Dada Adefolami

Behaviour in performance
This type of appraisal looks at the behaviour of the employee during work, and at how the employee applies his or her skills. Both quantitative and qualitative data is collected on a continuous basis relating to how the employee displays the expected behaviour for the position – for example, ‘gives praise where it is due to others on the team’ might be one of the behaviours looked for.

Common method for assessing behaviour in performance is the use of behaviour-anchored rating scales (BARS). Descriptions of desired and undesirable behaviour are listed, and the appraiser gives a score for each one. A good example of BARS is the course assessment forms used by many tertiary Institution, where students are asked to rate the tutor on various attributes, such as clarity of explanations’, and ‘approachability’. Students then give the tutor a grade for each of these attributes – for example, from 1 to 5, where 5 is excellent, and 1 is poor.

Behavioural observation scales (BOS) are where specific actions are listed, and the appraisee is judged on how many times he performs that action. The question is, how often does a supervisor provide constructive feedback to colleagues?

An obvious problem with BARS and BOS is the subjectivity involved. BOS are designed to be slightly less subjective as they are based on the number of times behaviour is observed, which is more factual.   

Measurement of behaviour in performance generally is beneficial because not only is information about the employee’s performance obtained, but more detailed understanding of the requirement of the job can be ascertained, and this can be used for defining standards in future.

Results
These types of appraisals, individuals are assessed on quantifiable outcomes – for example, the amount of sales achieved by a salesman, the volume of production achieved, the number of customer criticisms. Where competency frameworks are used, it may also be possible to measure the number of competencies achieved during a period.

Frequently, targets may be set for individuals and their performance will be judged against these. In setting such targets, it is appropriate to consider the principles relating to the setting of standards from the Fitzgerald and Moon building blocks model. In particular, standards should be achievable, or staff will become demotivated; they should be controllable – that is, staff should not be judged on targets that are outside of their control.

Measurement of results and outcomes is usually easy to perform, but suffers from the problem that it does not take into account the differing external factors that may have occurred. It may also lead to measure obsession among staff, such as the famous example in the call centers, where the performance of call centre staff was measured based on the number of calls per day. It was quite common for call centre staff to keep this high by simply hanging up when presented with difficult customers.

Finally

Controlmechanisms are used to monitor progress and evaluate performance. System control, Bureaucratic control, Market control, and Clan controlare all mechanismsthat Target use to operate at peak performance
Ouchi developed a model for helping to determine what types of controls are most appropriate for employees in different situations:

1. Personnel controls, also known as clan controls, are based on fostering a sense of solidarity in the people who work for an organization. If personnel believe in the objectives that the organization is trying to achieve, then they will be motivated to work towards those objectives and will not require detailed supervision or control. Personnel controls include recruitment of people with the right attitudes, training and job design. These are closely related to appraisal systems based on inputs.
2. Behavioural controls involve observing the employee – for example, the foreman on a production line watches the employees to ensure that the work is done as prescribed. Such controls are consistent with appraisal systems that focus on the behaviour of employees.
3. Output or results controls that focus on measuring some aspect of work performed. Examples could include measuring the number of defective products. Appraisal systems based on results or outcomes are examples of output controls.

The type of control system that is appropriate depends on two variables – the ability to measure output, and the knowledge of the transformation process.

Knowledge of the transformation process is low in situations where there is no obvious way to do a task. Those performing the task may have to learn on the job, rather than be provided with a detailed instruction manual showing them how to do it. This may occur in project-based work, for example, where each project brings new tasks and challenges to the project team.

In manufacturing industries, it is likely that it is easy to measure output, and knowledge of the transformation process is high – the tasks have been performed many times before. So behavioural or output controls are appropriate, and appraisal will focus on the behaviour of employees or on results and outcomes.

A situation where the knowledge of the transformation system is imperfect but measurement is easy might be a sales department. Management may not be aware of the exact processes involved by the sales team, and there may not be one ‘right way’ of making sales. However, measurement of sales is easy to do, so output controls may be used. The problem with this approach, however, is that it does not take into account external factors. It may be difficult to make sales in some markets, for example, and so appraising employees on results alone might be deemed unfair.

The ability to measure output may be difficult in certain activities, such as research work. Where people work in teams, measuring the output of the individuals within the team may be difficult. Some individuals may put in more effort than others, for example. If knowledge of the transformation process is also low, then the organization may have to rely on personnel and clan controls. In such situations, the appraisal process may focus on traits.
appraisal to the reward scheme: appraisal process may be linked to a reward scheme whereby employees or managers earn some incentives, such as promotion or financial incentives if targets are met.

Human resources planning is a process that identifies current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. Human resources planning should serve as a link between human resources management and the overall strategic plan of an organization.

Human resource management (HRM, or simply HR) is a function in organizations designed to maximize employee performance in service of an employer’s strategic objectives. HR is primarily concerned with the management of people within organizations, focusing on policies and on systems.

A performanceappraisal is a systematic and objective method of judging the quality of an employee in performing his job and a part of guiding and managing career development. It is the process to obtain, analyze, and record the information about the relative worth of an employee to the organization.

• Dada Suraju Adefolami, Professor of Finance, School of Business Administration, UNEM University Costa Rica, is a Finance / Management Consultant and Certified Forensic Accountant. You can reach him via: [email protected]; 08052043855