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Performance Management Programs If a performance management program includes too many objectives at a time, then there is a great possibility that it will eventually die out in the absence of specific objectives and focus. Abstract Because there is no standard pattern of program or uniformity in objectives that is applicable to all organizations, any Overview performance management program must be designed to take care Further Insights of organizational requirements and internal culture, and must act in unison with other administrative systems. Changes in the Issues growth of performance management programs from just-in-time management and total quality management to Six Sigma reflect Terms & Concepts this very well. Additionally, knowledge management, quick Bibliography response systems, and supplier relationship management have also started playing significant roles in performance management Suggested Reading programs. Wang (2008) argues that these programs provide opportunity for learning and making changes in an organization. Abstract Functions. Performance management programs generally function as double-edged sword. On one side, they are used for Performance management programs, also known as performance decision-making and on the other, for employee development. improvement programs, include a variety of improvement Though decision-making and employee development are related, categories, such as planning, execution, quality improvement, yet both of them are not supported with a single management cost reduction, performance measurement, response time program. When a performance management program is reduction, flexibility and agility, information technology, and employed for decision-making processes, the information communications. They are designed to improve individual pertaining to appraisal is utilized for salary hikes, lay-offs, performance standards, and to evaluate, monitor, and establish promotions, assignments, transfers, and administrative human organizational goals. The established goals are communicated to resource actions. When a program is run for development, the employees and used to set employees’ performance standards. same appraisal information is utilized for mentoring, guiding, Programs help employees realize how they fit in the organization training, job experiences, and other development activities in and how they can contribute to its growth. which employees will participate to enhance their capabilities. Pragmatically, it is difficult to have an ideal performance Overview management program that can serve both development and decision-making. Though theoretically this can be presented Program Objectives. While management experts and research on paper, it is difficult to implement in practice. Additionally, think-tanks have argued that certain specific conditions are to be studies indicate that the ratings used for decision-making met for drafting effective performance management programs, and professional development are different. While ratings for they also provide a set of decisions significant for designing an decision-making are lenient and marked in the high end for the ideal program that can cater to the needs of the organization. In employees, the rating for the purposes of development is marked one such decision, they interrogate the purpose of such programs. with variables, showing the strength of employees along with For example, a performance management program can deal with development requirements. lay-offs, promotion and payment decisions, and employment development. A brief formula for performance management Education Institutions. An example from a university example program is: [Daily (operations + problems) = the requirement for will show why it is rather difficult to establish equivalence in performance improvement program]. development and decision-making within the same performance EBSCO Research Starters® • Copyright © EBSCO Information Services, Inc • All Rights Reserved Page 1 management program. The university administration reviews developed and implemented correctly in management programs, and evaluates their employees and then it slightly changes then egoistic and individualistic tendencies can be rectified, its ratings to decide upon the reward decisions. Then, the and the organization can achieve its goal. For example, if review committee organizes various sessions with individuals— improving an employees’ suggestion program service is to both faculty members and staff—to discuss stock option grant, be implemented effectively in an organization, it is essential performance, and pay increases. The review committee also to take employees’ suggestions seriously, reward those who provides developmental feedback to each employee. provide good suggestions, and implement them in the future. The communication between organization and employees is Because during this process stock options are greater in necessary, and it can only be reflected when both are assigning number and in the range of percentage increases, the university importance to each other and listening to one another. Similarly, administration mostly spends its time in matching performance collaboration is a valuable asset for an organization. Any with rewards. As the entire process is time-consuming and many performance management program should hold individuals people are engaged in it, the administration largely focuses on accountable for effective partnerships. creating a mutual consensus between the two parties, and it tends to forget about the crucial issue—how employees can develop. Program Guidelines. Effective performance management programs set behavioral standards and expectations for Further during such review meetings the employees and employees—that is, they are easy to understand and conducive to administration are generally reserved, and they do not provide a positive work environment for all. Chiefly, they describe what is honest feedback to each other. Employees have this internal fear expected of employees in key competency areas. While planning that their honest feedback may go against them, and consequently those standards for a program, it is always desirable that the that might affect their compensation. The administration is too organization should meet with employees to review and discuss impatient to provide feedback, and it prefers to engage most of the these behavioral standards regarding their specific job profiles. time in decision-making. Even in many progressive universities, Some behavioral standards may vary from person to person. To it has been observed that the administration gives more emphasis include those variations into the programs will make it a success. to the decision-making process. The goals and outcomes desired from employees should be tied Two factors are quite important for administrators and to the strategy and goals of the organization. The programs will employees: timelines and defined roles. An effective also take into account that the employees’ development must not performance management program keeps both at hand in its be compromised during the goal-setting process. well-defined procedure for evaluating purposes. Furthermore, for educational organizations that employ a performance Further Insights management program as their chief criterion for human-resource decisions and pay hikes, it is crucial to monitor that all staff In certain situations, it is hard to find a direct relationship and faculty members are evaluated in an equitable and fair between the lofty goals of the organization and what a particular manner. Various studies based on examination processes of such employee can achieve in his or her work. To fill this gap, programs indicate slight variations. goals and expectations of the organization are to be addressed and categorized into sub-goals and expectations at team, unit, Performance Planning. As soon as the performance group, and individual levels—that is, to find out the strengths management period begins, it becomes important for the and weaknesses of an individual, team, and group. This can only administration to review with the workforce their performance happen when the review committee sits down with employees expectations. This includes two behavioral expectations: what at a series of meetings where, at the upper-level, administrators they need to do and what they can achieve during the upcoming initially set up separate goals that support organizational goals. rating period. These expectations are important as they indicate how an individual gets guidelines for the job, supports and The intervening-level administration sets up team goals that mentors others, and communicates with the review team. support the division goals, which align with unit goals, and so on, until the organizational goals are supported with the employee’s As in every organization there are members who are egoistic goals. This is also supported with the approach of scientific and work well only while working individually. Moreover, in management that states any job can be improved by breaking it a team they are extremely unsupportive, unhelpful, and show into its constituent parts. maladaptive behaviors toward their work. On the other hand, there are some employees who are very cooperative, helpful, and The entire process is difficult and time-consuming. Since there is efficient but they fail to draw the attention of the organization, no one-to-one match between the nature of individual goals and and consequently they do not yield any rewards for themselves. the nature of the organization’s goals, equality and democratic Since such traits have a strong effect on the functioning of an values of an organization can only be maintained when there organization, behavior becomes an important factor in every is the proper cascading down of each job. Furthermore, for an work situation. effective performance management program it is important to maintain and establish a hierarchical order of goals where each A good performance management program should consider both scale is aligned with the next scale so that there remains a link behavioral and result expectations as its objectives. If individual and relevance between individual levels. Everyone is ultimately objectives are well tied into organizational objectives, and EBSCO Research Starters® • Copyright © EBSCO Information Services, Inc • All Rights Reserved Page 2 working toward the organization’s priorities and strategies. Some goals, or establish honest feedback. Though without structured experts suggest that reassembling the work process is more appraisal and employee development, no organization can important than breaking down a job into its component parts. maximize its growth, yet performance management programs are often so flawed that managers and employees want to do away Some management experts place much emphasis on the value of with them. developing and linking goals with various scales. The time factor for organizational goals and results might vary with individual Advocates argue that the processes and tools designed for employee’s outcomes and goals. Considering that, both goals and performance programs are not poorly developed; rather, it is results can be established for the short term and long term. Since typically poorly adopted performance management programs that the individual goals and outcomes remain in continual change, it fail to yield good results. Performance management programs is necessary that employee’s goals should be realistic and near- are highly subjective and often become a threatening process term so that they may achieve them and derive positive and for staff and managers. Generally, management does not give motivating benefits from them. true feedback and mostly avoids one-to-one discussion with an employee as managers are worried that it might damage Additionally, timely appraisals and feedback should be given relationships with the very employee they depend upon for being to each employee, highlighting where they are now and where performed. they need to reach by a designated point in the future. Studies show that difficult but attainable goals lead to more productive On the other hand, individuals sense that their management performance results compared with moderately difficult goals. is untrained and unskilled at measuring their performance and Taking employees into confidence is also important while setting incapable of training them how to utilize their skills. Many up a goal. Employees will only commit to a goal when they studies show that performance management programs are tedious feel that they are able to attain it. Therefore, it is essential that and burdened with managerial technicalities that fail to add any employees take part in the goal-setting process of performance value. Ultimately, employees and managers begin considering management programs. They should participate actively and with the performance management program as the main culprit a positive attitude, and it is the duty of administrators to assist spoiling work life and if they are not able to totally eradicate it, individuals in achieving their goals by giving necessary resources then they will seek to minimize it to the extent that it becomes and suggestions and by removing blocks to goal attainment. only a part of organization outcomes, rather than an important process. Importance of Feedback. Performance management programs should discuss and provide feedback at each level on an ongoing Evaluating results. Measuring and evaluating results is basis throughout the progress of the program. Additionally, another critical issue faced by management. Some results, in exceptional cases or wherever ineffective performance is such as students’ feedback, published academic paper scores, detected, weekly or biweekly feedback can be equally valuable. engagement in university administration, roles in various Because of time factor and untrained administration staff, many committees, can be evaluated through employing various organizations cannot provide regular feedback. Some managers indicators of performance. Though objective markers of do not know how to provide feedback so that it will not obstruct performance are mostly useful, there are problems with them. the productivity of the employees. Different individuals get different work opportunities—for example, one employee has a less onerous teaching workload, If communication is the life blood of an organization, then more modern labs to work in, and frequent access to quality feedback is the back bone of performance management programs. journals and books in an online and offline library, and therefore Experienced managers have proposed that it must be a two- achieves a higher volume of productivity than a colleague in way process. Proper training of both managers and employees a school across town that is not able to offer such advantages. can yield effective feedback. Employees, on their end, are It is, further, very challenging to arrive at objective measures required to receive feedback in a positive manner—they that ensure the accuracy of the points collected and filled in for should understand how they are performing and how they can performance evaluation. perform better. Managers have a duty to provide feedback in a constructive, straightforward, and regular manner. If a performance management program teaches how to provide Terms & Concepts constructive and effective feedback, then there is a good chance Appraisal: An act of assessing and evaluating employees. that it will give maximum benefits to the participants. Feedback: Information and reaction about an individual’s performance. Issues Just-in-Time Management: A management system that focuses A recent study done by Watson Watt indicated that on on strategies organizations employ to increase efficiency. average 30 percent of employees in an organization agreed that the performance management programs helped improve Knowledge Management: Refers to any kind of information performance. Commenting on the process of these programs, technology system that stores and retrieves knowledge. less than 40 percent of workers said their programs employed technology ineffectively, did not generate explicit performance EBSCO Research Starters® • Copyright © EBSCO Information Services, Inc • All Rights Reserved Page 3 Six Sigma: A data-driven approach used to eliminate defects in EBSCO Online Database Business Source processes. Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=bsu&AN=119727691&site=ehost-live Total Quality Management: A management system that focuses on improving processes for productivity. Subramanian, S., Kodukula, P. S., & Rose, K. H. (2015). Transforming business with program Bibliography management: Integrating strategy, people, process, technology, structure, and measurement. Project Cappelli, P., & Tavis, A. (2016). The performance Management Journal, e1. Retrieved October 23, management revolution. Harvard Business Review, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source 94(10), 58–67. Retrieved October 23, 2016, Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? from EBSCO Online Database Business Source direct=true&db=bsu&AN=111246177&site=ehost-live Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=bsu&AN=118307850&site=ehost-live Suggested Reading Drew, J., & Dollery, B. (2016). Summary execution: The Eker, M., & Eker, S. (2016). The effects of interactions impact of alternative summarization strategies on between management control systems strategy local governments. Public Administration Quarterly, on firm performance: An empirical study. 40(4), 814–841. Retrieved October 23, 2016, Business & Economics Research Journal, 7(4), from EBSCO Online Database Business Source 123–141. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? EBSCO Online Database Business Source direct=true&db=bsu&AN=119727685&site=ehost-live Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=bsu&AN=119119221&site=ehost-live Ewenstein, B., Hancock, B., & Komm, A. (2016). Ahead of the curve: The future of performance management. Junqueira, E., Dutra, E. V., Filho, H. Z., & Gonzaga, Mckinsey Quarterly, (2), 64–73. Retrieved October 23, R. P. (2016). The effect of strategic choices and 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source management control systems on organizational Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? performance. Revista Contabilidade & Finanças - direct=true&db=bsu&AN=117516822&site=ehost-live USP, 27(72), 334–348. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Online Database Business Source Kim, Y., & Kang, M. (2016). The performance Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? management system of the Korean health care direct=true&db=bsu&AN=118649784&site=ehost-live sector: Development, challenges, and future tasks. Public Performance & Management Review, Kang, N., Zhao, C., Li, J., & Horst, J. A. (2016). 39(2), 297–315. Retrieved October 23, 2016, A Hierarchical structure of key performance from EBSCO Online Database Business Source indicators for operation management and Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? continuous improvement in production systems. direct=true&db=bsu&AN=111658232&site=ehost-live International Journal of Production Research, 54(21), 6333–6350. Retrieved October 23, 2016, Levin, G., & Green, A. R. (2014). Implementing program from EBSCO Online Database Business Source management: Templates and forms aligned with the Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? standard for program management, and other best direct=true&db=bsu&AN=118439158&site=ehost-live practices. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Laihonen, H., & Pekkola, S. (2016). Impacts of Marin-Garcia, J. A. (2013). ¿Qué sabemos sobre la using a performance measurement system relación de los programas de recursos humanos in supply chain management: A case study. de alto rendimiento y el desempeño organizativo? International Journal of Production Research, Working Papers on Operations Management, 54(18), 5607–5617. Retrieved October 23, 2016, 4(2), 1–15. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from from EBSCO Online Database Business Source EBSCO Online Database Business Source Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? Ultimate. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=bsu&AN=118862720&site=ehost-live direct=true&db=bsu&AN=93445300&site=ehost-live Rivenbark, W. C., Fasiello, R., & Adamo, S. (2016). Moving beyond innovation diffusion in smaller Essay by Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi, PhD local governments: Does performance management exist? Public Administration Quarterly, 40(4), 763–788. Retrieved October 23, 2016, from EBSCO Research Starters® • Copyright © EBSCO Information Services, Inc • All Rights Reserved Page 4 Copyright of Performance Management Programs -- Research Starters Business is the property of Salem Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.