Thursday, 15 March 2007
The Challenges of Performance Appraisals
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.
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.
Posted by at 7:22 PM in Performance Tips
