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MU0007 (2 CREDITS)

SET 1

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND APPRAISAL

Q.1:- Explain the process of performance management.

Ans:- Performance measurement is the process of assessing progress toward achieving


predetermined goals. Performance management is building on that process, adding the
relevant communication and action on the progress achieved against these predetermined
goals.

Network performance management is, (a) a set of functions that evaluate and report the
behavior of telecommunications equipment and the effectiveness of the network or network
element and (b) a set of various subfunctions, such as gathering statistical information,
maintaining and examining historical logs, determining system performance under natural
and artificial conditions, and altering system modes of operation.

In organizational development (OD), performance can be thought of as Actual Results vs


Desired Results. Any discrepancy, where Actual is less than Desired, could constitute the
performance improvement zone. Performance management and improvement can be thought
of as a cycle:

1. Performance planning where goals and objectives are established.

2. Performance coaching where a manager intervenes to give feedback and adjust


performance.

3. Performance appraisal where individual performance is formally documented and feedback


delivered.

A performance problem is any gap between Desired Results and Actual Results. Performance
improvement is any effort targeted at closing the gap between Actual Results and Desired
Results.

Application Performance Management (APM) refers to the discipline within systems


management that focuses on monitoring and managing the performance and availability of
software applications. APM can be defined as workflow and related IT tools deployed to
detect, diagnose, remedy and report on application performance issues to ensure that
application performance meets or exceeds end-users and businesses expectations.

Business performance management (BPM) is a set of processes that help businesses discover
efficient use of their business units, financial, human and material resources.
Operational performance management (OPM) focus is on creating methodical and predictable
ways to improve business results, or performance across organizations.

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Simply put, performance management helps organizations achieve their strategic goals.
Rather than discarding the data accessibility previous systems fostered, performance
management harnesses it to help ensure that an organization’s data works in service to
organizational goals to provide information that is actually useful in achieving them. and
focus on the Operational Networking Processes between the performance level. The main
purpose of performance management is to link individual objectives and organisational
objectives and bring about that individuals obey important worth for enterprise. Additionally,
performance management tries to develop skills of people to achieve their capability to
satisfy their ambitions and also increase profit of the firm.

Process of Performance Management Performance management is the systematic


process by which an agency involves its employees, as individuals and members of a group,
in improving organizational effectiveness in the accomplishment of agency mission and
goals.

Managing Performance Effectively: In effective organizations, managers and


employees have been practicing good performance management naturally all their lives,
executing each key component process well. Goals are set and work is planned routinely.
Progress towards these goals is measured and employees get feedback. High standards are
set, but care is also taken to develop the skills needed to reach them. Formal and informal
rewards are used to recognize the behavior and results that accomplish the mission. All five
component processes working together and supporting each other achieve natural, effective
performance management.

1. Planning In an effective organization, work is planned out in advance. Planning


refers to setting performance expectations and goals for groups and individuals to channelize
their efforts toward achieving organizational objectives. Getting employees involved in the
planning process will help them understand the goals of the organization, what needs to be
done, why it needs to be done, and how well it should be done.

The regulatory requirements for planning employees’ performance include


establishing the elements and standards of their performance appraisal plans. Performance
elements and standards should be measurable, understandable, verifiable, equitable, and
achievable. Through critical elements, employees are held accountable as individuals for
work assignments or responsibilities. Employee performance plans should be flexible so that
they can be adjusted for changing program objectives and work requirements. When used
effectively, these plans can be beneficial working documents that are discussed often, and not
merely paperwork that is filed in a drawer and seen only when ratings of record are required.

2. Monitoring In an effective organization, assignments and projects are monitored


continually. Monitoring well means consistently measuring performance and providing
ongoing feedback to employees and work groups on their progress toward reaching their
goals.

Regulatory requirements for monitoring performance include conducting progress


reviews with employees where their performance is compared against their elements and
standards. Ongoing monitoring provides the opportunity to check how well employees are
meeting predetermined standards and to make changes to unrealistic or problematic
standards. And by monitoring continually, unacceptable performance can be identified at any

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time during the appraisal period and assistance provided to address such performance rather
than wait until the end of the period when summary rating levels are assigned.

3. Developing In an effective organization, employee developmental needs are


evaluated and addressed. Developing in this instance means increasing the capacity to
perform through training, giving assignments that introduce new skills or higher levels of
responsibility, improving work processes, or other methods. Providing employees with
training and developmental opportunities encourages good performance, strengthens job-
related skills and competencies, and helps employees keep up with changes in the workplace,
such as the introduction of new technology.

Carrying out the processes of performance management provides an excellent


opportunity to identify developmental needs. During planning and monitoring of work,
deficiencies in performance become evident and can be addressed. Areas for improving good
performance also stand out, and action can be taken to help successful employees improve
even further.

4. Rating From time to time, organizations find it useful to summarize employee


performance. This can be helpful for looking at and comparing performance over time or
among various employees. Organizations need to know who their best performers are.

Within the context of formal performance appraisal requirements, rating means


evaluating employee or group performance against the elements and standards in an
employee’s performance plan and assigning a summary rating of record. The rating of record
is assigned according to procedures included in the organization’s appraisal program. It is
based on work performed during an entire appraisal period. The rating of record has a bearing
on various other personnel actions, such as granting within-grade pay increases and
determining additional retention service credit in a reduction in force.

Note: Although group performance may have an impact on an employee’s summary rating, a
rating of record is assigned only to an individual, not to a group.

5. Rewarding In an effective organization, rewards are used well. Rewarding means


recognizing employees, individually and as members of groups, for their performance and
acknowledging their contributions to the agency’s mission. A basic principle of effective
management is that all behavior is controlled by its consequences. Those consequences can
and should be both formal and informal and both positive and negative.

Good performance is recognized without waiting for nominations for formal awards
to be solicited. Recognition is an ongoing, natural part of day-to-day experience. A lot of the
actions that reward good performance – like saying "Thank you" – don’t require a specific
regulatory authority. Nonetheless, awards regulations provide a broad range of forms that
more formal rewards can take, such as cash, time off, and many non-monetary items. The
regulations also cover a variety of contributions that can be rewarded, from suggestions to
group accomplishments.

Q.2:- Briefly explain different Performance Appraisal Methods.

Ans:- People differ in their abilities and their aptitudes. There is always some difference
between the quality and quantity of the same work on the same job being done by two

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different people. Therefore, performance management and performance appraisal is
necessary to understand each employee’s abilities, competencies and relative merit and worth
for the organization. Performance appraisal rates the employees in terms of their
performance.

Performance appraisals are widely used in the society. The history of performance appraisal
can be dated back to the 20th century and then to the second world war when the merit rating
was used for the first time. An employer evaluating their employees is a very old concept.
Performance appraisals are an indispensable part of performance measurement.

Performance appraisal is necessary to measure the performance of the employees and the
organization to check the progress towards the desired goals and aims.

The latest mantra being followed by organizations across the world being – “get paid
according to what you contribute” – the focus of the organizations is turning to performance
management and specifically to individual performance. Performance appraisal helps to rate
the performance of the employees and evaluate their contribution towards the organizational
goals. If the process of performance appraisals is formal and properly structured, it helps the
employees to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities and give direction to the
individual’s performance. It helps to align the individual performances with the
organizational goals and also review their performance.

Performance appraisal takes into account the past performance of the employees and focuses
on the improvement of the future performance of the employees. Here we attempt to provide
an insight into the concept of performance appraisal, the methods and approaches of
performance appraisal, sample performance appraisal forms and the appraisal software
available etc. An attempt has been made to study the current global trends in performance
appraisal.

Performance Appraisal Methods Performance appraisals take many forms. Written


essays, the simplest essay method, is a written narrative assessing an employee’s strengths,
weaknesses, past performance, potential, and provides recommendations for improvement.
Types of performance appraisal methods include comparative standards (such as, simple
ranking, paired comparison, forced distribution) and absolute standards (such as, critical
incidents, BARS, MBO).

• Comparative Standards or Multi-person Comparison. This relative, as opposed to


absolute method, compares one employee’s performance with that of one or more others.

In group rank ordering the supervisor places employees into a particular classification
such as "top one-fifth" and "second one-fifth". If a supervisor has ten employees, only two
could be in the top fifth, and two must be assigned to the bottom fifth.
– In individual ranking the supervisor lists employees from highest to lowest. The
difference between the top two employees is assumed equivalent to the difference
between the bottom two employees.

– In paired comparison the supervisor compares each employee with every other
employee in the group and rates each as either superior or weaker of the pair. After all
comparisons are made, each employee is assigned a summary or ranking based on the
number of superior scores received

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• Critical Incidents: The supervisor’s attention is focused on specific or critical
behaviors that separate effective from ineffective performance.

• Graphic Rating Scale: This method lists a set of performance factors such as job
knowledge, work quality, cooperation that the supervisor uses to rate employee
performance using an incremental scale.

• Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS): This combines elements from critical
incident and graphic rating scale approaches. The supervisor rates employees according to
items on a numerical scale.

• Management by Objectives: MBO evaluates how well an employee has accomplished


objectives determined to be critical in job performance. This method aligns objectives
with quantitative performance measures such as sales, profits, zero-defect units produced.

• 360 Degree Feedback: This multi-source feedback method provides a comprehensive


perspective of employee performance by utilizing feedback from the full circle of people
with whom the employee interacts: supervisors, subordinates and co-workers. It is
effective for career coaching and identifying strengths and weaknesses.

Q.3:- What lead to ethical dilemma in case of appraisal. Explain

Ans:- Mistakes that lead to ethical dilemma


Mistake #1: Waiting For the Performance Appraisal: To Give Feedback this is the biggie, and
all too common. It is where a manager fails to give someone adequate feedback on their
performance during the year, and then dumps it on them in the performance appraisal
meeting.

Unfortunately, the feedback is almost always negative, so the employee ends up sitting there
in shock — at best, wondering why his or her manager did not say something sooner; at worst
feeling unjustly victimized. And he wonders – how can a manager expect an employee to do
the right things, the right way, if the manager has not provided any guidance or feedback all
year?

The solution: It should be made a habit to tell employees if they have done a good or poor
job, and if it is a poor job, it should be explained how they can do things better in the future.

There should be no surprises in the performance appraisal!

Mistake #2: Overemphasizing Recent Performances

It is all too human to remember, and give greater weight, to recent events rather than earlier
events. However, this can lead to an inaccurate and unfair assessment when it comes to
reviewing an employee’s performance. To avoid overemphasizing an employee’s recent
work, notes are to be taken of the employee’s work throughout the year.

Mistake #3: Being Too Positive or Negative

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Some managers feel uncomfortable giving negative feedback and consequently, can omit to
give employees the constructive criticism they need to improve. And there are other
managers who are instinctively too negative, leaving the employee wondering if they can do
anything right! While, as a manager appraising someone’s performance he should give his
honest opinion, he also wants his employee to understand and appreciate what he is saying.
So instead of being too positive or negative — which can result in the employee not believing
what is being said, managers should think about the impact on the employee he wants, and
communicate his feedback accordingly.

Mistake #4: Being Critical without Being Constructive

Following on from Mistake #3, some managers can be too critical and neglect to provide any
constructive advice on how an employee can improve. This does not help the employee or the
manager. Even if the criticisms all have merit, if it is not explained how the employee can
improve, he or she is likely to miss the validity of what is being said and simply think he or
she is being victimized. Not to mention the fact that his or her performance will not actually
improve.

Mistake #5: Talking and not listening

The final big mistake that managers make in performance appraisals is doing too much
talking and not enough listening. These meetings are supposed to be interactive — where the
manager does not simply relay his or her own appraisal of the employee’s performance
during the year, but also listens to the employee’s viewpoint.

If, for example, an employer has criticized the individual’s performance, it is not only fair,
but important, to get the employee’s response as to why he or she may have underperformed.

Moreover, a key objective of the performance appraisal is to agree on goals for the following
year. How can there be true agreement and commitment to such goals, if employer does not
learn the employee’s point of view?

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ASSIGNMENTS - MBA – IV SEMESTER

MU0007 (2 CREDITS)

SET 2

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND APPRAISAL

Q.1:- Explain different perspectives of performance management.

Ans:- Supervisors have conducted performance appraisals for years. Employees have
attended training sessions for years. Organization members have worked long, hard hours for
centuries. Processes, such as planning, budgeting, sales and billings have been carried out for
years in organizations. But all too often, these activities are done mostly for the sake of doing
them, not for contributing directly to the preferred results of the organization.

Performance management reminds us that being busy is not the same as producing results. It
reminds us that training, strong commitment and lots of hard works alone are not results. The
major contribution of performance management is its focus on achieving results – useful
products and services for customers inside and outside the organization. Performance
management redirects our efforts away from being busy towards effectiveness.

Recently, organizations have been faced with challenges like never before. Increasing
competition from businesses across the world has meant that all businesses must be much
more careful about the choice of strategies to remain competitive. Everyone (and everything)
in the organization must be doing what they are supposed to be doing to ensure strategies are
implemented effectively.

This situation has put more focus on effectiveness, that the systems and processes in the
organization be applied in the right way to the right things: to achieve results. All the results
across the organization must continue to be aligned to achieve the overall results desired by
the organization for it to survive and thrive. Only then it can be said that the organization and
its various parts are really performing.

Perspectives of Performance Management

Despite the recent attention to achieving maximum performance, there is no standard


interpretation of what it means or what it takes to get it. Still, you should be aware of the
various views and be able to choose your own. Information in this subsection will orient you
to what people are suggesting that it takes for organizations to achieve maximum
performance.

Exploring Organizational Effectiveness

The phrase, “organizational effectiveness,” is commonly referred to when discussing


organizations that have achieved maximum performance. Perhaps one of the best overviews
of the concept of organizational effectiveness is provided by Herman and Renz (2002). The
authors identify nine fundamental propositions about organizational effectiveness. Their

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propositions were written about nonprofit organizations. However, they also apply to
organizations in general and, thus; their descriptions are modified in the following paragraphs
to apply to organizations in general.

1. Organizational effectiveness is always a matter of comparison

When determining the effectiveness of an organization, to what are you comparing the
organization to conclude whether it is effective or not? For example, are you comparing to a
certain set of best practices or to another highly respected organization?

2. Organizational effectiveness is multi-dimensional

Organizational effectiveness cannot be measured by one indicator. For example, a budget


surplus or a strong product outcome does not guarantee that the organization has achieved
overall maximum organizational effectiveness.

3. Boards make a difference in organizational effectiveness, but how is not clear

There is a correlation between effective boards and effective organizations. However, it is not
clear that one necessarily causes the other.

4. Organizational effectiveness is a social construction

The concept of organizational effectiveness lies “in the eyes of the beholder.” One person
might have a completely different interpretation than another person.

5. More effective organizations are more likely to use correct management practices

The authors are careful to point out that the reverse is not necessarily true – that organizations
that use correct management practices will be judged as being effective. (The correct
practices were identified during focus groups in various studies.)

6. Claims about “best practices” warrant critical evaluation

The authors explain that the results of their study do not agree with the wide assertion that
certain practices, for example, automatically produce the best Boards.

7. Measures of responsiveness may offer solutions to differing judgments

This proposition reframes the concept of effectiveness for an organization to be about how
well that organization is doing in responding to whatever is currently important.

8. It can be important to distinguish different types of organizations

This is true to make progress in understanding the practices, tactics and strategies that may
lead to organizational effectiveness.
9. Network effectiveness is as important to study as organizational effectiveness

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This proposition recognizes that the effectiveness of an organization might depend to a great
extent on the effectiveness of the wide network of organizations in which the particular
organization operates.

Suggested Capacities for Organizational Effectiveness

Letts, Ryan and Grossman (1998) suggest four key capacities for organizational
effectiveness. These capacities were suggested for nonprofit organizations. However, they
also apply to organizations in general and, thus; their descriptions are modified in the
following paragraphs to apply to organizations in general.

1. Adaptive capacity

It is the ability of an organization to maintain focus on the external environment of the


organization, particularly on “performing” (meeting the needs of customers), while
continually adjusting and aligning itself to respond to those needs and influences. Adaptive
capacity is cultivated through attention to assessments, collaborating and networking,
assessments and planning.

2. Leadership capacity

It is the ability to set direction for the organization and its resources and also guide activities
to follow that direction. Leadership capacity is cultivated through attention to vision,
establishing goals, directing, motivating, making decisions and solving problems.

3. Management capacity

It is the ability to ensure effective and efficient use of the resources in the organization.
Management capacity is accomplished through careful development and coordination of
resources, including people (their time and expertise), money and facilities.

4. Technical capacity

It is the ability to design and operate products and services to effectively and efficiently
deliver services to customers. The nature of that technical capacity depends on the particular
type of products and services provided by the organization. In addition, a fifth key capacity
has been mentioned.

5. Generative capacity

It is the ability of the organization to positively change its external environment. This
capacity is exercised by engaging in activities to inform, educate and persuade policy makers,
community leaders and other stakeholders.

While working to improve the effectiveness of organizations, consultants often refer to


various performance standards as conveyed in “best practices” and “standards of excellence.”
The performance standards correspond to the levels of quality in certain organizations that
are widely viewed by others as being high performing organizations. Those views usually
reflect conventional wisdom, but not necessarily findings from research. Consultants often

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use the standards to assess the quality of practices in their clients’ organization and then
decide on what must be done to improve quality.

Although the practices and standards can be somewhat useful in getting some quick
perspective on the quality of a particular function, you need to be careful about how you
choose them and about how you draw conclusions from comparisons. The best use of best
practices for an organization depends on a variety of factors, including the culture of the
organization, nature of the products and services that the organization provides, expectations
of major stakeholders, and effects of change in the environments of the organization. The
open systems concept of equifinality suggests there is no one right way, or best practice, for
leading, managing or guiding organizations and change.

If you are working in a highly collaborative approach with your clients, you are much more
likely to work toward best practices in a manner that aligns those best practices with the
nature and needs of your client’s organization.

Q.2:- Discuss operational performance management.

Ans:- Operational Performance Management Operational performance management


today includes operational dashboards, operational reports, as well as BAM, alerts and
automated recommendations. This is an area of performance management that is growing but
is still in limited deployment mainly because companies are still rolling out business process
management. Operational performance management has typically been associated with
BAM. Some mainstream BI vendors offering CPM solutions have now stepped into the BAM
market, which I believe is a good sign in that it indicates that operational PM and corporate
PM have a good chance of coming together. A good example of this is Cognos. Cognos has
launched their Cognos Now! Product as part of the wider performance management product
set. The pros and cons of operational performance management are as follows:

Pros

· Real-time event-driven operational performance monitoring for proactive alerting and


automated actions.

· It means operational problems and opportunities can be rapidly identified and dealt with.

· May even mean that problems and/or opportunities can be predicted.

· Can deliver significant return on investment, e.g., reduction of operational costs.

Cons

· Process management BAM vendors often have no business intelligence to understand the
significance of an operational event.

• BAM vendors struggle to understand operational organization structure to cater for


problem escalation.

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• No tie back to strategic or tactical performance management.

Having looked at these different types of performance management, the problem we face is
that they are not integrated. The requirement is that we need the whole solution to work from
top to bottom so that performance management is deployed to the masses to make everyone
performance aware and execute on a common business strategy. So it raises the question of
what an enterprise-wide performance management system should do. First and foremost, a
performance management system is the control system for the enterprise. It should be the
system that allows you to manage the business at all levels from strategic down to everyday
operations. It should, therefore, support all types of performance management – strategic,
tactical (LoB) and operational. In addition, everyone in the enterprise should be accountable
for managing “their part” of the business and for contributing toward common objectives and
common goals. Also, everyone should have access to common BI and performance
management that fits with their role in the enterprise.

Q.3:- Describe the characteristics of appraisal system.

Ans:- Performance appraisal cannot be implemented successfully unless it is accepted by all


concerned. There should be a common and clear understanding of the distinction between
evaluation and appraisal. As Patten (1982) argues, evaluation aims at ‘objective’
measurement, while appraisal includes both objective and subjective assessment of how well
an employee has performed during the period under review. Thus performance appraisal aims
at ‘feedback, development and assessment.’ The process of performance appraisal should
concentrate on the job of an employee, the environment of the organization, and the
employee himself. These three factors are inter-related and inter-dependent. Therefore, in
order to be effective, the appraisal system should be individualized, subjective, qualitative
and oriented towards problem-solving. It should be based on clearly specified and measurable
standards and indicators of performance. Since what is being appraised is performance and
not personality, personality traits which are not relevant to job performance should be
excluded from the appraisal framework.

Some of the important considerations in designing a performance appraisal system are:

• Goal: The job description and the performance goals should be structured, mutually
decided and accepted by both management and employees.

• Reliability and consistency: Appraisal should include both objective and subjective
ratings to produce reliable and consistent measurement of performance.

• Practicality and simplicity of format: The appraisal format should be practical, simple
and aim at fulfilling its basic functions. Long and complicated formats are time
consuming, difficult to understand, and do not elicit much useful information.

• Regularity and routine nature: While an appraisal system is expected to be formal in a


structured manner, informal contacts and interactions can also be used for providing
feedback to employees.

• Participatory and openness: An effective appraisal system should necessarily involve


the employee’s participation, usually through an appraisal interview with the supervisor,

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for feedback and future planning. During this interview, past performance should be
discussed frankly and future goals established. A strategy for accomplishing these goals
as well as for improving future performance should be evolved jointly by the supervisor
and the employee being appraised. Such participation imparts a feeling of involvement
and creates a sense of belonging.

• Rewards: Rewards – both positive and negative – should be part of the performance
appraisal system. Otherwise, the process lacks impact.

• Feedback should be timely: Unless feedback is timely; it loses its utility and may have
only limited influence on performance.

• Impersonal feedback: Feedback must be impersonal if it is to have the desired effect.


Personal feedback is usually rejected with contempt, and eventually de-motivates the
employee.

• Feedback must be noticeable: The staff member being appraised must be made aware
of the information used in the appraisal process. An open appraisal process creates
credibility.

• Relevance and responsiveness: Planning and appraisal of performance and consequent


rewards or punishments should be oriented towards the objectives of the programme in
which the employee has been assigned a role. For example, if the objectives of a
programme are directed towards a particular client group, then the appraisal system has to
be designed with that orientation.

• Commitment: Responsibility for the appraisal system should be located at a senior


level in the organization so as to ensure commitment and involvement throughout the
management hierarchy.

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