EVALUATING PERFORMANCE EMPLOYEE level of education required to perform the job. However, for the compensation of two individuals within the same job function performance and tenure are factors to consider. o Making Promotion Decisions – to determine which employees will be promoted. o Making Termination Decisions- providing feedback, counseling, and training to employees does not always increase performance or reduce discipline problems. When performance management techniques are not successful, termination of employee could be another option for the management. o Conducting Personnel Research–that through validating employment tests, evaluating effectiveness of a program, measuring performance. Step 2: Identify Environmental and Cultural Limitations - is to identify the environmental and cultural factors that could affect the system. Step 1: Determine the Reason for Evaluating Employee Performance - the most common include providing employee feedback and training, determining salary increases, making promotion decisions, making termination decisions, and conducting personnel research. o Providing Employee Training and Feedback- By far, the most important use of performance evaluation is to improve employee performance by providing feedback about what employees are doing right and wrong o Determining Salary Increases– job’s worth is determined by many factors, including the degree of responsibility and Step 3: Determine Who Will Evaluate Performance– Traditionally, employee performance has been evaluated solely by supervisors. Recently, however, organizations have realized that supervisors see only certain aspects of an employee’s behavior. 360-degree feedback and multiple-source feedback. o Supervisors - by far the most common type of performance appraisal is the supervisor rating. Though supervisors may not see every minute of an employee’s behavior, they do see the end result. o Peer -Whereas supervisors see the results of an employee’s efforts, peers often see the actual behavior. peer ratings have been successful in predicting the future success of promoted employees, as they correlate highly with supervisor ratings o Subordinates - Subordinate feedback (also called upward feedback) is an important component of 360-degree feedback, as subordinates can provide a very different view about a supervisor’s behavior. o Customers - Informally, customers provide feedback on employee performance by filing complaints or complimenting a manager about one of her employees. Formally, customers provide feedback by completing evaluation cards *Organizations also seek customer feedback in the form of secret shoppers— current customers who have been enlisted by a company to periodically evaluate the service they receive. o Self-Appraisal - Allowing an employee to evaluate her own behavior and performance is a technique used by only a small percentage of organizations Step 4: Select the Best Appraisal Methods to Accomplish Your Goals - The next step in the performance appraisal process is to select the performance criteria and appraisal methods that will best accomplish your goals for the system. DECISION 1: FOCUS OF THE APPRAISAL DIMENSIONS o Trait-Focused Performance Dimensions -A trait-focused system concentrates on such employee attributes as dependability, honesty, and courtesy. o Competency-Focused Performance Dimensions- Rather than concentrating on an employee’s traits, competency-focused dimensions, concentrate on the employee’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. o Task-Focused Performance Dimensions - Task-focused dimensions are organized by the similarity of tasks that are performed. Performance o Goal-Focused Dimensions - appraisal onthe basis of goals to be accomplished by the employee. o Contextual Performance - that is, the effort anemployee makes to get along with peers, improve the organization, and perform tasks that are needed but are not necessarily an official part of the employee’s jobdescription. DECISION 2: SHOULD DIMENSIONS BE WEIGHTED? - Weighting dimensions makes good philosophical sense, as some dimensions might be more important to an organization than others. DECISION 3: USE OF EMPLOYEE COMPARISONS, OBJECTIVE MEASURES, OR RATINGS - Once the types of dimensions have been considered, the next decision is whether to evaluate performance by comparing employees with one another (ranking), using objective measures such as attendance and number of units sold, or having supervisors rate how well the employee has performed on each of the dimensions. o Employee Comparisons- To reduce leniency, employees can be compared with one another instead of being rated individually on a scale. The methods are rank order, paired comparisons (comparing each possible pair of employees and choosing which one of each pair is the better employee) and forced distribution (predetermined percentage of employees are placed in each of the five categories) o Objective Measures ● Quantity of Work. Evaluation of a worker’s performance in terms of quantity is obtained by simply counting the number of relevant job behaviors that take place. ● Quality of Work. Another method to evaluate performance is by measuring the quality of the work that is done. Quality is usually measured in terms of errors, which are defined as deviations from a standard. Attendance can be ● Attendance. separated into three distinct criteria: absenteeism, tardiness, and tenure. ● Safety. Obviously, employees who follow safety rules and who have no occupational accidents do not cost an organization as much money as those who break rules, equipment, and possibly their own bodies. o Ratings of Performance -The most commonly used ● Graphic Rating Scales - such scales are fairly simple, with 5 to 10 dimensions accompanied by words such a “excellent” and “poor” anchoring the ends of the scale. ● Behavioral Checklists - consist of a list of behaviors, expectations, or results for each dimension. This list is used to force the supervisor to concentrate on the relevant behaviors that fall under a dimension. ● Comparison with Other Employees supervisors can rate performance on a dimension by comparing the employee’s level of performance with that of other employees. Though this approach will reduce such problems as overly lenient or overly strict ratings, it potentially forces a supervisor to rate employees who are performing well as being worse than other employees. ● Frequency of Desired Behaviors Behaviors can be rated based on the frequency with which they occur. For example, we expect our production workers to follow safety guidelines. to Which Organizational ● Extent Expectations Are Met - perhaps the best ● Mixed-Standard Scales - They contain statements representing good, average, and poor performance based on behavioral examples obtained from knowledgeable persons, usually supervisors. An evaluator's task is to indicate whether an employee either fits the statement, is better than the statement, or worse than the statement. approach is to rate employees on the extent to which their behavior meets the expectations of the organization. ● Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) – It is an appraisal mechanism that seeks to combine the benefits of narratives, critical incidents and quantified ratings by anchoring a quantified scale with specific narratives of performance ranging from good, satisfactory and poor performance. BARS is designed to bring the benefits of both quantitative and qualitative data to employee appraisal process. ● Forced-Choice Scales - In a forced choice format, respondents are not given a specific option to reflect a "nonresponse" type choice, such as "no opinion," "don't know," "not sure," or "not applicable." Respondents must select a response choice that provides a specific answer to the survey item Step 5 Train Raters - Although training supervisors to evaluate performance is essential to a sound and legal performance appraisal system, few organizations spend the time and resources necessary to do this properly -Frame-of-reference training A method of training raters in which the rater is provided with job-related information, a chance to practice ratings, examples of ratings made by experts, and the rationale behind the expert ratings. Step 6: Observe and Document Performance -The next step in the performance appraisal process is for supervisors to observe employee behavior and document critical incidents as they occur. -Critical incidents A method of performance appraisal in which the supervisor records employee behaviors that were observed on the job and rates the employee on the basis of that record. Critical incidents should be communicated to the employee at the time they occur (details on how to provide feedback will occur later in this chapter as well as in Chapter 9). Documentation is important for four reasons. 1. documentation forces a supervisor to focus on employee behaviors rather than traits and provides behavioral examples to use when reviewing performance ratings with employees. 2. Second, documentation helps supervisors recall behaviors when they are evaluating performance. Without documentation, instead of recalling all of an employee’s behavior or at least a representative sample of behavior, supervisors tend to recall only a small percentage of an employee’s actual behavior. Supervisors tend to remember the following: First impressions. Research from many areas of psychology indicates that we remember our first impression of someone (primacy effect) more than we remember later behaviors. Consequently, supervisors recall behaviors that are consistent with their first impression of an employee, even though those first behaviors may not have been representative of the employee’s typical performance. Being aware of first impressions is important because performance can be dynamic, meaning that a person who is the top performer one year may not be the top performer during another year (Reb & Greguras, 2008). Recent behaviors. In addition to first impressions, supervisors tend to recall the most recent behavior that occurred during the evaluation period. Unusual or extreme behaviors. Supervisors tend to remember unusual behaviors more than they remember common behaviors. For example, if an average-performing police officer captures an important criminal, the officer’s performance evaluations are likely to be inappropriately high. Likewise, a good officer who makes a terrible mistake is likely to receive inappropriately low ratings. Behavior consistent with the supervisor’s opinion. Once we form an opinion of someone, we tend to look for behaviors that confirm that opinion. If a supervisor likes an employee, she will probably recall only behaviors consistent with that opinion. The opposite would be true for a supervisor who disliked an employee. Once you get on someone’s bad side, it is hard to get off of it. 3. documentation provides examples to use when reviewing performance ratings with employees. Instead of telling an employee that she is constantly getting into arguments with customers, a supervisor can use documented critical incidents to show the employee the specific incidents and behaviors that are problematic. 4. documentation helps an organization defend against legal actions taken against it by an employee who was terminated or denied a raise or promotion. As will be discussed later in this chapter, the courts closely examine the accuracy of the performance ratings upon which personnel decisions are based. Judges and juries are not likely to accept a supervisor’s rating as proof of poor performance. Instead, they want to see proof of the behaviors that caused the supervisor to rate the employee poorly. Without documentation, employers will seldom win lawsuits filed against them (Foster, 2002). The courts’ need for documentation is supported by research indicating that when evaluators must justify their performance ratings, their ratings are more accurate (Mero & Motowidlo, 1995). 5. Step 7: Evaluate Performance o Obtaining and Reviewing Objective Data When it is time to appraise an employee’s performance, a supervisor should first obtain and review the objective data relevant to the employee’s behavior. o Reading Critical-Incident Logs After obtaining objective data, the supervisor should go back and read all of the critical incidents written for an employee. Reading these incidents should reduce errors of primacy, recency, and attention to unusual information. o Completing the Rating Form Common Rating Errors: ● Distribution errors are made when a rater uses only one part of a rating scale. For example, on a five-point scale, a supervisor might rate all of her employees a 4 or a 5. ● leniency error - certain raters tend to rate every employee at the upper end of the scale regardless of the actual performance of the employee. ● central tendency error - which results in a supervisor rating every employee in the middle of the scale ● strictness error- rates every employee at the low end of the scale. ● Halo Errors -A halo error occurs when a rater allows either a single attribute or an overall impression of an individual to affect the ratings that she makes on each relevant job dimension. ● Proximity Errors - occur when a rating made on one dimension affects the rating made on the dimension that immediately follows it on the rating scale. ● Contrast Errors The performance rating one person receives can be influenced by the performance of a previously evaluated person ● Low Reliability across Raters - two people rating the same employee seldom agree with each other Sampling Problems 1. Recency Effect - Research has demonstrated, however, that recent behaviors are given more weight in the performance evaluation than behaviors that occurred during the first few months of the evaluation period. Such an effect penalizes workers who performed well during most of the period but tailed off toward the end, and it rewards workers who saved their best work until just before the evaluation. 2. Infrequent Observation - another problem that affects performance appraisals is that many managers or supervisors do not have the opportunity to observe a representative sample of employee behavior Cognitive Processing of Observed Behavior ● Observation of Behavior - an employee’s behavior is observed it does not guarantee that it will be properly remembered or recalled during the performance appraisal review ● Emotional State. The amount of stress under which a supervisor operates also affects her performance ratings. ● Bias. Raters who like the employees being rated may be more lenient Step 8: Communicate Appraisal Results to Employees - As was stated in the beginning of this chapter, perhaps the most important use of performance-evaluation data is to provide feedback to the employee and assess her strengths and weaknesses so that further training can be implemented Prior to the Interview 1. Allocating Time Both the supervisor and the employee must have time to prepare for the review interview. Both should be allowed at least an hour to prepare before an interview and at least an hour for the interview itself. 2. Scheduling the Interview The interview location should be in a neutral place that ensures privacy and allows the supervisor and the employee to face one another without a desk between them as a communication barrier. Performance appraisal review interviews should be scheduled at least once every six months for most employees and more often for new employees. Review interviews are commonly scheduled six months after an employee begins working for the organization. If this date comes at a bad time (such as during the holidays, a busy time for retail stores), the interview should be scheduled for a more convenient time. It is important to note that although the formal performance appraisal review occurs only once or twice a year, informal “progress checks” should be held throughout the year to provide feedback. 3. Preparing for the Interview While preparing for the interview, the supervisor should review the ratings she has assigned to the employee and the reasons for those ratings. This step is important because the quality of feedback given to employees will affect their satisfaction with the entire performance appraisal process (Mount, 1983). Furthermore, employees perceive and react to the amount of time that a supervisor uses to prepare for the interview. Meanwhile, the employee should rate her own performance using the same format as the supervisor (Roberts, 2003). The employee also should write down specific reasons and examples that support the ratings she gives herself, as well as ideas for personal development. 4. During the Interview Because employees and supervisors are often anxious about performance reviews, it is a goodideatobegintheinterviewwithsomesmallt alkuntilthejittersgoaway.Oncethe employee and supervisor are feeling as comfortable as they are going to get, the supervisor should communicate the following: (1) the role of performance appraisal—that making decisions about salary increases and terminations is not its only purpose; (2) how the performance appraisal was conducted; (3) how the evaluation process was accomplished; (4) the expectation that the appraisal interview will be interactive; and (5) the goal of understanding and improving performance. Step 9: Terminate Employees Performance appraisal results are also used to make positive personnel decisions such as raises and promotions. Unfortunately, there are times when managers have to terminate an employee’s employment. The idea behind employment at will is that because employees are free to quit their jobs at will, so too are organizations free to terminate an employee at will. Though employment-at-will is common in the United States, countries such as France enforce the restriction that no employee can be fired unless it is for cause. There are some limitations to the employment-at-will doctrine (Falcone, 2002): State law. States such as California, Montana, and New York have laws that an employee can be fired only for cause—for example, breaking a rule, demonstrating an inability to perform. Provisions of federal or state law. Employees cannot be fired for reasons protected by federal or state law. For example, an employer cannot fire an employee because she is female, pregnant, nonwhite, or over the age of 40. Public policy/interest. Employers cannot terminate an employee for exercising a legal duty such as jury duty or refusing to violate the law or professional ethics. For example, a large savings and loan institution ordered one of its appraisers to appraise homes higher than their actual values so that its customers could qualify to finance property. Citing federal regulations and professional ethics against inflating property values, the employee refused the company order. After being terminated, the employee successfully filed a lawsuit (one of more than 200 filed by employees against this institution) claiming that he had been fired for refusing to violate the law and the ethical standards of his profession. Contracts. Obviously, if an individual employee has a signed employment contract stipulating a particular period of employment, an organization cannot fire the employee without cause. Likewise, unions enter into collective bargaining agreements (contracts) with employers that also limit or negate employment-at-will. Implied contracts. Employment-at-will is nullified if an employer implies that an employee “has a job for life” or can be fired only for certain reasons. For example, if an interviewer tells an applicant, “At this company, all you have to do is keep your nose clean to keep your job” the employer will not be able to terminate the employee for minor rules infractions or for poor performance. Covenants of good faith and fair dealing. Though employers are generally free to hire and fire at will, the courts have ruled that employers must still act in good faith and deal fairly with an employee. These rulings have been based on an item in the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) stating, “Every contract . . . imposes an obligation of good faith in its performance or enforcement,” and the fact that courts consider employment decisions to be a form of a contract. To protect their right to use a policy of employment-at-will, most organizations include employment-at-will statements, in their job applications and employee handbooks. These statements usually hold up in court. Legal Reasons for Terminating Employees 1. Probationary Period - Employees can be terminated more easily during the probationary period than at any other time. 2. Violation of Company Rules 3. Inability to Perform- Employees can also be terminated for an inability to perform the job. To do so, though, an organization will need to prove that the employee could not perform the job and that progressive discipline was taken to give the employee an opportunity to improve. For an employer to survive a court challenge to terminating a poor-performing employee, it must first demonstrate that a reasonable standard of performance was communicated to the employee. The organization must next demonstrate that there was a documented failure to meet the standard. Such documentation can include critical-incident logs and work samples. A properly designed performance appraisal system is the key to legally terminating an employee 4. Reduction in Force (Layoff ) - Employees can be terminated if it is in the best economic interests of an organization to do so. The Termination Meeting Prior to the Meeting Once a decision has been made to terminate an employee, certain steps should be taken to prepare for the meeting in which the decision will be communicated to the employee. The first step is to ensure that the legal process has been followed. For example, if an organization is about to terminate an employee for a rule violation, it must be sure that a rule actually existed, that the employee knew the rule, that the organization has proof that the rule was violated, that progressive discipline was used, and that the rule was applied equally to all employees. An important responsibility for human resources professionals is to ensure that a termination decision is legally defensible. The next step is to determine how much help, if any, the organization wants to offer the employee. Forms of help can include references, severance pay, and outplacement assistance. Usually, greater levels of help are given to employees who sign agreements not to sue the organization. The final step is to schedule an appropriate place and time for the meeting to occur. The meeting should be held in a neutral, private location. To avoid potential damage caused by a hostile reaction to the termination decision, the meeting should not be held in a supervisor’s office. Rather than late on Friday afternoon, as is traditional, the meeting should take place on a Monday or Tuesday so that the employee has an opportunity to seek advice and the organization has a chance to talk to its employees (Karl & Hancock, 1999; McHeffey, 2011). When a termination is made on a Friday afternoon, the employee is unable to contact sources of help over the weekend. Likewise, the terminated employee has all weekend to get on the phone to tell her side of the story to other employees, whereas the organization must wait until Monday to refute the gossip. During the Meeting During the meeting, the supervisor should get to the point about terminating the employee. The employee usually knows why she has been called in, and there is no reason to prolong the agony. The supervisor should rationally state the reasons for the decision, express gratitude for the employee’s efforts (if sincere), and offer whatever assistance the organization intends to provide. Administrative duties such as obtaining copies of keys and completing paperwork are then performed. Finally, the employee is asked to gather personal belongings and is escorted out the door. I realize that this advice sounds cold. However, terminating an employee is a difficult task, and there is little that can be done to make it pleasant. If you have ever ended a romantic relationship, I think you will understand the feelings that go into terminating an employee. It is an emotional time, and the key is to be brief and professional. After the Meeting Once the meeting is over, the natural reaction of the supervisor is to feel guilty. To relieve some of this guilt, a supervisor should review the facts—she gave the employee every chance to improve, but the employee chose not to. A human resources professional for Valleydale Foods tells employees this: “Through your behavior, you fired yourself. I’m just completing the paperwork.” When an employee is fired, other employees will be tense. Consequently, it is important to be honest with the other employees about what happened; at the same time, negative statements about the terminated employee’s character must be avoided. Step 10: Monitor the Legality and Fairness of the Appraisal System Performance appraisal systems are subject to the same legal standards as are employment tests and other employment decisions. As such, performance ratings should be analyzed each rating period to determine if there are gender, race/ethnicity, or age differences. If there are such differences, the organization should determine whether the differences are justified by factors such as experience or if the differences are due to discrimination. Likewise, the personnel decisions that are based on the performance appraisal ratings should be analyzed to ensure discrimination does not occur in the raises, bonuses, promotions, and terminations that result from the performance ratings. Questions that should be asked by the organization during this monitoring process include the following: -Has the organization provided training to supervisors regarding how to evaluate performance, communicate appraisal results, mentor underperforming employees, and make decisions on the basis of the appraisal results? -Are there gender, race, ethnicity, disability, or age differences in performance ratings? If so, are the differences supported by actual differences in performance? Do employees with similar performance ratings receive similar outcomes such as raises, promotions, discipline, training, or promotion (Russell v. Principi, 2001)? -Are there gender, race, ethnicity, disability, or age differences in the opportunities given to improve performance (Johnson v. Kroger, 2003; Mayer v. Nextel, 2003)? That is, if a low-rated Asian employee is provided opportunities for improvement, is a similarly situated Hispanic employee given the same opportunities? -Are there employees who historically have received high ratings suddenly being given a lowrating (Shackelford v. Deloitte & Touche,1999)? If so,is the drop in ratings due to an actual performance decrease or to potential discrimination?
