks, what to do, where, when, and why. Following the Job Description are the Competencies. These are the attributes, behaviors, knowledge, skills and abilities required for successful job performance. Finally, there may be Goals. These are measurable, quantifiable or specific things that management the employee to achieve

Discussing the Performance Plan. Ideally there is an “across the table” Performance Planning meeting between the manager and employee where the expectations are communicated. Follow the suggestions below.

Discuss each competency. Employees should talk about their competency strengths and how they are likely to help them achieve their performance goals. Employees should ask for or receive coaching where their may be a weakness.

Be candid and constructive. Be open and honest during the discussion.

Have a two-way conversation. Be sure to:
- Be an active listener
- Paraphrase what you hear
- Ask for behavioral feedback
- Focus on specific behaviors and outcomes

Identify Competencies to Develop. Focus on one or two top priority competencies required for success. If you take on too many, you are unlikely to accomplish any of them.

Create an Action Plan. Any action plan need to be specific, actionable and measurable. Choose a competency from your Performance Plan that your manager as given you as a requirement for success and create a list of actions to develop the competency.

Understand What The Competency Means. Good Interpersonal Skills means, for example, that you relate well to all kinds of people - up, down, sideways, inside and outside the organization. You build rapport, create good relationships, use diplomacy and tact, and are able to diffuse high-tension situations comfortably.

Ask Yourself Essential Questions. To improve your Interpersonal Skills ask yourself the following questions on a regular basis:

- How often am I surprised by my coworkers' reactions?
- When was the last time I unintentionally offended a coworker?
- In what ways can I accommodate a coworker's style?
- How do I react when coworkers who disagree with me?
- Am I considering the effect my words or behaviors are having on others?
- How do I encourage others to show mutual respect?
- Am I so focused on goals that I overlook other's needs and feelings?

Learning On The Job.

- Observe the different styles of team members when they interact. Observe the ways that are most effective as they deal with each other. Watch others for their reactions when they are being influenced or are attempting to influence. See the adjustments they make. Notice verbal and non-verbal cues and how and when they change their approach. Use what you see that might be helpful in changing your behavior.

- When you receive a critical or hostile email message, have coworkers who are known for having good interpersonal skills review your response before you send it. Discuss the different types of responses and specific words.

- After a team meeting, ask a colleague for feedback on how your comments and behavior affected other people. Ask your manager and others for ideas and suggestions that could help your accomplish goals by building relationships.

- Mentor and intern or new hire. Orient the individual to the group.

- Ask a peer to sit in with you during a meeting and give you feedback later about your effectiveness and ability to adjust your communication to the others.

Continually Challenge Yourself. Be alert to on-the-job assignments or projects that will help you develop. Ask for constructive feedback on strengths and weaknesses.

Before You Begin. Before you begin writing (or re-writing) job descriptions and creating or selecting the competencies required for successful job performance, let’s step back for a moment and ask ourselves why we do this in the first place.

Job Descriptions Are About Responsibilities. A Job Description is all about spelling out the basic duties and responsibilities of a job. It generally consists of tasks, what to do, where, when, and why. It’s basically says someone is answerable to someone else for something. Competencies are about being responsible for one’s conduct. They normally consist of behaviors, knowledge, skills and abilities required for successful job performance

Job Descriptions Influence Outcomes. Organizations demand results to survive and succeed. Hence, at some point, all necessarily become bottom-line oriented. All steadfastly push employees and managers for results. To be fair, they must define what needs be accomplished.

Communicating Job Descriptions. Every manager should ensure that a Performance Plan containing a Job Description and the Competencies required is in place for their employees at the beginning of the appraisal period and that a Performance Appraisal is conducted at the end of the period. Communicating what an employee is supposed to achieve before they begin working is fundamental to achieving the organization's goals.

Job Description Components. A Job Descriptions spells out the basic duties and responsibilities of a job. It normally consists of tasks, what to do, where, when, and why. See the example at the end of a Fire Fighter. Sometimes morel information is included:

Knowledge Required.
Physical Demands:
Work Environment:
Minimum Qualifications:

Competency Components. Competencies are attributes, behaviors, knowledge, skills and abilities required for successful job performance. Examples include:

Communication
Decision Making
Developing People
Integrity
Job Knowledge
Problem Solving
Interpersonal Skills

Defining Competency Proficiency Levels. An organization's ability to quantify competency performance levels is imperative if they plan to implement performance-based compensation. The 5 Point Scale is the most common. See the example below.

Factor or Goal	Technical Skills
Definition	Has the functional and technical knowledge and skills to do the job at a high level of accomplishment.
Expert	Technical expertise is exceptional. Functional expert. Has become an authority in certain technical areas and has a thorough knowledge of the details. Produces flawless products. Does an outstanding job of keeping functional knowledge up-to-date.
Strong	Very knowledgeable in functional area. Very strong technical base of knowledge. Acts as technical resource for others. Produces high-quality work. Very precise and follows through on every task. Stays abreast of current trends in field.
Acceptable	Has the required technical skills. Competent and functionally skilled employee. Knows and performs job well. Has a clear understanding of the practices and techniques of the field. Keeps functional skills and knowledge up-to-date. Produces quality work in terms of functional and technical depth.
Needs Improvement	Current skill level is inadequate. Frequently is not technically or functionally skilled enough for the job. Doesn't put effort into having an updated technical or functional skill set. Overestimates functional value and value of contributions. Can be a perfectionist or impatient with those less skilled. Field of knowledge is too narrow. Sacrifices building connections that would complement technological base.
Unsatisfactory	Is not technically proficient and does not understand the functional aspects of area. Falling further and further behind current trends. Knowledge of functional area is so great that at times overestimates its value and personal worth. Is impatient and sees others as less skilled. Efforts to keep up with current trends in field create personal cost in other areas...

Competency Libraries. Promantek includes a comprehensive Competency Library with more than 100 individual and managerial competencies to select from for Jobs, sometimes diminishing if not eliminating the requirement for organizations to create their own. Promantek also offers many Industry Competency Libraries containing unique competencies, e.g. Law Enforcement, CPA Firms, Newspapers, Hospitals, Government, Insurance Agencies, Call Centers, etc. Organizations can create their own unique competencies as well.

The Competency Selection Process. The process of assigning Competencies to Jobs varies, usually by organization size.

Small Organizations. Usually the CEO, COO and HR sort through the Competency Library and make decisions quickly.

Mid-Size Organizations. Human Resources collaborates with key managers and executives and collectively they make the decision. Sometimes managers interview employees for their input.

Large Organizations. Sometimes Focus Groups are formed to interview executives, managers and employees. The side-effect is greater participation but at the cost of slowing down implementation.

Competency Weight. The team can assign the same or varying Weights (% of Job) to the competencies.

Establishing Core Competency Sets. Often there is more than one Set.

One Core Competency Set. Some organizations assign the same Core Value Competency Set to everyone. Later, managers have the ability to further define expectations by competency for each employee, e.g. attend a specific training class to improve Job Knowledge. Managers can also assign Individual Objectives to employee, e.g. measurable and quantifiable goals. This approach gets the organization online very quickly.

Several Core Competency Sets. More often organizations define two Core Value Competencies Sets, e.g. one for Individual Contributors and one for Management. Sometimes more Sets are created for each Department, e.g. Administration, Operations, Sales, Marketing, Manufacturing, Operations, etc. Managers again have the same flexibility mentioned above.

No Core Competency Sets. Some customer simply select from the Competency Library those that are appropriate to the Job.

A rating scale is only as good as its definitions. An organization's ability to quantify performance levels is imperative, if they want to provide an easy and effective performance appraisal process for their managers and employees.

Most organizations using pencil and paper appraisal processes have a single template used for all employees. Some organizations will customize the template for a specific position. Few if any consider weighting individual job factors/competencies.

Any rating system must have a score that would be considered the acceptable level of performance.

3 Point scale: A score of 2 would imply the Acceptable level of performance. A score of 1 would imply Unacceptable and a score of 3 would imply Exceeds Expectations. The big question remains, how unacceptable or exceeds by how much? There may not be enough variables to successfully employ Performance-Based Compensation.

7 Point scale: Here we have a substantial number of variables but must quantify or define the performance required to achieve the score assigned. "How do I determine if I should give this employee a 6 or a 7?"

5 Point scale: Could be described as the Goldilocks scale "not too many, not too few variables". This scale seems to be the most popular among organizations requiring appraisals. The performance levels still need to be quantified or defined but are not as finite.

The important thing about all of these choices is, they work off an average, or acceptable score.

4 Point scale: Organizations using four variables usually choose 2 as the acceptable level of behavior. Now you have one level of Unacceptable and two levels of Exceeds Expectations. This doesn't appear to be a big deal until you consider bonus distributions, salary increases or promotions.

Finally, weighting factors/competencies will significantly enhance any rating scale. Obviously, one job behavior can be substantially more important than another. For example: if I am evaluating two Account Executives on the criteria Sales Quota and Appearance, one executive scores 5 in the Sales Quota factor and a 3 in the appearance factor, while the other executive scores 3 in the Sales Quota factor and a 5 in the appearance factor, without weighting they both end up with the same total score. Are they equally valuable to the organization? I doubt it.

This entire discussion becomes moot if the organization is not using the appraisal process as a tool to determine compensation, employee development or succession planning.

If you're an executive, line manager, supervisor, human resource manager or employee, it's likely the experiences and issues listed below will be familiar to you. At Promantek, we question common assumptions about performance appraisals because TrakStar's performance enabling technology can help solve many of the dilemmas.

Issue: Managers and employees dislike performance appraisals.
Everyone understands the importance of performance appraisals and giving employees feedback on their work performance. Still, managers and employees both dislike them because they are often intimidating and unpleasant. Both would rather avoid appraisals because often it's not a good news meeting.

How TrakStar solves the dilemma
TrakStar helps managers set clear performance expectations at the beginning of the relationship because it spells out the basic duties and responsibilities of every position and the required performance factors and goals. During the employee performance planning meeting, managers establish required behaviors and individual objectives. Setting expectations proactively coupled with regular informal feedback makes it easier for a manager to address performance deficits early on - when there's a better chance of turning them around.

Issue: Employees often feel appraisals are one-way streets.
Sometimes appraisals are one-way streets. All that counts is the manager's perception that can be at odds with the employee's self-appraisal. Employees often have no way to communicate what they thought they did well and where they need help prior to the appraisal meeting.

How TrakStar solves the dilemma
TrakStar's Self-Appraisal feature gives employees a way to share their personal evaluation with their manager prior to the appraisal meeting. TrakStar takes employee input and compares it to the manager's evaluation (factor by factor and goal by goal) so both can readily see where they converge and diverge. Managers may also gain valuable insight by understanding what training, support, and resources are needed for the employee to excel and for the organization to perform better.

Further, in today's business environment, employees often spend as much or more time in direct contact with peers, subordinates, contractors, and customers as they do with their managers. Surprisingly managers often don’t solicit other perspectives about competencies and goal achievements when writing the employee evaluation. That’s where TrakStar Multi-Rater can make a big difference by helping managers supplement and validate their personal perception of an employee’s performance against those who work closely with the employee.

TrakStar Multi-Rater creates an easy and accurate way of capturing observations and feedback from all individuals who are in a position to contribute to the whole picture of an employee's performance and impact on the organization. Additionally, TrakStar Multi-Rater has the ability to request precisely the type of feedback desired from each rater, including comments and/or performance ratings on competencies or goals. This ensures that the rater is only asked to comment on observable and relevant areas. Summary reports make it easy for managers to compare feedback from all sources for the final employee evaluation.

Finally, Multi-Rater and Self-Appraisal Comments and Ratings are included in TrakStar’s Route for Approval creating a fair and balanced perspective for the Approvers.

Issue: Late performance appraisals can cost companies a lot.
One of the problems with the performance appraisal process today is that it all too often has a negative impact on employees simply because the appraisal is late. Managers often forget about the appraisal or get busy. Statistics indicate that 85% of a company's voluntary turnover is because employees don't feel appreciated. Taking an employee for granted who wants to advance is often the reason for quitting and going to the competition. How can companies keep people from falling through the cracks without dedicating an HR person to chase down delinquent appraisals?

How TrakStar solves the dilemma
TrakStar's keeps appraisals moving by automatically notifying managers and employees via email to complete upcoming or delinquent appraisals. It also reminds Approvers and Multi-Raters to complete their assignments.

Issue: Organizations are concerned about the loss of top performers.
Many companies share this concern. How much longer can companies get people to work these hours? People are working 20% more this year than last just to stay employed. The truth is that companies need to balance the need to maximize the profits right now with the longer-term goal of cultivating choice employees.

How TrakStar solves the dilemma
Management at any level can quickly identify top performers with a click of the mouse. Key contributors may need recognition, reward, some time off, a new assignment, or a different manager to keep them satisfied. TrakStar helps protect your core assets and competitive advantage. It's powerful reporting tools help you discover and retain your next generation of leaders.

Issue: Organizations need uniform performance standards to avoid litigation.
If you ever hear "other people got away with the same thing I was fired for" your company is just about guaranteed a visit to the courthouse. Managers who fail to address the behaviors and actions of people that are inconsistent with stated and published organizational expectations and policies create risk. In the same way, managers who let non-conformance go on until they're out of patience and then penalize the next offender with a disciplinary action also creates risk.

Confronting a poor performer is one of the most dreaded management tasks, which is why so many managers either avoid it altogether or overrate a marginal employee. However, being "nice" creates a false sense of security and expectations and, when the manager finally deals with it, the employee feels betrayed and mistreated. With demotions, the most common complaint is the employee did not see it coming. Honest communication works wonders in eliminating lawsuits.

How TrakStar solves the dilemma
TrakStar provides tools to help HR and managers quickly create new positions (or enter existing ones) and assign performance factors by which job effectiveness will be measured. While TrakStar allows you to create performance factors, it comes pre-loaded with a comprehensive library of over 100 pre-defined performance factors and competencies that can be assigned to any position. Establishing uniform performance standards will help line managers avoid conformance issues.

While TrakStar's reporting tools provide every level of management with visibility into individual and department performances, it also helps discover rater biases, performance factor trends, and strengths, weaknesses and best practices.

For the last three decades we have worked organizations whose goal it was to change their culture.

While this is a noble thought, making it happen is a serious undertaking with a lot of heavy lifting. There are some major obstacles an organization must overcome.

1. Since the culture of an organization usually flows from the top-down, change must occur in the same manner. The CEO, Owner or President cannot delegate responsibility of driving change.
2. If change is to take place it puts significant pressure on the key players to change their style. It's probably not going to happen.
3. Most organizations want to change to begin immediately after the program's and/or processes have been introduced. Unfortunately, the changes will not be substantial for at least 18 months, probably longer.
4. Because a consultant or other outside agent usually facilitate these programs or processes their presence is essential. Once the consultant has left the building the innate behaviors began to seep back into the organization and soon it's back to business as usual.
5. There is no accountability. The behaviors that are necessary to effect change should become part of each individual's performance plan and/or performance appraisal.

It would be hard for me as a manager or employee to find value in a performance appraisal document that was the same for everybody, was void of well-defined, position specific criteria and was one-sided, as are most performance appraisals.

Certain styles are open to and encourage change while others are extremely resistant to change. It is important for organizations to assess who's who before moving forward with any program. But our approach has been to show people how to change the way they do things, not who they are. Performance plans and performance appraisals can be dynamic, effective managing tools that enhance change.

Too often performance appraisal is a task that is misunderstood, undervalued and usually misused. We have actually had executives ask us to help them craft a performance appraisal product so they could terminate an individual.

The bottom line: Change in culture requires, leadership from the top, commitment patience, processes that help people change the way they do things and an environment of accountability.

One very important element that is overlooked in the performance appraisal process is the style of the appraiser. Many times organizations are skeptical about the value of performance appraisal because managers simply rubberstamp the process so that employees can qualify for their annual increase. When this happens it can be an indication that the managers style is not conducive to any situation involving conflict or confrontation. Another scenario might be a manager uses the performance appraisal to collect evidence justifying the denial of an increase. This attitude reflects the manager whose main concern is the bottom line results.

The high-task, low relationship manager fosters an environment where people wait to be told what to do and are reluctant to take initiative. This managers and employees usually feel somewhat deprived and seldom receive the proverbial pat on the back.

The high-relationship, low task manager fosters an environment of cooperation, stability and team. Employees are encouraged to take initiative. This manager can be reluctant to hold employees accountable and set limits, hoping issues will go away.

The well-crafted performance appraisal system is designed to make sure a win-win proposition exists from a Relationship as well as a Task perspective. No matter the behavioral style of the manager or the employee if the performance appraisal factors are well-defined the performance appraisal outcome can be very rewarding while contributing to the development of the employee and the manager.