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The Performance Management System and Employee Development Plan

Why are some organizations successful, while others seem to struggle? What causes a poorly performing employee to become a good employee and a good one to become exceptional? It all begins with a well-designed performance management system and an evidence-based employee development plan. According to Aguinis (2013), “A performance management system that lacks information about how to improve performance will not help employees learn skills beyond what they know and use already” (p. 219). The HR professional and managers will work together to aid the employees in following the employee development plan and recognizing the importance of the plan. The developmental plan will help the employees in assessing and correcting any performance issues. The plan will include developmental objectives, explanation of the process to obtain the skills and knowledge of the job, a specific time frame for learning, and the ways to acquire the relevant knowledge and experience for the job including ways to measure the effectiveness of the plan. The employees may achieve the objectives specified in the plan through multiple work-related activities, such as a job rotation, job shadowing, on-the-job training, higher education, and so on. The employees

Examples of Employee Development Plan Personal development plans and the 360-degree feedback system can be used to help improve an employee’s performance.

Review the tabs to know more.

Personal developmental plans specify courses of action to be taken to improve performance. Achieving the goals stated in the developmental plan allows employees to keep abreast of changes in their fields or professions.

Example:

Personal developmental plans allow employees to answer the following questions:

How can I continually learn and grow in the next year?

How can I do better in the future?

How can I avoid performance problems faced in the past?

(Aguinis, 2013, p. 196)

Personal Developmental Plans

The 360-Degree Feedback System

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and managers will determine the best developmental activities to improve any areas of weakness for assisting each employee on his or her career path with the organization. The supervisors can also utilize the 360-degree feedback system to gauge the employees’ performance. The employees’ supervisors will explain the importance of the developmental plan and strategic objectives for the organization.

A few questions to consider here are:

What is the 360-degree feedback system?

What are the benefits of the 360-degree feedback system?

When should the HR professional implement the 360-degree feedback system?

How will the rater use the 360-degree feedback system?

Additional Materials

From your course textbook, Performance Management, read the following chapter:

Performance Management and Employee Development

From the South University Online Library, read the following article:

Involving Employees in the Development Process of Performance Measurement and Management Systems 

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Organizational Performance and Strategic Planning Consider for a moment that you decide to go skiing. There is signage directing you on the safe slopes and advising you of the slopes that are not safe. Throughout the week, you followed the signs and adhered to the designated path for all skiers. You are now very confident with your ability to ski on the black run. The next day, you seek more of a challenge and take the path that is off-limits. As you are heading back to the lodge, a whiteout occurs. When it clears, you are totally disoriented and cannot find your way back to the lodge.

Lack of strategic planning is like a whiteout and can leave an entire organization disoriented. How can the HR professional prepare the employees, managers, and leaders to understand and utilize performance management and strategic planning on a daily basis? The HR professional must ensure that everyone understands the concept of strategic planning, which is to determine the organization’s future goals, recognize obstacles, develop a plan to ensure the organization has clear visibility to move forward, and maintain competitive advantage. The performance management system must depend on the strategic planning process that has been executed if it is to be of any use to the organization. “The behaviors, results, and developmental plans of all employees must be aligned with the vision, mission, goals, and strategies of the organization and unit” (Aguinis, 2013, p. 81). The HR professional must be sure that each manager and leader realize that a well-designed performance management system is the main component for the successful implementation of an organization’s strategic plan. All employees, managers, and leaders must adhere to the policies that have been established.

Reasons Why Strategic Plans Fail Strategic planning is a process that involves describing the organization’s destination, assessing barriers that stand in the way of that destination, and selecting approaches for moving forward. The main goal of strategic planning is to allocate resources in a way that provides organizations with a competitive advantage. There are several reasons strategic plans fail.

(Aguinis, 2013, p. 60)

Review the tabs to study the reasons behind the fail of strategic plans through examples.

Additional Materials

From your course textbook, Performance Management, read the following chapter:

Performance Management and Strategic Planning

From the South University Online Library, read the following article:

South University

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The Missing Link to Strategic Planning: Meeting Methodology Lines Up Performance Management with Execution 

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Employee Performance and Measurement Approach In this week, you will learn how to define performance and measurement approach. According to Aguinis (2013), “Performance is about behavior or what employees do, not about what employees produce or the outcomes of their work” (p. 88). As an HR professional, you will have the opportunity to observe employees’ performance. Some employees will supersede others. The employees with higher performance levels will be using “(1) declarative knowledge, (2) procedural knowledge, and (3) motivation” (Aguinis, 2013, p. 89). If employees fail to perform any one of the determinants (declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, and motivation), the work completed for the day has no value. All the steps must be accomplished in order for the performance of the employees to have a greater value. In addition to these determinants, the employees must use deliberate practice. Take for a moment an Olympic skater who has his/her mind-set on winning the gold medal. His/her performance must be exceptional, but to get to this point, it would require him/her to adhere to a rigorous training schedule and accept feedback from his/her coach. The Olympic skater should possess a certain mind-set and use his/her time for deliberate practice if he/she is to achieve his/her goal and so must an employee of an organization. Deliberate practice requires an employee to do the following:

Have the drive to constantly improve performance.

Be cognizant of what is occurring while performing the job.

Realize why the job is being performed.

Seek feedback from the experts in order to improve performance.

Conduct a mental assessment of the job, work environment, situations, and the organization.

Remember to use the approaches on a daily basis.

Lastly, an HR professional can use these three approaches to measure performance: behavior, results, and trait.

Determinants of Performance What factors cause an employee to perform at a certain level? Why do certain individuals perform better than others? A combination of three factors allows some people to perform at higher levels than others:

Declarative knowledge

Procedural knowledge

Motivation

(Aguinis, 2013, p. 89)

Review each determinant of performance to learn more.

Additional Materials

From your course textbook, Performance Management, read the following chapter:

Defining Performance and Choosing a Measurement Approach

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From the South University Online Library, read the following article:

Measuring the Success of a Performance Measurement System in Thai Firms 

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Performance Management—Planning and Implementation

Know More! Successful implementation of the performance management plan consists of the following: a sound communication plan, a well-written appeals process, a quality training program, and pilot testing. In other words, successful implementation requires wide organizational support and acceptance.

(Aguinis, 2013, p. 169)

Review the tabs to know more.

Communication Plan

What is performance management?

Answering this question involves providing general information about performance management, how performance management systems are implemented in other organizations, and the goals of performance management systems.

How does performance management fit into our strategy?

To answer this question, we should provide information on the relationship between performance management and strategic planning. Specifically, information is provided on how the performance management system will help accomplish strategic goals.

What’s in it for me?

A good communication plan describes the benefits of implementing performance management for all those involved.

How does it work?

Answering this question entails giving a detailed description of the performance management process and timeline, for example, when meetings will take place, what the purposes of each meeting are, and when decisions about rewards will be made.

What are my responsibilities?

The communication plan should include information on the role and responsibilities of each person involved at each stage of the process. For example, it includes a description of the employees’ and supervisors’ main responsibilities in the performance management process.

How is performance management related to other initiatives?

The communication plan should include information on the relationship between

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The lack of planning by an HR professional can cost a company thousands of dollars. This financial deficit can be observed through employee terminations, lawsuits, and loss of clients and customers. It is the responsibility of the HR professional to manage all forms of communication within the organization. This individual will oversee the appeals process, training, and pilot testing programs as they relate to the performance management plan. A communication plan will help a team understand the definition of performance management system, the manner in which the system is tied to strategic planning, responsibilities of leaders/employees, protocols, and connection with other initiatives. An appeals process provides the employees with an opportunity to voice concerns and affords them with an unbiased way to dispute a performance assessment. To ensure fairness with the system, raters must also be trained. Lastly, pilot testing should be conducted to assess and fine-tune the system before it is launched in order to prevent future problems. Failure to have a clearly defined process will prevent the organization from meeting the established goals. Even though the HR professional will not be solely responsible for the performance management plan, he or she will most likely spearhead this project; therefore, it is essential for the HR professional to have a thorough knowledge of how the system will work for the organization and also what benefits it provides.

A few questions to consider here are:

What type of communication channels are in place within your organization?

How are appeals handled?

Does your organization conduct a pilot test before a new evaluation system is implemented?

performance management and other initiatives and systems such as training, promotion, and succession planning.

(Aguinis, 2013, pp. 170–171)

Appeals Process

Training

Pilot Testing

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Additional Materials

From your course textbook, Performance Management, read the following chapter:

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Implementing a Performance Management System

From the South University Online Library, read the following article:

Renewal of Performance Management System in Family Company 