Human Resource Development:
Managing Learning and Knowledge Capital
Chapter 5
Performance appraisal and career
development
Copyright © 2010 Tilde University Press
The importance of performance appraisal
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One of the most misunderstood HRM functions
A process that everyone loves to hate
But is critical
PA must achieve outcomes areas, such as:
– Basis of HRDNI
– Encourage the development of staff
– Cost effective
• The most direct and dynamic link between on-the-job
performance and human resource development
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Performance management
• Key elements of performance management :
– normal interactive process between managers, individuals and
teams
– based on agreements, accountables, expectations and
development plans
– a continuous process
• Performance management unites performance appraisal
with the other organisational subsystems and strategies.
• Performance appraisal (PA):
– Concentrates on the individual
– Provides a unique set of information for HRDNI
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Performance appraisal – a natural process
• Appraising something - measuring the extent of
its value to us
• We make hundreds of judgements each day
• Appraisal has four stages
– having some predetermined standard
– observing some event or object
– comparing this observation against the
predetermined standard, and
– taking some action
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Performance appraisal – a unique process
• Can play a unique role in engendering or
destroying trust
– Communication is the key – see Figure 5.1
• Plays a pivotal role in HRD
• Essential part of the evaluation of the investment
of developmental activities.
• Its need for trust and its complexity may be why
some managers shy away from PA
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Impact on the HR developer
• Involved in PA in a variety of ways
– In both the surveillance & investigatory stages of HRDNI
– Design, develop and instigate a PA system
– Develop both the managers and the appraisees in the reciprocal
skills necessary to conduct PAs
– ensure that the special interaction between managers and staff
fulfils the fruitful opportunities offered
– The appraisal interaction between manager and staff member is
a dynamic developmental episode when handled correctly—but
an absolute disaster when handled incorrectly
– The results provide specific and indispensable information for
the evaluation stage
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Impact on the HR developer (cont)
• Eight principles for a successful performance appraisal
system
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Two types —administrative and developmental
The use of a cascade process
Performance standards are based on a current job analysis
Observing the events using appropriate observation methods
Using realistic comparisons between the observed data and the
predetermined standard
– taking action through the use of appropriate feedback methods
– creating action plans
– The action plans must become the inputs for a developmental
program
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Types of performance appraisal
• Administrative performance appraisal
– making decisions for salary increments, promotions,
retrenchments and succession plans
– a critical part of the control function in an organisation
• Developmental performance appraisals
– identifying, honestly and accurately, the
developmental needs of an individual
• Are conflicting in nature
• The main variable is trust
• Both processes have commonalities
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Basic process of PA
• Job analysis
– Gathering and recording information on a job
• Research methods as used in the HRDNI
• What are the tasks and duties of this particular position?
• What are the expected outcomes of these tasks and duties?
– Creating the two basic documents
• Job description
• Job specification
– The predetermined standard
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Basic process of PA (cont)
• Observing the performance
– The what
– The who
– The full period
• The comparison
– Visual record
– Graphic rating scale and
– Behaviourally anchored rating scale
• See Figure 5.6
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Basic process of PA (cont)
• Feedback
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tell-and-sell
(Administrative ?)
tell-and-listen
(Administrative ?)
problem solving (Developmental ?)
Also depends on job maturity
• Action plans
– Permanent and reliable record
– For the administrative appraisal, the usual record is a report
– For the developmental appraisal, an action plan
• The what - e.g. the learning objectives
• The who - person responsible for the action
• The how - type of learning – formal? Informal?
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Surveillance system
• The developmental performance appraisal
process is the key surveillance system for any
HRDNI
• the information on the action plans is used for
two purposes:
– to design learning programs for individuals
– to investigate trends identified from the collation
of several individual action plans for further
hidden needs
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Legal issues in PA
• A PA holds weight in the legal environment
– Either as a shield against legal proceedings
– Or a distinct legal/ financial risk
• Legal ramifications
– Not having one poses an enormous risk
– The job analysis needs to produce
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job descriptions that are accurate
KPIs that are reasonable and achievable
job specifications that are logical
use measures that can be proven to be reliable and valid
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Career management
• The comparison between
– the needs of the individual
– the needs of the organisation
• Critical because of the long lead times often needed for
the development of people for new roles and
responsibilities
• The organisation matches
– the needs of the staff
– with the organisation’s requirements for flexibility
– to achieve a balanced mix of primary, secondary and peripheral
staff
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Careers
• Traditional vertical career
– Within a single organisation
– An orderly, predictable upward progression
– The psychological contract
• Protean career
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Self-directed orientation
Implies independence from external career influences
Individual evaluates career goals using internal values
Greater mobility and a more whole-of-life perspective
• Boundaryless career
– crossing organisational and professional boundaries
– job security is replaced by employability
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Career development
• On-going
• Reciprocal interaction between employee and employer
• Enhancing capabilities so that the individual is not
restricted to a particular job/career/ organisation
• The process contributes to organisational success
• Being inclusive rather than exclusive to a few
• Being formal and informal
• Individual and work priorities influence choice about
careers and developmental opportunities
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Career counselling
• Help to develop them reach their career goals
• Career motivation
– Career identity - personal values according to
workplace
– Career insight - ability to evaluate own strengths
and weaknesses
– Career resilience – how cope with the problems
that arise at work
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Career counselling (cont)
• Career anchors
– Pattern of talents, motives and values
– that guide/constrain/stabilise/integrate career
• A number of types, such as
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Technical competence
Managerial competence
Wanting security
Wanting creativity
Preference for autonomy
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Career counselling (cont)
• Individual’s personal environment
– Mix of work life, family life and leisure life
• Balance
• Role conflicts
– Life-cycle model
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Exploration stage
Establishment stage
Maintenance stage
Disengagement stage
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Career counselling (cont)
• Gather information on future careers
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What qualifications are needed
How much supervised experience is required
Employment opportunities
Locations of employment
Expected working hours
Costs of gaining qualifications and experience
Effects of such a change on present lifestyle
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Career counselling (cont)
• Constructing action plans
– Action plan to make the change happen
– Plans usually include
• Time line
• Budget
– Incorporate a reality check into the process
• E.g., visiting a work site
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Career counselling (cont)
• Making the change
– How will the specific change affect each member
of the family?
– Is the new employer financially stable?
– Is the culture ‘fit’ of the new organisation
appropriate?
– Is the physical working environment be suitable?
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